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==Kandas, Gerações and Houses==
==Kandas, Gerações and Houses==
Governance in Kongo was based primarily upon the [[kanda (lineage)|kanda]].<ref>Hilton, Anne: "Family and Kinship among the Kongo South of the Zaire River from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries", page 194. The Journal of African History, Vol. 24, No. 2, 1983</ref> Each kanda (plural: ''makanda'') was a faction based upon kingroup or affiliation.<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 439. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref> Kandas generally took the name of a person (ie. Nimi, Nlaza or Mpanzu), but could also take the name of an occupation (Mbala<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref>) or birthplace (Kwilu or Nsundi<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref>). The KiKongo prefix "ki" is added onto these names to mean "people with something in common".<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref> These factions were recorded as ''gerações'' or ''casas'' (lineages or houses) in Kongo documents written in Portuguese.<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref>
Governance in Kongo was based primarily upon the [[kanda (lineage)|kanda]].<ref>Hilton, Anne: "Family and Kinship among the Kongo South of the Zaire River from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries", page 194. The Journal of African History, Vol. 24, No. 2, 1983</ref> Each kanda (plural: ''makanda'') was a faction based upon kingroup or affiliation.<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 439. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref> Kandas generally took the name of a person (ie. Nimi, Nlaza or Mpanzu), but could also take the name of an occupation (Mbala<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref>) or birthplace (Kwilu or Nsundi<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref>). The KiKongo prefix "ki" is added onto these names to mean "people with something in common".<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref> These factions were recorded as ''gerações'' or ''casas'' (lineages or houses) in Kongo documents written in Portuguese.<ref>Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006</ref> Until the mid-seventeenth century, following the [[Battle of Mbwila]] these factions were short lived and fluctuating, but following the battle, factions were much firmer and lasted for generations, particularly the Kimpanzu and Kinlaza.


==Dynasties==
==Dynasties==

Revision as of 01:45, 2 December 2007

This is a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Kongo known commonly as the Manikongos (KiKongo: Mwenekongo). In the KiKongo language, provinces were known as "wene". The lords of these wene were known as Mwene (plural: Awene). The lord of Kongo was the most powerful mwene in the region and recognized as the king of the region by the Portuguese upon their arrival in 1483.

Kandas, Gerações and Houses

Governance in Kongo was based primarily upon the kanda.[1] Each kanda (plural: makanda) was a faction based upon kingroup or affiliation.[2] Kandas generally took the name of a person (ie. Nimi, Nlaza or Mpanzu), but could also take the name of an occupation (Mbala[3]) or birthplace (Kwilu or Nsundi[4]). The KiKongo prefix "ki" is added onto these names to mean "people with something in common".[5] These factions were recorded as gerações or casas (lineages or houses) in Kongo documents written in Portuguese.[6] Until the mid-seventeenth century, following the Battle of Mbwila these factions were short lived and fluctuating, but following the battle, factions were much firmer and lasted for generations, particularly the Kimpanzu and Kinlaza.

Dynasties

When the Portuguese arrived in Kongo in 1483,[7] the reigning king represented the Nimi kanda.[8] This kanda was probably descended from Nimi a Nzima, father of the founder of Kongo.[9] Divisions emerged within the kanda during succession disputes to form factions within factions,[10] but the dynasty remained the same until the reign of Álvaro I.[11]

King Álvaro I was the first manikongo of the House of Kwilu (Portuguese: Coulo). This kanda or lineage was named for the birthplace of Alvaro,[12] north of the capital city. The Kwilu would reign virtually uninterrupted until King Álvaro III died while his heir was too young to take the throne.

Another kanda, that of the Kinkanga a Mvika, took control of Kongo in 1622.[13] This kanda, also known as the House of Nsundi,[14] reigned until the House of Kwilu returned to power under Ambrosio I.[15]

After Ambrosio's death in 1631,[16] the Mpanzu kanda came to power. The House of Kimpanzu was also short-lived and overthrown by two brothers of the Nlaza kanda in 1636.[17] The members of the House of Nsundi were all killed or absorbed into the Kinlaza by 1657.[18] The Kinlaza dynasty would reign until Kongo's catastrophic civil war following the 1665 Battle of Mbwila, when sporadic and violent alternation followed.

The capital was destroyed in 1678.[19] Its destruction forced the claimants from both sides of the conflict to rule from mountain fortresses. The Kinlaza retreated to Mbula where they founded the capital of Lemba.[20] Earlier another branch of Kinlaza, under the leadership of Garcia III of Kongo founded a settlement at Kibangu. The Kimpanzu based their struggle for the throne at Mbamba Luvota in the south of Soyo.[21] A new faction appeared in the form of the Agua Rosada kanda, headquarteredd at the mountain fortress of Kibangu. This might be considered a new house formed from both the Kinlaza and Kimpanzu, its founders were the children of a Kimpanzu father and a Kinlaza mother.[22] All parties claimed kingship over Kongo (or what was left of it), but their power rarely spread outside their fortresses or the immediate surrounding area.

