9 minute read
The Empire Strikes Back… And Loses, or How an Angolan King-Queen Opposed the Entire Portuguese Colonial Empire
The Empire Strikes Back... And Loses, or How an Angolan King-Queen Opposed the Entire Portuguese Colonial Empire
Weronika Kubik
The beginning of the Portuguese Colonial Empire can be marked by their conquest of Ceuta, a North-African coastal city, in 1415. Overtime, they established colonies in five African countries, known today under the collective name PALOP (Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa). One can list several reasons for these overseas voyages. From the Christian crusade against os mouros, as the Portuguese called Muslim people of Northern Africa, through simple human curiosity about the terrifying, unknown territories (it was believed that the waters and lands beyond Cape St. Vincent were the home of dangerous sea monsters and demons, with climate so unfavorable that would make human existence a living hell), as well as the desire to form new trade routes, discover sources of foreign commercial goods and precious metals, all the way to the mission of bringing the so-called light of civilization and faith to the natives. The Portuguese presence in Africa ended in 1975, when all of the colonies declared independence and demanded that the colonizers leave the borders of the countries. Although the Portuguese still believe themselves to be the “good colonizers”, their attitude towards the inhabitants of the lands they occupied wasn’t always harmless or noble. One particularly interesting episode in the Empire’s history involves relations with a political structure that was at the time known as The Kingdom of Kongo and its vassal states.
The Kingdom of Kongo was located in West Africa and stretched over the terrains of today’s northern Angola, the Republic of the Congo, and the western part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Powerful and influential, the Kingdom of Kongo established feudal relations with neighboring states, such as Ndongo and Matamba. The very first appearance of the Portuguese in this region was made in 1482 when Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo River. However, only a century later, the Portuguese established a permanent outpost in Luanda.
At first, the relations between the Europeans and the people of Kongo appeared to be built on mutual curiosity and hopes to establish successful trade relations. One of the “goods” the Portuguese were particularly interested in were Africans who could be used as workforce in other colonies. Although slave trade was already strongly established in African kingdoms, as it was a part of a complicated social structure of the natives, it didn’t serve the same purpose as slavery practiced by the Europeans, whose primary goal was providing workers for their overseas plantations. When it came to the customs of the Africans, there were many conventions and strict rules that needed to be followed – something the Portuguese weren’t fond of. Their hunts for large numbers of African people soon led to a conflict between the ruler of the Kingdom, Mani Kongo Afonso I (the title “Mani Kongo” translates roughly to “the ruler of Kongo”), and the Europeans. Seeing that they continuously disrespected the established laws, the Mani Kongo requested that the Kingdom of Portugal obeys the local traditions. The Portuguese king tried to mediate the conflict and ultimately decided to appoint an ambassador who was supposed to ensure that the trade doesn’t violate the existing rules.
Unfortunately, these preventive actions didn’t solve the issue. Despite the fact that the European-African conflict quieted down for a period of time, the Portuguese didn’t plan to subject themselves to the control of Africans. Upon the Mani Kongo’s death, the struggle for power and rule over the great Kingdom created new problems for the local people. Additionally, the rising tensions between the Kingdom of Kongo and the Kingdom of Kasanje pushed the new Mani Kongo Álvaro I to request Portuguese help. The Europeans perceived it to be their chance to subjugate the Africans and demanded that from that moment on the Kingdom remains under the Portuguese rule. Desperate, the Mani Kongo agreed. The Portuguese continued to abuse their power, unlawfully capture and ship out Africans to other colonies, and ravage the lands they now had under their domination. The damage began to be so severe that some of the Kongo’s vassal states decided to take action. The initiative came from the one of the largest provinces, Ndongo.
The Kingdom of Ndongo was ruled by Ngola Mbandi (“Ngola” was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Ndongo), who was not very popular among his people, due to his military inaptitude and somewhat weak spirit – he lacked courage and decisiveness, which are traits needed from a leader, especially in the times of war. On top of that, after assuming the power, he proceeded to murder nearly all of his political rivals. Only his sister, Nzinga, managed to run away to the neighboring Kingdom of Matamba. Once the Portuguese started to conquer more and more territories, the king was forced to contact his estranged sibling for help. Contrary to him, Nzinga was a seasoned warrior and diplomat, able to not only lead an army, but also take charge in peace negotiations with the opponents. On top of that, she could speak fluent Portuguese, so she was nominated to be Ndongo’s negotiator and try to form a treaty with the colonizers.
