Editing Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba (section)

=== 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>