Editing Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (section)

== Wartime ==
[[File:Queen Nzinga 1657.png|thumb|right|Contemporary illustration of Queen Nzinga in negotiations with the Portuguese governor, dated 1657]]

=== Rise to power ===
In 1624, her brother died of mysterious causes (some say suicide, others say poisoning).<ref name=":4" /> Before his death, he had made it clear that Nzinga should be his successor. Nzinga quickly moved to consolidate her rule, having her supporters seize the ritual objects associated with the monarchy and eliminating her opponents at court.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 64, 65</ref> She also assumed the title of ''[[Ngola (ruler)|Ngola]]'', conferring a position of great influence among her people.<ref name=":7" /> An opulent funeral for her brother was arranged, and some of his remains were preserved in a ''misete'' (a [[reliquary]]), so they could later be consulted by Nzinga.<ref name=":7" /> One major obstacle to her rule, her 7-year-old nephew, was under the guardianship of Kasa, an Imbangala war chief. To remove this potential pretender to her throne, Nzinga approached Kasa with a marriage proposal; the couple were married, and after the wedding she had her nephew killed—in Nzinga's view, final revenge for her own murdered son.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 65</ref>

However, her ascension to the throne faced severe opposition from male claimants from other noble families.<ref name=":7" /> According to Mbande tradition, neither Nzinga nor her predecessor brother had a direct right to the throne because they were children of slave wives, not the first wife. Nzinga countered this argument, strategically using the claim that she was properly descended from the main royal line through her father, as opposed to her rivals had no bloodline connection. Her opponents, on the other hand, used other precedents to discredit her, such as that she was a female and thus ineligible.<ref name=":8" /> In addition, Nzinga's willingness to negotiate with the Portuguese (as opposed to previous rulers, who had fought against them) was seen as a sign of weakness by some of the Ndongan nobility; specifically, the treaty's allowing of Portuguese missionaries inside Ndongo was seen with distaste.<ref name=":8" />

While the succession crisis deepened, relations between Ndongo and Portugal became more complex. Nzinga hoped to fulfill the treaty she had signed with the Portuguese in 1621, and thereby regain Ndongan lands lost during her brother's disastrous wars. Governor de Sousa was also keen to avoid conflict, and both he and Nzinga were eager to re-open the slave trade that was so vital to the region's economy. However, tensions rose between Nzinga and de Sousa. When Nzinga asked for the return of ''kijikos'' (a servile caste of slaves traditionally owned by the Ndongan royalty) living in Portuguese controlled territory, as had been agreed in the treaty, de Sousa refused and demanded that Nzinga return escaped Portuguese slaves serving in her army first. De Sousa also demanded that Nzinga become a vassal of the king of Portugal and pay tribute, demands she refused outright.<ref name=":41">Heywood (2017) p. 66, 67, 68</ref> Further straining relations, in late 1624 de Sousa began an aggressive campaign to force Mbande nobles, ''sobas'', to become Portuguese vassals. ''Sobas'' were traditionally vassals of the ruler of Ndongo, and provided as tribute the valuable provisions, soldiers, and slaves needed to control Angola – thus, by making the ''sobas'' vassals of Portugal, the Portuguese were able to undermine Nzinga's position as queen of Ndongo.<ref name=":41">Heywood (2017) p. 66, 67, 68</ref>

To weaken the Portuguese colonial administration, Nzinga dispatched messengers (''makunzes'') to encourage Mbande slaves to flee Portuguese plantations and join her kingdom, thereby depriving the colony of its income and manpower. When the Portuguese complained about the escapes, Nzinga replied that she would abide by her earlier treaty and return escaped slaves, but that her kingdom had none.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 66-68</ref> Her actions were a success and many ''sobas'' joined forces with her, strengthening her position and causing the Portuguese to fear a Mbande uprising was imminent.<ref name=":41">Heywood (2017) p. 66, 67, 68</ref>

