Editing Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (section)

=== 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" />