Editing Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (section)

==Early life==

Njinga was born into the royal family of [[Kingdom of Ndongo|Ndongo]], a [[Ambundu|Mbundu]] kingdom in central West Africa around 1583. She was the daughter of ''Ngola'' (a noble title translatable to ''King'') Kilombo of Ndongo. Her mother, Kengela ka Nkombe,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|title=Queens of Infamy: Njinga|url=https://longreads.com/2019/10/03/queens-of-infamy-njinga/|date=3 October 2019|website=Longreads|language=en|access-date=30 May 2020}}</ref> was one of her father's slave wives<ref name=":8">Miller, Joseph C. "Nzinga of Matamba in a New Perspective." ''The Journal of African History'' 16, no. 2 (1975) pp. 201–206, 208, 209, 210–216. Accessed 30 March 2021. {{JSTOR|180812}}</ref> and his favorite concubine.<ref name=":6" /> According to legend, the birthing process was very difficult for Kengela, her mother;<ref name=":6" /> Njinga received her name because the [[umbilical cord]] was wrapped around her neck (the [[Kimbundu]] verb ''kujinga'' means to twist or turn). Children of the royal household who survived difficult or unusual births were believed to possess spiritual gifts,<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 14</ref> and some saw their births as an indicator the person would grow to become a powerful and proud person.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Burness|first=Donald|date=1977|title=Nzinga Mbandi' and Angolan Independence.|journal=Luso-Brazilian Review|volume=14|issue=2|pages=225–229|jstor=3513061}}</ref> Njinga had two sisters, [[Barbara of Matamba|Kambu, or Lady Barbara]] and [[Funji of Ndongo|Funji]], or Lady Grace.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=Guida M. |title=Women Who Ruled: A Biographical Encyclopedia |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=1990 |isbn=0874365600 |location=Santa Barbara, California |pages=130}}</ref> She also had a brother, Mbandi, who was heir apparent to throne.<ref name=":6" />

When she was 10 years old, her father became the king of the Ndongo.<ref name=":6" /> As a child, Njinga was greatly favored by her father. Since she was not considered an [[Inheritance|heir]] to the throne, she was not seen as direct competition to male members of the family, and so the king could freely lavish attention upon her without offending his more likely heirs. She received military training and was trained as a warrior to fight alongside her father, displaying considerable aptitude with a battle axe, the traditional weapon of Ndongan warriors.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 58-60</ref> She participated in many official and governance duties alongside her father, including legal councils, war councils, and important rituals.<ref name=":6" /> Furthermore, Njinga was taught by visiting Portuguese [[Missionary|missionaries]] to read and write in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]].<ref name=":4">Williams, Hettie V. (2010). "Queen Nzinga (Njinga Mbande)". In Alexander, Leslie M.; Rucker, Walter C. (eds.). Encyclopedia of African American History. '''1'''. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. {{ISBN|9781851097746}}.</ref>

===Name variations===
Called “Queen” by the Portuguese, Njinga Mbande is known by many different names including both Kimbundu and Portuguese names, alternate spellings and various honorifics. Common spellings found in Portuguese and English sources include ''Nzinga'', ''Nzingha'', ''Njinga'', and ''Njingha''.<ref name="JW">{{cite book|last1=Wallenfeldt|first1=Jeff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9b6cAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA65|title=Africa to America: From the Middle Passage Through the 1930s|date=2010|publisher=Britannica Educational Publishing|isbn=978-1-61530-175-1|page=65|language=en}}</ref> In colonial documentation, including her own manuscripts, her name was also spelled ''Jinga'', ''Ginga'', ''Zinga'', ''Zingua'', ''Zhinga'', and ''Singa''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=smBVBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA48|title=Nzinga Mbandi, reine du Ndongo et du Matamba|date=2014|publisher=UNESCO|isbn=978-92-3-200026-2|page=48|language=en}}</ref> She was also known by her Christian name, Ana de Sousa.<ref name="JW" /> This name—Anna de Souza Nzingha—was given to her when she was baptized. She was named Anna after the Portuguese woman who acted as her Godmother at the ceremony. She helped influence who Nzingha was in the future.<ref name=":4" /> Her Christian surname, de Souza, came from the acting governor of Angola, João Correia de Souza.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Stapleton|first1=Timothy J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5rZCDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA58|title=Encyclopedia of African Colonial Conflicts [2 volumes]|date=2016|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-837-3|page=58|language=en}}</ref>

As a monarch of Ndongo and Matamba, her native name was Ngola Njinga. ''[[List of Ngolas of Ndongo|Ngola]]'' was the Ndongo name for the ruler and the etymological root of "[[Angola]]". In Portuguese, she was known as Rainha Nzinga/Zinga/Ginga (Queen Nzingha). According to the current [[Kimbundu]] orthography, her name is spelled ''Njinga Mbandi'' (the "j" is a [[voiced postalveolar fricative]] or "soft j" as in [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[French language|French]], while the adjacent "n" is silent). The statue of Njinga now standing in the square of Kinaxixi in Luanda calls her "Mwene Njinga Mbande".

=== Political background ===
During this period, the kingdom of Ndongo was managing multiple crises, largely due to conflicts with the [[Portuguese Empire]]. The Portuguese had first come to Ndongo in 1575 when they established a trading post in [[Luanda]] with the help of the [[Kingdom of Kongo]], Ndongo's northern rival. Despite several years of initial peace between Ndongo and Portugal, relations soured between the two kingdoms and devolved into decades of war between them. Ndongo faced intense military pressure from Portugal and Kongo, both of which seized Ndongan territory. By the 1580s, large parts of Ndongo had fallen under Portuguese control. The Portuguese waged war in a brutal style, burning villages and taking hostages. In addition to territorial conquests, the Portuguese seized large numbers of slaves during the conflict (50,000 according to one source<ref name=":10">Heywood (2017) p. 27</ref>) and built forts inside Ndongan territory to control the slave trade.<ref name=":7">{{Cite web|last=Pantoja|first=Selma|title=Njinga a Mbande: Power and War in 17th-Century Angola|url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-326|access-date=30 March 2021|website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History|year=2020|language=en|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.326|isbn=9780190277734}}</ref> 

Ndongo rallied against the Portuguese, defeating Portugal at the Battle of Lucala in 1590, but not before the kingdom had lost much of its territory. The conflict eroded the power of the king, with many Ndongan noblemen, ''sobas'', refusing to pay tribute to the crown and some siding with the Portuguese. By the time that Nzingha's father became king in 1593, the region had been devastated by war and the power of the king greatly diminished. The king tried a variety of methods to handle the crisis, including diplomacy, negotiations, and open warfare, but he was unable to improve the situation.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":6" />

The situation grew worse for Ndongo when in 1607 the kingdom was invaded by the [[Imbangala]], tribal bands of warriors known for their ferocity in battle and religious fervor.<ref name=":11">Heywood (2017) p. 37, 38</ref><ref>Miller, Joseph C. “The Imbangala and the Chronology of Early Central African History.” ''The Journal of African History'' 13, no. 4 (1972): 549–74. {{JSTOR|180754}}.</ref> The Imbangala divided themselves into warbands, occupying Ndongan territory and capturing slaves. The Portuguese hired some of the Imbangalans as mercenaries, and the new threat forced the Ndongan king to give up any attempts to reconquer his lost territory.<ref name=":11" />