Despite these successes, Nzinga's policies threatened the income of the Portuguese and Mbande nobles, and soon the Portuguese began to foment rebellion in her kingdom. In late 1625, the Portuguese sent soldiers to protect<ref name=":18">Heywood (2017) p. 70-74</ref> Hari a Kiluanje, a ''soba'' who had broken ties with Nzinga. Kiluanje opposed having a woman rule Ndongo, and was himself descended from the royal family; upon learning of his actions, Nzinga sent warriors to crush his revolt but was defeated, weakening her position and convincing more nobles to revolt. Nzinga petitioned the Portuguese to stop supporting Kiluanje, and attempted to negotiate as long as possible while she gathered more forces, but the Portuguese guessed this was a delaying tactic and soon recognized Kiluanje as king of Ndongo.<ref name=":18" /> The Portuguese subsequently declared war on Nzinga on 15 March 1626.<ref name=":18" />

=== War with the Portuguese ===
[[File:Nzinga Mbandi Queen of Ndongo and Matamba SEQ 01 Ecran 1.png|thumb|Modern representation of Nzinga Mbandi Queen of Ndongo and Matamba, preparing to confront Portugueses armies]]
Facing a Portuguese invasion, Nzinga gathered her army and withdrew to a group of islands in the Kwanza river. After a series of battles, she was defeated and forced to make a long march into eastern Ndongo; during the retreat, she was forced to abandon most of her followers, a strategy that greatly benefited her as the Portuguese were more interested in re-capturing slaves than in pursuing her army. The Portuguese soon suffered their own setback when Hari a Kiluanje died of smallpox, forcing them to replace him as king with Ngola Hari, another Ndongan nobleman.<ref name=":19">Heywood (2017) p. 82-88</ref> Ngola Hari proved to be an unpopular leader with the Ndongan people, who viewed him as a Portuguese puppet, while some ''sobas'' supported his rule. A divide soon formed inside the kingdom of Ndongo in which the common people and lesser nobles supported Nzinga, while many powerful nobles supported Ngola Hari and the Portuguese.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 92, 96</ref>

In November 1627, Nzinga again attempted to negotiate with the Portuguese, sending a peace delegation and a gift of 400 slaves. She indicated that she was willing to become a vassal of the kingdom of Portugal and pay tribute if they supported her claim to the throne, but was adamant that she was the rightful heir to the throne of Ndongo. The Portuguese, however, rejected the offer, beheading her lead diplomat and issuing the counter demand that she retire from public life, renounce her claim to the kingdom of Ndongo, and submit to Ngola Hari as rightful king—these demands were within the diplomatic norm in Europe, but were utterly unacceptable to Nzinga.<ref name=":20">Heywood (2017) p. 93-98</ref> Faced with the Portuguese rebuke and the realization that many Ndongan nobles stood against her, Nzinga (as had her father and brother) slipped into depression, locking herself in a room for several weeks. She emerged, however, and within a month had begun a new campaign to rebuild her alliances in Ndongo.<ref name=":19" /><ref name=":20" />

While rebuilding her strength, Nzinga took advantage of Ngola Hari's political weakness, highlighting his lack of political experience. Ngola Hari was despised by both his nobles and his Portuguese allies, for while previous kings of Ndongo had all been warriors, the usurper Hari had no soldiers of his own and was forced to rely on Portuguese soldiers. Hari and the Portuguese launched a counter-propaganda campaign against Nzinga, hoping to use her gender as a means to delegitimize her strength,<ref name=":21">Heywood (2017) p. 98-104, 105–110</ref> but this backfired as she increasingly outmaneuvered Hari in Ndongan politics. In one notable incident, Nzinga sent Hari threatening letters and a collection of fetishes, challenging him to combat with her forces; the messages terrified Hari, who was forced to call on his Portuguese allies for support, thus greatly diminishing his own prestige while adding to Nzinga's reputation.<ref name=":21" /> However, she was still unable to directly face the Portuguese in battle, and was forced to retreat from the advancing Portuguese army. She suffered a series of military defeats, most notably in a Portuguese ambush that saw half of her army, most of her officials, and her two sisters captured, though she herself was able to escape. By late 1628, Nzinga's army had been greatly reduced (down to around 200 soldiers according to one source)<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 107</ref> and she had been effectively expelled from her kingdom.<ref name=":21" />

