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"Its inhabitants are
courageous and always ready to take up arms, to drive back the
enemies from Angola…in
case of need an army of four hundred thousand warriors can be
mustered."1
~Two Portuguese writers at the end of the sixteenth centuries in their
book, Description of the Kingdom of the Congo and Surrounding
Countries
Kongo was a kingdom founded
in the 14th century and remained strong until the 17th. In the
late 1500's Kongo was about half the size of England and divided into six
provinces;2 unfortunately, a growing
slave trade doomed the once advanced and wealthy nation.
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Government
When the Portuguese reached Kongo after 1484 they came upon a government
that was very familiar; they saw a region that subordinated weaker states
and was bound by royal marriages. The stronger states governed all the
area they could tax, regulate (the kingdoms used shells and raffia
squares as currency), and receive reports from regularly.3
The central government was
strong and complex. At the top was the king. The king was chosen by a
group of 9-12 electors, including four women.4
The Lord of Kabunga, (Lord as in Europe),
had the power to veto the decision. The governor of Mbata, who was
ineligible for kingship, and the chief of Soyo were members of the
electorate. The electors usually chose one of the king's sons. The
council had the power to oversee the king on decisions concerning war,
the nomination, or dismissal of a governor, and matters of trade (i.e.
deciding which routes could be opened and closed, quotas, tariffs, etc.).5 The king had a central
administrative body, which he appointed and could move to dismiss. The
council consisted of viceroys, a supreme judge, a treasurer, a chief of
police, a messenger service, a high priest and many other officials whose
functions are unknown.6 The
government also nominated lesser lords, who ruled over the hereditary
chiefs of regions. In the centre of the capital there was a fortress
where one Portuguese recorded that, "aid could rapidly be sent to
all the region."7 The capital
city of Banza, Vansina recorded, was,
"a well built city with stone walls, which the Portuguese later
named San Salvador,
was also a major commercial metropolis, the meeting place for the
principal trade routes from the interior and from the coast."8 Unfortunately, the Kongo's
capital has yet to be thoroughly investigated.
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Economy
Trade consisted mainly of iron tools, pottery, sea-salt, mats, basketwork,
copper and ivory trinkets, raffia spuares, and fibre fabrics that they
received from East Africa. Slaves may
not have been traded at all until 1483.9
As stated above the government's Central Council decided which trade
routes should be opened and closed. A central authority supervised the
output of currency in order to keep the value of the nzimbu shells
stable.10 Taxes were paid on a
pyramid structure, balanced by rewards for those who paid faithfully.11 Unfortunately the quick wealth
of a rising slave trade soon became the nation's economic priority.
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Fall
of Kongo
The most famous King of the Kongo, Afonso (1506-1543), became a Christian
by at least 1491; he subsequently made efforts to assimilate Christianity
into his kingdom. His son, Henrique, ran the Catholic Church in the Kongo
and even became a bishop to Rome.
As ties with the Portuguese
deepened so did the slave trade; the slave trade quickly spiraled out of
control. Kongo slave merchants acquired tremendous wealth trading with
the Portuguese. As demand for slaves increased rich merchants of the
Kongo began to pay men very well to attack their neighboring clans,
chieftains, and kingdoms. It was cash for flesh. The demoralization of
the nation was manifest. Not only did the slave trade demoralize the
region but it caused terrible economic disparity: the rich became mush
richer while the poor became much poorer. By the time Afonso died the gap
between the nobles and commoners had viscously exacerbated; the slave
merchants converted to Christianity, become literate, and gained much
wealth and power, "while the ordinary people were harshly
exploited."12
The Portuguese/Kongo slave
trade began in 1514; King Afonso tried to abolish it in 1526, but its
power had already surpassed the king's. After the death of Afonso's
successor the Portuguese attempted to appoint the next king. This led to
a bloody uprising against the Portuguese. Other wars stimulated by the
slave trade nearly destroyed the fledgling Kingdom.
The Portuguese, unable to
appoint the king, still attempted to manipulate the kings of the Kongo,
yet continually failed; by 1561 the Kongo government almost completely
cut off ties with Portugal.
By that point it was too late; a century later the former great kingdom
had vanished.
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1Africa
from the twelfth to the sixteenth century/ editor, D.T. Niane (London;
Heinemann Educational Books; Berkeley: University of California Press,
1984), 573
2The
Heritage of World Civilizations: Volume One: To 1650, 4th ed. Editor,
Owen, Cralyce. Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall Simon & Shuster, 1997, 507
3Africa
from the twelfth to the sixteenth century/ editor, D.T. Niane (London;
Heinemann Educational Books; Berkeley: University of California Press,
1984), 575
4Ibid
5Ibid
6Ibid,
574
7Ibid,
575
8Ibid,
575
9Ibid,
576
10Ibid,
575
11The
Heritage of World Civilizations: Volume One: To 1650, 4th ed. Editor,
Owen, Cralyce. Upper Saddle
River, New Jersey:
Prentice-Hall Simon & Shuster, 1997, 507
12Africa
from the twelfth to the sixteenth century/ editor, D.T. Niane (London;
Heinemann Educational Books; Berkeley: University of California Press,
1984), 556
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