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The Kongo people are a Bantu ethnic group primarily defined as the speakers of Kikongo. Subgroups include the Beembe, Bwende, Vili, Sundi, Yombe, Dondo, Lari, and others.
The pre-colonial history of the modern-day Democratic Republic of the Congo encompasses the history of the Congo Basin region up to the establishment of European colonial rule in the era of New Imperialism and particularly the creation of the Congo Free State and its expansion into the interior after 1885. As the modern territorial boundaries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo did not exist in this period, it is inseparable from the wider pre-colonial histories of Central Africa, the Great Lakes and Rift Valley as well as the Atlantic World and Swahili coast.
Mpemba is an African name that may refer to
Ngoyo was a kingdom of the Woyo ethnic group, located in the south of Cabinda and on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, just north of the Congo River. In the 13th century it formed part of a confederation led by Vungu. Ngoyo tradition held that the kingdom's ancestors were among the earliest settlers in the area, leading their chiefs to title themselves the nfumu nsi. The capital was Mbanza Ngoyo.
The Kingdom of Kongo was a kingdom in Central Africa. It was located in present-day northern Angola, the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Southern of Gabon and the Republic of the Congo. 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.
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Kakongo was a small kingdom located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, in the modern-day Republic of the Congo and Cabinda Province, Angola. In the 13th century, it formed part of a confederation led by Vungu. Along with its neighboring kingdoms of Ngoyo and Loango, Kakongo became an important political commercial center during the 17th through 19th centuries. The people speak a dialect of the Kikongo language and thus may be considered a part of the Bakongo ethnicity. Kakongo was a vassal of the Kingdom of Kongo for a part of its history.
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Pedro II Nkanga a Mvika was a ruler of the kingdom of Kongo during the kingdom's first conflict with the Portuguese. He was the founder of the royal House of Nsundi and could trace his descent to one of Afonso I's daughters. He was succeeded by his son Garcia I, who was crowned in 1624.
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The Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza were a confederation of states in west Central Africa at least from the 13th century. They were absorbed into the Kingdom of Kongo in the 16th century, being mentioned in the titles of King Alvaro II in 1583. It neighboured the confederations of Vungu and Mpemba. Its capital district was on the Kwale River, and it controlled the lands eastwards to the Kwango River, northwards to the Pool Malebo, and westwards to the Inkisi River and north of the Kwilu River. This polity or region was first mentioned in texts of the Kingdom of Kongo in the late 16th century, although it probably existed much earlier. It was only then being incorporated into Kongo, through the kingdom's eastern province of Mbata. It is unclear what the Seven Kingdoms were, though perhaps they included Kundi and Okanga. Presumably these kingdoms represented an alliance of several smaller polities, though the sources of the time tell us nothing about it.
The kingdom or polity of Vungu or Bungu was a historic state located in Mayombe. In the 13th century it led a confederation of itself, Ngoyo, and Kakongo. It neighboured the confederations of Mpemba and Seven Kingdoms of Kongo dia Nlaza. It is thought to be the origin of the Kingdom of Kongo.
The Battle of Mbumbi was a military engagement between forces of Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo in 1622. Although the Portuguese were victorious, the battle served as the impetus for the Kingdom of Kongo to expel the Portuguese from their territory.
Mpemba Kasi is the traditional name of a large Bantu kingdom which was the northernmost territory of the confederation Mpemba, and to the south of the Mbata Kingdom. It merged with that state to form the Kingdom of Kongo around 1375 AD. In Kongo traditions it is considered the "Mother of Kongo".
Kongo religion encompasses the traditional beliefs of the Bakongo people. Due to the highly centralized position of the Kingdom of Kongo, its leaders were able to influence much of the traditional religious practices across the Congo Basin. As a result, many other ethnic groups and kingdoms in West-Central Africa, like the Chokwe and Mbundu, adopted elements of Bakongo spirituality.
References
- ↑ Samuel, isaac. "The kingdom of Kongo and the Portuguese: diplomacy, trade, warfare and early Afro-European interactions (1483-1670)". www.africanhistoryextra.com. Retrieved 2024-09-28.
- ↑ Thornton, John K. (2023-11-22). Afonso I Mvemba a Nzinga, King of Kongo: His Life and Correspondence. Hackett Publishing. ISBN 978-1-64792-141-5.
- ↑ Thornton, John K., ed. (2020), "The Development of States in West Central Africa to 1540", A History of West Central Africa to 1850, New Approaches to African History, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 16–55, ISBN 978-1-107-56593-7 , retrieved 2024-09-21