The Rise of Kongo
Overview
Kingdom expanded until the late 15th century by establishing new domains. These were part of the empire but also established their own sub-provinces.
Kongo reached its peak by the mid 1600s.
Based in Mbanza Kongo, but was later named Sao Salvador
Established an economic and diplomatic relationship with Portugal throughout, but approached the Dutch in 1650s to challenge the Portuguese trading power.
Grew to 300,000 square km, and had around 2-3 million subjects. But manikongos never achieved fully centralised power.
1665- Faced defeat in the Battle of Mbwila, then faced with civil war and then decline.
Tribute
Provincial chiefs were appointed by the manikongo and sent out to collect tribute and distribute to Mbankza Kongo.
Kingdoms that had voluntarily, such as Mbata and Soyo had much more autonomy. For example, their rulers were chosen by the manikongo but they were within their own royal line.
Those who were conquered, such as Nsundi, had much less freedom and were more tightly controlled.
The growth of the kingdom
Expansion of provinces
The use of conquest
Expanding/linking territories. Mbata and Soyo agreed to direct control in exchange for keeping their royal line.
Other expeditions were sent out territories through use of excellent military- Kongo were specially benefited in the area from their access to copper and gold.
Kongo was centrally located and had good natural defenses- Kingdom expanded under 9 different related clans that were sent in different directions under control of the Mwissikongo(the ruling clan)
IMPORTANCE OF USING EXPEDITIONS TO EXPAND TERRITORY: each expedition was led well by a chief selected by the manikongo as well as being accompanied by representatives of main clans. This reinforced the dominance of ruling classes in Mbanza Kongo
Lands lying further North unlike Soyo and had to be taken by Kongo much more forcefully
Lands such as Mbata were conquered by the Kongo army and were forced to pay tribute
HOWEVER- the new conquered lands never fully integrated into Kongo
Royal governors of provinces began to expand their territories. Expansion brought in slaves, cloth, nzimbu fisheries and iron
Kongo expanded southwards and westwards from the C16 and any new land acquired was passed to Mbanza rather than crown of Kongo