=== Conquest of Matamba ===
Following her expulsion, Nzinga and her supporters continued to fight against the Portuguese. To bolster her forces, the queen looked to make allies in the region while keeping her battered forces out of reach of the Portuguese army. During this time she was contacted by Kasanje, a powerful Imbangala warlord who had established his own kingdom on the Kwanza river. Kasanje and the Imbangala were traditional enemies of Ndongo,<ref name=":7" /> and Kasanje himself had previously executed several of Nzinga's envoys. Kasanje offered Nzinga an alliance and military support, but in return demanded that she marry him and discard her ''lunga'' (a large bell used by Ndongan war captains as a symbol of their power).<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 111</ref> Nzinga accepted these terms, married Kasanje and was inducted into Imbangala society. The exiled queen adapted quickly to the new culture, adopting many Imbangala religious rites. Sources (African, Western, modern, contemporary)<ref name=":22">Heywood (2017) p. 119-126</ref><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":2" /> disagree on the intricacies and extent of Imbangala rites and laws (''ijila''), but the general consensus is that Nzinga was compelled to participate in the customary cannibalistic (the drinking of human blood in the ''cuia'', or blood oath ceremony)<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 119</ref> and infanticidal (through the use of an oil made from a slain infant, the ''maji a samba'')<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 124</ref> initiation rites required for a woman to become a leader in the highly militarized Imbangala society.<ref name=":22" /> The ritual was in part to prevent a succession crisis amongst the Imbangala in the future.<ref name=":37">{{Cite web|title=Book 1, Chapter 3 {{!}} African American Studies|url=https://www.bu.edu/afam/people/faculty/john-thornton/cavazzi-missione-evangelica-2/book-1-chapter-3/|access-date=8 November 2021|website=www.bu.edu}}</ref> She did not, however, completely abandon her Mbundan cultural roots, instead combining the beliefs of her people with those of her new Imbangalan allies. As noted by historian [[Linda Heywood]], Nzinga's genius was to combine her Mbundu heritage with the Imbangalan's Central African military tradition and leadership structure, thus forming a new, highly capable army. To increase her numbers, she granted freedom to escaped slaves and land, new slaves, and titles to other exiled Ndongans.<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":8" /> According to some sources, Nzinga – having been disenfranchised by the Mbundu-dominated nobility of Ndongo – was politically attracted to the Imbangalans, who placed more value on merit and religious fervor as opposed to lineage, kinship (and by extension, sex).<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":22" />

Using her new power base, Nzinga remodeled her forces after the highly effective Imbangala warriors. By 1631 she had rebuilt her army and was waging a successful guerilla war against the Portuguese, with one Jesuit priest (living in the Kongo at the time) describing her as being akin to an Amazon queen and praising her leadership.<ref name=":22" /> Between 1631 and 1635, Nzingha invaded the neighboring [[Kingdom of Matamba]], capturing and deposing Queen {{ill|Mwongo Matamba|sv|Mwongo Matamba}} in 1631. Nzingha had the defeated queen branded but spared her life (Imbangala custom mandated she execute her) and took Mwongo's daughter into her service as one of her warriors.<ref name=":23">Heywood (2017) p. 126</ref> Having defeated the Matambans, Nzinga assumed the throne of Matamba and began settling the region with exiled Ndongans, hoping to use the kingdom as a base to wage her war to reclaim her homeland.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":23" /> Unlike her native Ndongo, Matamba had a cultural tradition of female leadership, giving Nzinga a more stable power base after she overthrew the previous queen.<ref name=":8" /> With Matamba under her control, Nzinga worked extensively to expand the slave trade in her new kingdom, using the profits from slave trading to finance her wars and divert trade income away from the Portuguese. Over the next decade, Nzinga continued to struggle against the Portuguese and their allies, with both sides attempting to limit each other's influence and take control over the slave trade.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":39">{{Cite book |last=Tojo |first=Natalia |title=The Dutch West India Company's establishment in Angola, 1641–1648: a reluctant commitment |publisher=Faculty of Humanities, [[Utrecht University]] |year=2007 |type=Master thesis |hdl=1874/25632 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> During this decade, Nzinga took on more masculine traits, adopting male titles and clothing. She established an all-female bodyguard for herself, and ordered that her male concubines wear women's clothing and address her as king. She also instituted communal sleeping quarters at her court, and enforced strict chastity rules for her male councilors and female bodyguards.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 127</ref>

