**Detailing the impact of foreign culture and (interpretation of) religion on the continent, an attachment to the few threads on the topic.**

Kongo 1485

''... This marked their entry into Kongolese history. The Portugese sailors returned in 1485 and envoys were exchanged between the two countries. The Portugese left four Christian missionaries at the Kongo court while four Mpinda nobles accompanied Diogo Cao on his return voyage to Portugal. According to Herbert Wendt, the Mpinda nobles were well treated in Portugal where they were taught Portugese and laden with presents. They were also thoroughly questioned about their homeland. On the other hand, in the midst of the primeval forest, the Portugese missionaries in Kongo;

experienced a well - organized political system with taxes and rates, there was a brilliant court, and a great civil service. The state constructed roads, imposed tolls, supported a large army and had a monetary system or shells, of which the Mani (King) Congo had a monopoly. The Congo kingdom even had a few satellite states, for example the state of the Ngola {ie, Ndongo} in present day Angola. The original kingdom was about the size of France and Germany put together...

In April 1491 on Cao's return, the Mani Soyo was baptized a Christian by the Portugese missionaries. Taking the portugese name, Don Manuel, he had a church built in his province. Months later, the Mani Kongo received the Portugese in Mbanza Kongo, laying on a celebration of music and dance for them. At this display, the Kongo nobles carried ironwood swords and shields. The lower orders carried bows and arrows. The King himself was seated on a throne inlaid with ivory raised on a platform. Trumpeter with instruments of ivory repeated their composition twelve times to represent the tewelve generations of Kings since the founding of the Kongo kingdom. During this meeting the Mani Kongo (Nzinga a Kuwo) converted to Christianity, taking the name Dom Joao I. My Alan Scholefield, author of The Dark Kingdom, suggests that;

It was only then the Portugese learnt the real reason for the quick conversion the kingdom was on the point of civil war. Several peoples were rebelling against the central power and the Mani Congo was about to help his son Affonso put down the revolt. Naturally he wanted Portugese aid. One must try to imagine the Portugese at this moment, there were not many of them by compairson with their Black hosts, they had come to this remote place to proselytize and begin a trading organization - and within a few weeks of their arrival, they were being asked to take part in a war which did not concern them in the least. Bit the request came from a brother in Christ and it was not possible to refuse. So a black army marched out on to the central African field of battle under the banner of the Cross, accompanied by a number of white mercenaries carrying muskets. It is hardly surprising that they won the day and returned to the capital in triumph. In gratitude the Mani Congo settled the Portugese in one section of the town not too far from his own palace and 'the two races living in such amity that doors, it is said, were never closed and there was no need for guards. The co-exsistance had begun.

Dr Chancellor Williams, the noted African American social scientist interprets the Christianisation of the Kongo as a cynical plot by the Portugese to Europeanise the country. For example, Kongolese kings and nobles received european names on being baptized, they had their children educated in Portugal, they paid allegiance to the Roman Pope, Jesuits became counselors to the royals and a while new class of people with european titles appeared such as dukes and infantes. By 1512 the Portugese regiment appeared. Issued by their king, Manuel, it contained an outline for their Kongolese policy. The document begins with the assertion that all Catholic kings are brothers. It therefore follows that Manuel will help his ''brother'' the King of Kongo build Christianity in the kingdom,. Moreover the portugese ambassador is to act as an advisor to the the Kongolese king in reforming the Kongo court along christian lines. In particular, the Kongolese should receive european titles, carry Eurpean emblems nd adopt Portugese courtly etiquette. In addition, the Kongolese should pay for the Christianization programme by exporting copper, ivory and slaves to Portugal. Finally the ambassador should find out all that he could about the politics and geography of Kongo. Dr Williams wrote and incisive analysis of the document;

This is one of the more interesting and significant documents in the history of Black people because it was the first detailed the blueprint for the conquest of the Black Man's mind (acculturation via christianity), his body slavery) and his country. This historic document, however, was couched in all the endearing words and phraseology of equality and brotherly love....