Upon reaching Luanda, she met João Correia de Sousa, a new Portuguese ambassador, who from the very first moment tried to belittle and embarrass her. He received her while sitting on what resembled a throne and presented his royal guest with a pillow laid on the floor. Our heroine, unphased by de Sousa’s provocation, ordered one of her companions to kneel on the ground and sat on her back throughout the negotiations. She presented great political drift and remained calm despite the ambassador’s patronizing attitude. She demanded that the Portuguese withdraw from Ndongo’s territory and promise not to break the peace treaty. In return, she offered to send back the Africans who fled after being captured and uphold the trade between the two sides. Although she refused to accept the Portuguese domination, Nzinga agreed to be baptized, as a proof of her commitment to the cause, and was given the name of Ana de Sousa, which was then used by the Portuguese to refer to her.
At the time of negotiations, the Kingdom of Kasanje, who showed hostility towards the Kingdom of Kongo and its vassal states for a long time, begun to take over Ndongo territories. The Portuguese refused to help Ngola Mbandi until he abandoned the beliefs of his ancestors and converted to Christianity. The Portuguese thought it important to force the ruler of the Kingdom to give up the faith of his people – it would not only be a signal to all Africans that Christianity was the right choice, but also make the king and, by extension, the ones under his rule subservient to the European conquerors. However, agreeing to this request would lead to losing the respect and support of his people, as in their view the king had to be the guardian of traditional values. He refused to fulfil the order, upon which the Portuguese immediately broke the agreement reached by Nzinga and reentered their posts on the Ndongo territory. Soon, the Ngola Mbandi lost his life in suspicious circumstances and, despite the objections of the male members of the nobility, Nzinga took over as the ruler. Thus, the King (as she demanded to be called) Nzinga was born. In order to be trusted by her people, she reverted to her birth name and African belief system.
Despite all her sacrifices and hard work, her time as a ruler was riddled with threats and challenges. As the conflict between the Ndongo and Portugal deepened, internal tensions in the Kingdom also grew. While Nzinga called upon the enslaved African people who were forced to work for the Portuguese to flee and join her army, de Sousa tried to undermine the new Ngola by supporting the members of Ndongo royalty who revolted against their new king. They refused to be ruled over by a woman and would rather side with the conqueror than accept Nzinga’s command. These mutual efforts led to a war between the two sides. At first, Nzinga experienced a series of defeats, which greatly diminished her army, and was expelled from her kingdom by a puppet ruler aided by the Portuguese. Despite this, she quickly began to form new alliances – she married the king named Kasanje and took over the Kingdom of Matamba, creating a strong and highly skilled army. Later on, she also formed a successful relationship against the Portuguese with the Dutch (the two nations were rivals, both hoping to gain as much as possible from their colonial conquests), which only reinforced her significance in the region. Interestingly enough, her opponents refused to recognize her military and political expertise, which she gained as the daughter of the king of Ndongo, as well as through years of experience. Instead they accused her of using witchcraft and human sacrifices to ensure victories against the European soldiers. Only because they believed that a woman, especially a black one, could not possibly be able to defeat a strong, well-equipped European army.
King Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba and the Portuguese governor needed 30 years of constant fights and unsuccessful diplomatic campaigns to sign a peace treaty. Once the peace was fully established, Nzinga could focus on bettering the situation of her people. She introduced a series of reforms and reconverted to Christianity. Till this day the warrior King-Queen of Angola is regarded as the national hero, as her military and political aptitude, unbreakable spirit, and resilience in the face of a much more powerful opponent led her people to freedom.
All this would not be possible without the difficult dialogue she engaged in with her opponents. It was often unpleasant, as the Portuguese didn’t view her as an equal – she was a woman, she was black, she was “a savage”. Despite all this, Nzinga knew her strength and power, and was able to act both as a diplomat and as a warrior, when it was needed. Her unapologetic attitude and strong voice allowed her to finally prevail after three decades of constant struggle.