=== Expansion and Dutch alliance ===
By the late 1630s, Nzinga had expanded her influence to the north and south of Matamba. Using her forces, she cut other rulers off from the Portuguese-controlled coast, capturing parts of the [[Kwango River]] and bringing the region's key slave supplying lands under her control. She also expanded her territory to the north, and in doing so established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of the Kongo and Dutch merchants, who were increasingly active in the area. Nzinga also established a lucrative slave trade with the Dutch, who purchased as many as 13,000 slaves per year from Nzinga's kingdom.<ref name=":8" /><ref>Pieter Mortamer, report published in S. P. l'Honore Naber, ''<nowiki/>'Nota van Pieter Mortamer over het gewest Angola, i643''<nowiki/>', Bijdragen en Medeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap gevestigd te Utrecht, LIV, (1933), pp 1–42.</ref> She continued to occasionally send peace overtures to the Portuguese, even suggesting a military alliance with them, but only if they supported her return to Ndongo. She also refused to be re-admitted to the Christian faith, which became a point of contention between the two parties.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 128-133</ref>

In 1641, forces from the [[Dutch West India Company]], working in alliance with the [[Kongo Empire|Kingdom of Kongo]], [[Capture of Luanda|seized Luanda]], driving out the Portuguese and setting up the directorate of [[Dutch Loango-Angola|Loango-Angola]]. The fall of Luanda was a major blow to the Portuguese, and Nzinga quickly dispatched an embassy to the Dutch-controlled city. Hoping to form an Afro-Dutch coalition against the Portuguese, Nzinga requested an immediate alliance and offered to open the slave trade to them, though she was concerned that the Kingdom of Kongo (her people's traditional northern rivals) was growing too powerful. The Dutch accepted her offer of an alliance and sent their own ambassador and soldiers (some of whom brought their wives) to her court, soon assisting her in her fight against the Portuguese. Having lost large amounts of territory and forced to retreat to [[Massangano]], the Portuguese governor attempted to make peace with Nzinga, but she refused these overtures.<ref name=":24">Heywood (2017) p. 133-136</ref> Nzingha moved her capital to Kavanga, in the northern part of Ndongo's former domains. The capture of Luanda also left Nzingha's kingdom as the pre-eminent, if temporary, slave-trading power in the region, allowing for her to build a sizeable war-camp (''kilombo'') of 80,000<ref name=":24" /> (a figure which included non-combatants)<ref name=":40">Thornton, John K. "The Art of War in Angola, 1575–1680." ''Comparative Studies in Society and History'' 30, no. 2 (1988): 360–78. {{JSTOR|178839}}.</ref> members, including mercenaries, escaped slaves, allies, and her own soldiers.<ref name=":8" />