Dom Jao I died in 1506. His loyalty to the religion of the Portugese however seems to have been merely opportunistic. Mr Scholefield narrates that;

He had, in many ways been a disappointment to the portugese. Quite soon after he had been baptized it became clear that he had become a chrisitian for reasons of state and that he had returned to tradition.... Traditional elements among the the black nobility had never been happy about his baptism and spoke darkly of ancestors betrayed, of sorcery and vengeance. But what hastened Jao's apostasy was the uncompromising attitude of the portugese toward his marriages. They saw them as unchristian and tried to pressure him to reject all his wives save one. What they did not know was that the Mani Congo took wives for presicely the same diplomatic reasons as european royalty They represented power blocs. By many careful marriages the Mani Congo was able to make his position virtually unassailable. When the portugese remained intractable moral the Mani Congo reacted; He rejected their religion. Abnout 1495 most of the missionaries and with them the black nobles who had been converted were obliged to leave the city of Congo.

Dom Affonso I, a christianized son succeded him. He was however met with vigorous opposition from his non christian brother Mpunza a Kintima. Prince Mpanzu occupied the capttial with the support of the Mani Kahunga, the traditional priest, and forces of nearly 200,000 men. They viewd the christian influence as a threat to their power. Affonso however triumphed over Mpanzu in battle in spite of the fact that he had inferior numbers of perhaps 10,000 soilders and 100 christians, both Kongolese and portugese. Affonso attributed his victory to a religious miracle and thus strengthened his desire to spread christianity in the land. After the battle Affonso executed his brother but converted the Mani Kabunga. He gave the latter the position of keeper of the holy water. Years later he built the church of the holy cross to commemorate the miracle.

Affonso I wrote to King Manuel of Portugal requesting that he send priests and technicians to spread Christiantity further. Within three yeas, schools were established in which students were instructed in portugese and christianity. Furthermore, Affonso increased the flow of KiKongo students to Portugal and he himself studied protugese laws. The portugese sent him a collection of these in five great volumes. His aim seems to have been the creation of a renaissance style christian state as then existed in europe. His achievements went beyond this however. Dr Ehret reports that ''A local body of scribes was trained, able eventually to communicate in written latin, portugese and Kikongo'' By 1516, one source reports that the capital had one thousand students studying grammar, humanities and things of the faith - By the close of the century the capital had six churches.

The relationship between the Kongo and portugal however, soured. In 1508 the first slaves from Kongo were sent as presents to King Manuel to pay for the Christianization programme. The portugese workers sent to Kongo in return failed to deliver on the work that was agreed. In addition their shabby and arrogant conduct was a cause for concern. Nor was it long before their enslaving activities and abuses of Kongolese women got out of hand. Dr Williams wrote;

The portugese christianization of the Kongo created something moe than chaos. It was a revolting mess, no matter from what angle it was viewed. To begin with, priests were not only among the leading slave traders, but the also owned slave ships to carry the 'black cargoes' to distant lands. Priests also had their harems of Black girls, some having as many as twenty each... One of the main attractions that drew thousands of white men was their unlimited sexual freedom with all the black girls and women who were enslaved and helpless in the power of their masters. These 'wholesale raids' on black womanhood continued to swell the mulatto population, the majority of which as in the case of Egypt and Sudan became the faithful servants and loyal representatives of the conquering races to which their fathers belonged.

These abuses prompted a series of letters form Affonso I to the Portugese court. Mr scholefield adds; 'More than twenty of Affonsos letters to King Manuel and his successor Kin John III survive and very bleak reading thay make'. One such letter was dated 6 June 1526;

There are many traders in all corners of the country [wrote Affonso I]. They bring ruin to the country. Ever day people are enslaved and kidnapped even nobles, even members of the kings own family.

The pleas fell on deaf ears and enslaving continued. Moreover Affonso sent a gift of silver to Portugal in the 1520's. This convinced the portugese that silver mines existed within Kongo territory despite Affonsos ascertains to the contrary. THe portugese further belied that Kongo had an indigenous source of gold. These beliefs lead portugal to continue their actions in the region. Professor Jan Vansina, the highly important authority on Kongo comments that;

Affons reign set a pattern in Kongo History for more than a century to come, the slave trade the quest for mines, the portugese factions and the half hearted efforts towards education and converting the Kongolese would continue practically unchanged until the 1640s. Yet Kongo oral tradition sees Affonso as its greatest king.