The country was finally reunited by Pedro IV of the Agua Rosada kanda. Pedro IV declared a doctrine of shared power by which the throne would shift (in due time) from Kinlaza to the Kimpanzu and back.[23], while the Agua Rosada appear to have continued as neutral in Pedro's fortress of Kibangu.[24]

The system functioned sporadically, with considerable fighting, until 1764 when Jose I of the Kinlaza faction usurped the throne and thrust the country back into civil war. The Kinlaza enjoyed a short lived second dynasty that ended in 1788. After that, the throne moved through various royal hands until the kingship was extinguished in 1914.

Elections

The selection of kings of Kongo was by a variety of principles, as kings themselves evoked different methods of selection in their letters announcing their succession. Typically the kingdom was said to pass by election,[25] though the electors and the process they used changed over time and according to circumstances. Frequently election seems to have been a combination of elective and hereditary principals.[26]

Kings of Kongo

The following section is divided into periods based on kanda or house rulership. Most houses reigned of a distinct period with few if any intervals. This is not the case, however; after the Kongo Civil War. During this peiord you will note the name of each king's kanda alongside their reign.

Early Awenekongo

Awenekongo of the Kwilu kanda

Awenekongo of the Nkanga a Mvika kanda

Mwenekongo of the Kwilu kanda

Awenekongo of the Mpanzu kanda

Awenekongo of the Nlaza kanda

Awenekongo during the Civil War

Awenekongo of Kibangu

Awenekongo of Lemba (Mbula) for the House of Kinlaza

Mwenekongo of Mbamba Lovata for the Kimpanzu

Awenekongo after the Reoccupation of São Salvador

Awenekongo after becoming a vassal of Portugal

The Portuguese abolished the title of King of Kongo following the revolt of 1914.

Further Reading

This list is constructed primarily from that found in Graziano Saccardo, 'Congo e Angola con la storia dell'antica missione dei cappuccini (3 vols, Milan, 1982–83), vol. 3, pp. 11–14. Saccardo bases his reconstruction on several kinglists produced over time, by Antonio da Silva, Duke of Mbamba in 1617, by Antonio de Teruel in 1664, by Pedro Mendes in 1710 and by Francisco das Necessidades in 1844. In addition many of the kings wrote letters and signed them with both their names and their numbers, and Saccardo has found many of these to verify the kinglists.

Saccardo's king list has been modified in the following manner: the Kikongo names of the kings have been given in a Kikongo form following norms established in Joseph de Munck, Kinkulu kia Nsi eto' (Tumba, 1956, 2nd ed, Matadi, 1971). The Christian names of the kings are given in modern Portuguese spelling. In addition Saccardo's entries have been updated by a number of sources, most notably the kinglist, unknown to him found in the Instituto Histórico e Geografico Brasileiro (Rio de Janeiro) Manuscritos, Lata 6, pasta 2. "Catallogo dos reis de Congo" MS of c. 1758.

See Also

References

  1. ^ Hilton, Anne: "Family and Kinship among the Kongo South of the Zaire River from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Centuries", page 194. The Journal of African History, Vol. 24, No. 2, 1983
  2. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 439. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  3. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  4. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  5. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  6. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  7. ^ Oliver, Roland and Anthony Atmore: "Medieval Africa, 1250-1800", page 168. Cambridge University Press, 2001
  8. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  9. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  10. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  11. ^ Battell, Andrew and Samuel Purchas: The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell of Leigh, in Angola and the Adjoining Regions", page 119. The Hakluyt Society, 1901
  12. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page XX. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  13. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 38. Cambridge University, 1998
  14. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 449. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  15. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 450. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  16. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 450. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  17. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 39. Cambridge University, 1998
  18. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 39. Cambridge University, 1998
  19. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 23. Cambridge University, 1998
  20. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 39. Cambridge University, 1998
  21. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 39. Cambridge University, 1998
  22. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 40. Cambridge University, 1998
  23. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 455. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  24. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 201. Cambridge University, 1998
  25. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 439. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  26. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 439. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  27. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 445. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  28. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 51. Cambridge University, 1998
  29. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 59. Cambridge University, 1998
  30. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 79. Cambridge University, 1998
  31. ^ Thornton, John: "Elite Women in the Kingdom of Kongo: Historical Perspectives on Women's Political Power", page 456. The Journal of African History, Vol. 47, 2006
  32. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 79. Cambridge University, 1998
  33. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 39. Cambridge University, 1998
  34. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 20. Cambridge University, 1998
  35. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 36. Cambridge University, 1998
  36. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 79. Cambridge University, 1998
  37. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 38. Cambridge University, 1998
  38. ^ Thornton, John K: "The Kongolese Saint Anthonty: Dona Beatriz Kimpa Vita and the Antonian Movement, 1684-1706", page 79. Cambridge University, 1998
  39. ^ Thornton, John: "The Origins and Early History of the Kingdom of Kongo, c. 1350-1550", page 100. International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1, 2001
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