Using the large size of her army, her new wealth and her famous reputation, Nzinga was able to reclaim large parts of Ndongo from 1641 to 1644.<ref name=":24" /> However, her expansionism caused alarm amongst other African kingdoms; in one infamous incident, she invaded the Wandu region of Kongo, which had been in revolt against the Kongolese king. Though these lands had never been part of Ndongo, Nzinga refused to withdraw and added the conquest to her kingdom, an act which greatly offended the Kongolese king, Garcia II.<ref name=":25">Heywood (2017) p. 138, 139, 142</ref><ref name=":39"/> The Dutch, hoping to preserve their alliance with both Kongo and Nzinga, brokered a peace, but relations between Nzinga and other regional leaders remained strained.<ref name=":25" /> In addition, her former husband and ally, Kasanje, feared her growing power in the region and formed a coalition of Imbangala leaders against Nzinga, invading her lands in Matamba (though they made little progress).<ref name=":25" /> By the mid-1640s, her successes had won her the support of many Ndongan nobles. With the nobility flocking to her side, Nzingha was able to collect more tribute (in the form of slaves) which she in turn sold to the Dutch in exchange for firearms, thereby increasing her military and economic power; by 1644, she considered Garcia II of the Kongo to be her only political equal in the region, while the Portuguese viewed her as their most potent adversary in Africa.<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 143, 144</ref>

In 1644, Nzinga defeated the Portuguese army at the Battle of Ngoleme. Then, in 1646, she was defeated by the Portuguese at the Battle of Kavanga and, in the process, her sister Kambu was recaptured, along with her archives, which revealed her alliance with [[Kongo people|Kongo]].<ref>Heywood (2017) p. 148</ref> These archives also showed that her captive sister, [[Funji of Ndongo|Funji]], had been in secret correspondence with Nzinga and had revealed coveted Portuguese plans to her. As a result of the woman's spying, the Portuguese reputedly drowned the sister in the [[Cuanza River|Kwanza River]].<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last=Masioni |first=Pat |display-authors=etal |date=2014 |title=Njinga Mbandi: Queen of Ndongo and Matamba |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000230103 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191015215226/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000230103 |archive-date=15 October 2019 |website=UNESCO Digital Library}}</ref> The Dutch in Luanda sent Nzinga reinforcements, and with their help, Nzinga routed a Portuguese army in 1647 at the [[Battle of Kombi]].<ref name=":0" /> Nzinga then laid siege to the Portuguese capital of Massangano, isolating the Portuguese there; by 1648, Nzingha controlled much of her former kingdom, while her control over the slave trade increased the economic power of Matamba.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":8" />

Despite these successes, the allies' control over Angola remained tenuous. Lacking artillery, Nzinga was unable to effectively break the Portuguese defenses at Massangano, while political infighting and developments in Europe weakened the Dutch forces in Angola.<ref name=":39" /> In August 1648 a Portuguese expedition, led by newly appointed governor Salvador Correia de Sá,<ref name=":38">{{Cite book|last=Heywood|first=Linda|title=Nzinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=2017}}</ref> [[Recapture of Luanda|besieged Luanda]]. After suffering through a major Portuguese bombardment, on 24 August 1648 the Dutch commander sued for peace with the Portuguese and agreed to evacuate Angola.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Boxer|first=C. R.|date=1948|title=Salvador Correia de sá e Benevides and the Reconquest of Angola in 1648|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2507790|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=28|issue=4|pages=483–513|doi=10.2307/2507790|jstor=2507790|issn=0018-2168|url-access=subscription}}</ref> When Nzinga's army and the remaining Dutch forces arrived outside Luanda, the peace between Dutch and Portuguese was signed, and unbeknownst to Nzinga, the Dutch forces sailed for Europe.<ref name=":38" /> Faced with a bolstered Portuguese garrison, Nzinga and her forces retreated to Matamba.<ref name=":8" /> Unlike previous decades however, after 1648 Nzinga concentrated her efforts on preventing a Portuguese push inland (as opposed to trying to re-conquer Ndongan territory), disrupting their soldiers and fomenting wars between smaller tribes and kingdoms.<ref name=":26">Heywood (2017) p. 160-165</ref><ref name=":8" />