Nzinga, the Warrior Queen of Ndongo and Matamba (1583-1663)

 

Motivated by the recent posts concerning the sovereigns that compounded the royals that governed Egypt in different times of its History, we began to ask ourselves about other royals that left their own marks in the realms they ruled throughout Africa's continent. Following that curiosity, we leave Ancient Egypt behind, at least for now, in order to move quite some milleniuns ahead to speak of this formidable queen who resisted bravely the Portuguese. So who was she? And what exactly were her deeds? Why is her name associated to the resistance against the Portuguese who by then were part of the powerful Spanish empire?

For a start, Nzinga was born in the year of 1583 as the daughter of ngola (which was the title used for a sovereign, equal to 'king', for example) named Kia Samba and his wife, Guenguela Cakombe. We are not certain whether she was the oldest or the youngest of Kia Samba's offspring, but what we do know is that Nzinga had two sisters and a brother, the latter being the heir of Ndongo's throne. Apparently, she receives this name because

"[...] her umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck [...]. It was said to be an indication that the person who had this characteristic would be proud and haughty, and a wise woman told her mother that Nzinga would become queen one day."

In terms of her education, it is said that she was well educated in diplomacy and tride. She could also write, read and speak Portuguese very well and practiced archery, aside of enjoying hunting trips. The development of such skills are possibly the result of the favour she enjoyed of her father, as she recollected it laterwards. This favour was an indicative of the shaping of her skills as a "true politician, [...] true military and intellectual genius.", as she attended her father's council meetings, thus witnessing how "he governed his kingdom", sometimes even following him at war.

The political context that characterized Ndongo, later attributed the name of Angola by the Portuguese, can be better explained below:

"Around the turn of the 17th century, the independent kingdoms and states of the Central African coast were threatened by the Portuguese attempts to colonize Luanda (Luanda, today the capital of Angola, was founded in 1576). Portugal sought to colonize the region in order to control the trade in African slaves, and attacked many of their old trading partners to further this goal."

Also, by 1622 the Portuguese "invited Ngola (king) Mbande to attend a peace conference there to end the hostilities with the Mbundu. Mbande sent his sister Nzinga to represent him in meeting with Portuguese Governor João Correia de Souza". But even with Nzinga's skills as diplomat, when she arranged a peaceful treaty between two parts, it did not prevent the actions of Portugal's government in breaking into Ndongo and slaving its people once they were captured and taken prisoners once Portugal did not honor the treaty. As a result, Ngola Mbandi, Nzinga's brother and king, committed suicide. It was a difficult period for Ndongo, subdued by the Portuguese forces, but until Nzinga became their queen, some changes in the political scenario were expected.

Nzinga became queen in 1623, when she was forty-one years of age. Apparently, "she forbade her subjects to call her Queen. She preferred to be called King, and when leading an army in battle, dressed in men's clothing.". It is also said that when she took the control of her country, she firstly became regent for her nephew Kaza before having him murdered, some claiming so by her own hands. At first she styled herself Lady of Andongon (Portuguese: Senhora de Andongo), but "in a letter of 1626 she now called herself 'Queen of Andongo' (Rainha de Andongo), a title which she bore from then on." Rumour has it that when she attended meetings with Portuguese governors or other diplomats, she took favourites with her and these were curiously dressed in woman's clothes.

Whatever the case was,

"As the new sovereign of Ndongo, Nzinga re-entered negotiations with the Portuguese. At the time, Ndongo was under attack from both the Portuguese and neighboring African aggressors. Nzinga realized that in order to achieve peace and for her kingdom to remain viable, she needed to become an intermediary. She allied Ndongo with Portugal, and was baptsided as Ana de Souza Nzinga Mbande with the Portugal colonial governor serving as her godfather. By doing this she acquired a partner in her fight against her African enemies, and ending Portuguese slave raiding in the kingdom."

Her conversion to Catholicism in 1622 was indeed more an instrument to a change of political alliances, since it was more advantageous for Nzinga, or Ana as she was now called, to attempt an approach to Portugal and by peaceful means to stop the slave raiding rather than follow her brother's path and rebel at any sight. At first, she was not very Catholic, but because she was respectful towards the priests and jesuits that there went, she was respected for it.

However hard were her attempts in making peace with Portugal through this conversion, again the arrangement was broken when

"Portugal betrayed Ndongo in 1626, and Nzinga was forced to flee when war broke out. Nzinga took over as ruler of the nearby kingdom of Matamba, capturing Queen Mwongo Matamba and routing her army. Nzinga then made Matamba her captial, joining it to the kingdom of Ndongo."

She also "offered sanctuary to runaway slaves and Portuguese-trained African soldiers. She stirred up rebellion among the people still left in Ndongo, now ruled by the Portuguese. Nzinga also reached out to the Dutch and invited them to join troops with her." By then, she had no other option but swift alliances, since Portugal constantly broke the deals and peaceful treaties she attempted to forge to protect her people. By 1627, the Queen

"[...] led her army against the Portuguese, initiating a thirty-year war against them. She exploited European rivalry by forging an alliance with the Dutch who had conquered Luanda in 1641. With their help, Nzinga defeated a Portuguese army in 1647. When the Dutch were in turn defeated by the Portuguese [...] Nzinga continued her struggle against the Portuguese. Now in her 60s she still personally led troops in battle. She also orchestrated guerilla attacks on the Portuguese which would continue long after her death and inspire the ultimately successful 20th century armed resistance against the Portuguese that resulted in independent Angola in 1975."

During this time of war against the Portuguese, Nzinga was

"respectful of priests when they were captured by her, and she permitted Portuguese prisoners and Christian Africans to have sacraments. Following the peace treaty of 1657, she became very pious, according to the Capuchin witnesses Gaeta and Cavazzi and Gaeta at least regarded her as a model Christian."

Afterwards, what we know as the result of this long time war against the Portuguese was, eventually, a deal with the Church in which she once again converted to Catholicism. A treaty with Portugal was signed but with no prospects of victory by the side of Nzinga, however resistant she was throughtout those long years she reigned as Queen of Ndongo and Matamba. Finally,

"This great African Amazon Warrior Queen died in 1663 fighting for her people at an old ripe age of eighty-one, which was followed by the massive expansion of the Portuguese slave trade."

Nzinga is until nowadays remembered as a political leader of strong personality who resisted Portugal's colonization which only ended in 1975. As already discussed, her deeds as warrior and sovereign inspired the next generations and left a mark in her country that should be remembered by historians still in our present days.

Bibliography:

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nzinga_of_Ndongo_and_Matamba

-https://afroetic.com/2011/11/19/who-was-queen-ann-nzingha-of-ndongo/

-http://www.tidridge.com/uploads/3/8/4/1/3841927/collapse_of_the_kingdom_of_kongo.pdf

-http://www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/anna-nzinga-mbande-fearless-africa-queen/

-http://www.blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663

-https://afrolegends.com/2013/03/18/queen-nzingha-great-queen-of-angola/