preview

The Relationship Between The Kongolese And The Portuguese Up Until The Battle Of Mbwila

Better Essays
Introduction The Portuguese first made contact with the Kongolese in the 1400s sparking a long and varied relationship between the two kingdoms. In order to better understand how this relationship played a part in the trade, colonization, and warfare of this region of Africa, the following paper will discuss the relationship between the Kongolese and the Portuguese up until the Battle of Mbwila, what occurred at the Battle of Mbwila, and how this battle effectively destroyed the Kingdom of Kongo in the latter part of the 17th century.
The Kongo Kingdom & Portuguese Angola The predecessors of many Angolans moved from different parts of Africa much sooner than the arrival of the first Portuguese in the late 1400s. By the time of the Portuguese’s landing in Africa, the Kongo Kingdom was already founded in the northwestern part of modern day Angola. The first Portuguese to explore the Congo River had many intentions. They planned to bring religion, to promote European ideas of civilization, to find and use resources, and eventually to build up the slave trade. By the mid-1400s, the Kongo Kingdom was the most influential of the states located along Africa 's Atlantic coastline. The kingdom had been founded in the late 1300s by a party of Bakongo, which is the plural for Kongolese individuals. These Bakongo had ventured south of the Congo River into northwestern Angola. The Bakongo then defeated the local population and built the capital city of Mbanza Kongo, which translates as
Get Access