Ndongo legends say, “A lioness in the lands of the great Kongo (the vassal state of Ndongo) would have two offspring (Ngola Mbanda and Njinga Mbanda), which would be taken by a hunter (King Ngola Kiluanji, their father) both to another tribe (the Kingdom of Ndongo). Between the two pups, the oldest, with a new mane (different concepts) will quickly forget its origins and will assume airs of greatness but for a short time. It would be the weakest of them (the youngest), who would be a king, and it will bring freedom to the Bantu people, and the new king will make the weaker tribe like a rod of steel (Kingdom of Ndongo). Furthermore, its birth would be a puzzle, and a single sign would come from Goma (the volcano) in Kongo.” More specifically Angolan people long held “the new king” would come “one hundred rainy seasons after the arrival of the first Europeans.”
Born in 1583, Ana de Sousa Njinga Mbunda, daughter of Ndongo founding ruler King Ngola Kiluanji, grew up in her father’s shadow frequently watching him govern his subjects and surprisingly accompanied him in wartime. Njinga, “lived during a period when the Atlantic slave trade and the consolidation of power by
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An example of this activity, “By 1444, a ‘cargo’ of 235 enslaved Africans had been brought to Lagos in Portugal...using enslaved Africans on sugar plantations in Madeira, a Portuguese island off the west coast of Africa by 1460.” Kingdom of Ndongo, positioned along the west central coast of Africa, highly affected through this enslavement activity, is mentioned for the first time during the sixteenth-century as being “one of a number of vassal states to Kongo...and was the most
Early on, African leaders were able to maintain power over the Europeans and prevented the foreigners from exploring into the interior of Africa. The trial was used to paint Abina as a complainer since there were other young girls who worked for Quamina Eddoo who did not report him or his sister. Another way Abina’s was silenced was the fact that her perspective was not recorded. Even though the court case was documented by an observer in the court, Abina’s personal narrative was not.
Equiano, Olaudah. The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African: an authoritative text. New York: Norton, 2001. Print.
Portuguese missionaries and trading partners were among the first to meet Africans along the coast of the Atlantic. It was one of these kings, the king of the West African state of Congo, Nzinga Mbemba's father, that provided a coastal settlement for the Portuguese. Adopting Christianity for the nation, including the baptizing of both himself and his son, there seemed to be an alliance between the two nations, as seen in the introduction of Nzinga Mbemba's, “Appeal to the King of Portugal, 1526”. However, after Nzinga Mbemba took the throne, trouble began to arise in Congo due to the Portuguese pushing boundaries that threatened to devastate the nation. This is when the king of Congo wrote a letter to the king of Portugal, which used a variety of psychological strategies that evoke guilt and religious passion, Mbemba establishes a direct linkage between him and the king of Portugal. In consequence, the king of Portugal would become more likely to grant any request that Mbemba would ask for, although Mbemba's true reason for writing the letter was to manipulate the king of Portugal into helping to get part of Mbemba's own power back.
Aminata's childhood began with her life in Bayo, where she lives with her parent among people who share the same culture as her. In early life, Aminata's parent play an important role in developing Aminata's character. Aminata's parent – Mamadu D...
The book Segu is about telling the story of Africa as if it was a person wanting an autobiography done before its life is over. The history of Africa during the 18th and 19th century was a really vague topic for me to understand. After reading Segu by Maryse Condé my thinking of this period was made clear by the personal experiences of the Traoré family sons. What I came to understand is this book deceitfully explains the decline of West African countries in the eyes and personal struggles of the Bambara people of Segu. In this case it’s the focus on the travels of the four sons of Dousika Traoré. Tiekoro, Siga, Naba, and Malobali all summoned on personal journeys that gave me a better understanding of what actually happened during the 18th and 19th century time period of people who actually experienced it.
Queen Nzinga’s methodical rise to power was well justified and vindicative of her ensuing rule, contrary to the arguments of her opponents. As the daughter of a previous king and sister to the next heir to the throne, Nzinga had the correct hereditary history to rule, an important prerequisite for rule in Ndongo culture. To reinforce this, Nzinga held an election, in which qualified officials appointed her as queen (Thornton 37). She was not the first queen to take uimate power over Ndongo (although none were as influential as she), but her traditional minded critics refused to accept it, and considered it a sign of illegitimate rule (Thornton 37). To combat this, Nzinga expanded her gender identity and strived to be more “manly” by engaging in battles personally (Thornton 39). It also helped that she was deemed i...
Though the Atlantic Slave Trade began in 1441, it wasn’t until nearly a century later that Europeans actually became interested in slave trading on the West African coast. “With no interest in conquering the interior, they concentrated their efforts to obtain human cargo along the West African coast. During the 1590s, the Dutch challenged the Portuguese monopoly to become the main slave trading nation (“Africa and the Atlantic Slave Trade”, NA). Besides the trading of slaves, it was also during this time that political changes were being made. The Europe...
She was a native African woman who appears to be an African queen or princess and belong to a wealthy African tribe.
John Thornton. “Early Kongo-Portuguese Relations: A New Interpretation.” History in Africa 8 (1981): 183. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3171515.
Nzinga's dark cheeks flushed when she was refused a chair by the Portuguese governor Joao Corria de Sousa. Even after the refusal, Nzinga held her head high and beckoned to a servant. The servant came to her side and she whispered directions in his ear. He followed them immediately, getting down on hands and knees. Nzinga then sat down on his back and stared straight into the governor's eyes. This time, he was the one who had red creeping up into his face. It was 1622, and Nzinga was representing her brother, a king, in a meeting for peace. Through her fearlessness, determination, and perseverance, Nzinga fought to defend her people from intruding Portuguese slave traders. She overcame many obstacles to become a very strong leader. Her immediate
Servitude is a usual part of African ritual. Tribes would often use trade to obtain slaves by going to the head chief and trading for livestock. Not only did various tribes trade with the people of their countries, but with the Europeans of other nationalities as well. There were times that tribes would go to war and keep chiefs and prisoners of war were kept as slaves, to trade with European countries. Many times slaves were sold due to being punished, or to rape and other various crimes.
Queen Ana Nzinga, also called Nzinga Mbande or Anna de Sousa, was a queen in the 17th century over the kingdom of Ndongo, and later Matamba. Ndongo was close to Luanda, the present day capital of Angola. She inherited power in 1624, after her brother committed suicide . She was known to be a skilled diplomat, and even before she became the sovereign leader herself. Her strengths were negotiating and making allies, skills that were crucial for Ndongo and Matambas’ survival and well being during this period because of threats from the Portuguese, who were in the process of building an empire.
On the 16th of January 1928, in the British colony of Banjul, The Gambia, a beautiful baby girl was born to a Scottish doctor and Sierra Leonean woman. The Scottish doctor, was my great-grandfather who fell in love with my great grandmother, after meeting her on the streets of Banjul, formerly known as Bathurst. He
Gyekye, K. (1996). Ancestorship and Tradition. In K. Gyekye, African Cultural Values: An introduction (pp. 161-167). Sankofa Publishing Company.
The small African village located on the bank of the river Niger has a story of its own, that only the old and wise are able to des...