The Kongo people are a Bantu ethnic group primarily defined as the speakers of Kikongo.
At the Battle of Mbwila on October 29, 1665, Portuguese forces defeated the forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitated king António I of Kongo, also called Nvita a Nkanga.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom located in central Africa in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo as well as the southernmost part of Gabon. At its greatest extent it reached from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Kwango River in the east, and from the Congo River in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. The kingdom consisted of several core provinces ruled by the Manikongo, the Portuguese version of the Kongo title Mwene Kongo, meaning "lord or ruler of the Kongo kingdom", but its sphere of influence extended to neighbouring kingdoms, such as Ngoyo, Kakongo, Loango, Ndongo and Matamba, the latter two located in what is Angola today.
Garcia II Nkanga a Lukeni a Nzenze a Ntumba, also known as Garcia Afonso for short, ruled the Kingdom of Kongo from 23 January 1641 to 1661. He is sometimes considered Kongo's greatest king for his religious piety and his near expulsion of the Portuguese from Angola.
The Catholic Church arrived in the Kingdom of Kongo shortly after the first Portuguese explorers reached its shores in 1483. After an exchange of hostages, the ruling king, Nzinga a Nkuwu agreed to allow missionaries to come to his country and to learn more about Christianity. The missionaries arrived early in 1491, and baptized the provincial ruler of Soyo whose lands were located on the Atlantic coast, before moving to the royal capital in April and May. According to Portuguese accounts, Nzinga a Nkuwu was further convinced to the Christian message when he witnessed what he and the priests both regarded as a miracle: two of the king's subjects dreamed simultaneously of beautiful woman who urged the king to be baptized, and a third one reported finding a cross shaped stone near a riverbed.
The Kinlaza were members of the Nlaza kanda or House of Kinlaza, one of the ruling houses of the Kingdom of Kongo during the 17th century. It was one of the main factions during the Kongo Civil War along with the Kimpanzu and Kinkanga a Mvika kandas.
John K. Thornton is an American historian specializing in the history of Africa, the African Diaspora and the Atlantic world. He is a professor in the history department at Boston University.
Mvemba a Nzinga or Nzinga Mbemba, also known as King Afonso I, was a ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo in the first half of the 16th century. He reigned over the Kongo Empire from 1509 to late 1542 or 1543.
Pedro II Nkanga a Mvika was a ruler of the kingdom of Kongo during the kingdom's first conflict with the Portuguese colony of Angola. He was the founder of the royal House of Nsundi and could trace his descent to one of Afonso I's daughters.
The Battle of Kitombo was a military engagement between forces of the BaKongo state of Soyo, formerly a province of the Kingdom of Kongo, and the Portuguese colony of Angola on 18 October 1670. Earlier in the year a Portuguese expeditionary force had invaded Soyo with the intention of ending its independent existence. The Soyo were supported by the Kingdom of Ngoyo, which provided men and equipment, and by the Dutch, who provide guns, light cannon and ammunition. The combined Soyo-Ngoyo force was led by the Prince of Soyo, Paulo da Silva, and the Portuguese by João Soares de Almeida. Both commanders were killed in the battle, which resulted in a decisive victory for Soyo. Few, if any, of the invaders escaped death or capture.
The precolonial history of Angola lasted until Portugal annexed the territory as a colony in 1655.
The colonial history of Angola is usually considered to run from the appearance of the Portuguese under Diogo Cão in 1482 (Congo) or 1484 until the independence of Angola in November 1975. Settlement did not begin until Novais's establishment of São Paulo de Loanda (Luanda) in 1575, however, and the Portuguese government only formally incorporated Angola as a colony in 1655 or on May 12, 1886.
The Kongo Civil War (1665–1709) was an internal conflict between rival houses of the Kingdom of Kongo. The war waged throughout the middle of the 17th and 18th centuries pitting partisans of the House of Kinlaza against the House of Kimpanzu. Numerous other factions entered the fray claiming descent from one or both of the main parties such as the Água Rosada of Kibangu and the da Silva of Soyo. By the end of the war, Kongo's vaunted capital had been destroyed and many Bakongo were sold into the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
The Battle of Mbidizi River was a military engagement in June 1670 between forces of the County of Soyo and those of the Portuguese colony of Angola during the Kongo Civil War. The engagement was part of a military campaign to break the power of Soyo in the region. The Portuguese won a decisive victory, inflicting heavy casualties and killing the Soyon leader.
The Military history of Angola is marked by a series of conflicts rooted in tribal conflicts, colonialism and the Cold War. During the Cold War, Angola was involved in struggles between Western powers and South Africa with the help of the Soviet Union and Cuba.
Loango-Angola is the name for the possessions of the Dutch West India Company in contemporary Angola and the Republic of the Congo. Notably, the name refers to the colony that was captured from the Portuguese between 1641 and 1648. Due to the distance between Luanda and Elmina, the capital of the Dutch Gold Coast, a separate administration for "Africa South" was established at Luanda during the period of the Dutch occupation.
Rafael I Nzinga a Nkanga was a ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo during its civil war. He ruled from 1670 to 1673.
The Battle of Mbumbi was a military engagement between forces of Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo.