Dom Pedro I became the next ruler in 1545. Although supported by the local portugese the people of the capital revolted and placed Diogo I on the throne in his place. Of Diogo, DeGraft Johnson says; 'He was fond of valuable cloths of gold, tapestry, silk and lordly furniture'' A major crisis ensued in 1556, however,. Wat broke out between slave dealing factions supported bt the vassal king of Ndongfo, to the should, against the Kongolese kings forces. Both sides were aided by rival Portuguese parties. The Ndongo and the slave dealers triumphed and their country became independent of Kongo overlordship.

A second problem emerged for kongo in 1569 during the reign of Dom Alvaro II a successor. The Jaga, a semi barbarian horde, invaded tfrom the lands to the east. They triggered a sudden amd unprecedented collapse of social order in Kongo. Moreover they were e slave traders. A famine and a six year economic breakdown ensued. With the help of some of the portugese , kongo expelled this element. The portugese had other ideas, however. Beginning in 1575 and lasting for over a century, they launched a series of wars to capture Ndongo. Apparently they thought the country contained silver mines. Kondo made some sort of recovery during tis perieod. It entered the seventeenth century with its institutions and more of its infrastructure in tact. in addition it developed a newly created messenger system using runners. In Ndongo, however things were not going terribly well. After 1608 the portugese army commander in chief instituted a new policy of repression. Bento cardoso devised a system where every Nodongo notable would be owned by a portuges official and was responsible for delivering a certain quanitiy of slaves to the portugese. Should the Ndongo notable bfail therein ,. he too would be enslaved. Over a hundred notables were enslaved in a single year. Moreover the portugese killed a further one hundred. Even the ruler of Ndongo, himself a slave trader resisted the aggression. War dragged on for years but the portugese were forced to sue for peace.


In 1622 Ann Nzinga, the Ndongo roayl sister, attended a peace confrence with the portugese convened in the coastal city of Luanda. She demanded,

1. That the portugese evacuate Kabasa, the Ndogo capital.
2. Thats the portugese wage war on the Jaga.
3. All Ndongo notables who had become vassals of the portugese must return to their former loyalty to the Ndongo crown.

IN return, Nzing proposed to hand over portugese prisoners of war. the provisions of the treaty were designed to end all fighting in the region, but alas the portugese breached it almost immediately by invading Kongo. The following year, Ann Nzinga officially became the Ngola [king] and in this capacity made the regional alliances necessary to fight the portugese. She even made common cause with the Jaga. Ndongo was declared a free country the following year. All slaves entering the country were declared to be free. By 1629 her forces and allies captured Matamba, the neighboring state to the east. Incidentally, this state had a tradition of being ruled by females. This too was declared a free country. In 1641 Garcia II, a vigorous king, emerged in Kongo. He made alliances with the dutch to fight the portugese aggression. His death in 1661 ended the great era of Kongolese culture. In Ndongo the death of Nzinga in 1663 marked a turning point. Her extraordinary and brilliant reign only delayed the inevitable.

Toward the end of the seventeenth century, both Kongo and the combined states of Ndongo and Matamba fell victim to European predator activities where, ''executions, treachery, robbery and violence became the order of the day'' Before winding up this chapter we note that one scholar, Professor W.E.B. Dubois, described the west African coastal culture in language far more glowing that we have. We give him the final word:


When we ruled - Robin Walker P344 - 353

Took longer than I thought, typing that up. Didn't put that smile on there though, must've clicked on it by accident.

Peace
B.L

full facts and great information.

I remember reading how strong Ann Nzinga was. Thx for the refresh.

I give homage to the time and effort of J.A. Rogers for his World's Great Men (and Women) of Color I & II.

I found great inspiration when I read the discriptions of these great men and women. There certainly are other great books of this sort but I recommend it every time I get a chance.

I really enjoyed in Sex and Race where he told of Africans in the royal families of Europe...bet there were lots of heart burn and attacks when white people heard these items...