Pedro V was king of Kongo from 7 August 1859 to February 1891. His base was in the district of Madimba, which lay south of the capital and was in the lands held by the ancient southern branch of the Kinlaza lineage called Kivuzi.
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.
The Kimpanzu were members of the Mpanzu kanda also known as the House of Kimpanzu, one of the lineages from which the kings of Kongo were chosen during the 17th century and following Kongo's reunification under Pedro IV. They are remembered in tradition and are evoked in a proverb, still current in the 1920s Nkutama a mvila za makanda "Kinlaza, Kimpanzu ye Kinlaza makukwa matatu malambila Kongo".
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. They are remembered in tradition and are evoked in a proverb, still current in the 1920s Nkutama a mvila za makanda "Kinkanga, Kimpanzu ye Kinlaza makukwa matatu malambila Kongo".
Pedro III Nsimba Ntamba was a ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo during its tumultuous civil war period.
Afonso II of Kongo and Nkondo was a ruler of the kingdom of Kongo in the period following the Kongo Civil War. He was a member of the House of Kimpanzu and may have been supported in his claim for the throne by partisans in Soyo. He took the throne in November 1665 in the first of a series of power grabs for the throne of the kingdom.
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 Kinkanga, usually known as the Kinkanga a Mvika or House of Nsundi, was a royal kanda formed by King Pedro II, which ruled the Kingdom of Kongo from 1622 to 1631. While King Pedro II and his son Garcia I were the only other member of the faction or kanda to rule, it retained powerful members in provincial offices in the 1650s until its destruction in the 1670s. Despite this loss in prominence, they were remembered in tradition and are evoked in a proverb, still current in the 1920s Nkutama a mvila za makanda "Kinlaza, Kimpanzu ye Kinlaza makukwa matatu malambila Kongo".
Alvaro VIII, of the House of Kinlaza, was king of the Kingdom of Congo, from 1666 to 1669.
Álvaro IX Mpanzu a Ntivila was a ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo during its civil war period. He ruled from June 1669 to 1670.
The House of Água Rosada, was the last ruling house of the Kingdom of Kongo during the 19th and 20th century. It was also one of the main factions during the Kongo Civil War along with the Mpanzu, Nlaza and Kinkanga a Mvika kandas.
Álvaro X Nimi a Mvemba Água Rosada was a ruler of Kibangu and was the first Água Rosada claimant to the throne of the Kingdom of Kongo during its civil war. He ruled the Kingdom of Kibangu from 1688 to 1695.
Manuel II or Manuel II Mpanzu a Nimi (???-1743) was ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo (1718–1743). He ruled in a period of "rotating lineages" as planned by his predecessor and was of the Kimpanzu. He had once fought against Pedro during the recapture of São Salvador.
Henrique II was ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo. His rule came after the end of a period of conflict in the kingdom after the death of Afonso V, who was said to have been poisoned. Henrique was able to take the throne as a compromise between the various powerful factions which had been brokered by the Água Rosada house, the descendants of Pedro IV, who had familial ties to branches of both Kinlaza and Kimpanzu houses. Under this peace, Henrique was able to rebuild the nation, and eventually passed the throne on to Garcia V, a member of the Água Rosada house.
José I Mpasi a Nkanga, or Zuzi, was ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo between 1779 and 1785. He was the first ruler from the branch of the House of Kinlaza that came from the southeast of the country, known as the Nkondo ranch, and the first to be included in the kinglists produced by Jean Cuvelier. When José ascended to the throne, the Mbamba Lovata branch of the Kimpanzu house under Pedro V once again contested the throne, which led to a conflict between the two houses once again. This culminated in a decisive battle outside of the capital, São Salvador which was a victory for José, and confirmed his rule. On his death, he was succeeded by his brother Afonso V.
Pedro V Ntivila a Nkanga was a ruler of the throne of the Kingdom of Kongo and a member of the Kimpanzu house. He ruled Kongo from 1763 to 1764, after he overthrew Sebastião I, when Pedro refused to relinquish the Kimpanzu claims to the throne. This overthrow resulted in the breakdown of the rotating houses system put in place by Pedro IV. His reign was short lived however, and after he was in turn overthrown by Álvaro XI, he was removed from the official records, evidenced by the ascension of the official Pedro V in 1859. It is most likely due to the fact that he claimed the throne at the same time as Álvaro IX, though he kept his claim on the throne even after his removal.
Henrique III Mpanzu a Nsindi a Nimi a Lukeni was ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo from the Kivuzi branch of the Kinlaza house, who reigned from 1840 until 1857. Henrique came to power when he overthrew his predecessor, André II. This was with the support of the elector Ntinu Nsaku. Henrique did not manage to kill Andre II and King Andre continued to exercise power from Mbanza Maputu over some of the Kongo realm.
Alvaro XIII or Ndongo was king of Kongo from 1857 until 1859. He was a member of the Nkanga branch of the Kimpanzu house.
