Nzinga
Posthumous lithograph of Njinga of Ndongo and Matamba by Achille Devéria, 1830s, after a portrait on parchment stored in a convent in Coimbra. National Portrait Gallery, London
Queen of Ndongo
First reign1624–1626
PredecessorNgola Mbandi
SuccessorHari a Kiluanje
Second reign1657–1663
PredecessorNgola Hari
SuccessorBarbara
Queen of Matamba
Reign1631–1663
PredecessorMwongo Matamba
SuccessorBarbara
Bornc. 1583
Kabasa, Kingdom of Ndongo
Died17 December 1663 (aged 79–80)
Kabasa, Kingdom of Ndongo
Names
Njinga Mbande
HouseGuterres
FatherNgola Kilombo Kia Kasenda
MotherKangela

Nzinga Ana de Sousa Mbande (c. 1583 – 17 December 1663) was a southwest African ruler who ruled as queen of the Ambundu Kingdoms of Ndongo (1624–1663) and Matamba (1631–1663), located in present-day northern Angola.[1] Born into the ruling family of Ndongo, her father Ngola Kilombo Kia Kasenda was the king of Ndongo.

Njinga received military and political training as a child, and she demonstrated an aptitude for defusing political crises as an ambassador to the Portuguese Empire. In 1624, she assumed power over Ndongo after the death of her brother Mbandi. She ruled during a period of rapid growth of the African slave trade and encroachment by the Portuguese Empire in South West Africa.[2] The Portuguese declared war on Ndongo in 1626 and by 1628, Njinga's army had been severely depleted and they went into exile. In search of allies, she married Imbangala warlord Kasanje. Using this new alliance to rebuild her forces, she conquered the Kingdom of Matamba from 1631 to 1635. In 1641, she entered into an alliance with the Dutch West India Company who had captured Luanda from the Portuguese. Between 1641 and 1644, Njinga was able to reclaim large parts of Ndongo. Alongside the Dutch, she defeated the Portuguese in a number of battles but was unable to take the Fortress of Massangano. In 1648, the Portuguese recaptured Luanda, with the Dutch leaving Angola. Njinga continued to fight the Portuguese until a peace treaty was signed in 1656.[1]Njinga’s forces took hundreds of thousands of captives, allowing the queen to sell nearly 200,000 slaves to the Portuguese.[3]

In the centuries since her death, Njinga has been increasingly recognized as a major historical figure in Angola and in the wider Atlantic Creole culture. She is remembered for her intelligence, her political and diplomatic wisdom, and her military tactics.

Name

According to legend, Nzinga was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck; her name coming from the Kimbundu verb kujinga, meaning to "twist" or "turn". This unusual birth was seen as a sign of spiritual gifts and future power.[4][5]

She was known by various names in Kimbundu and Portuguese, with alternate spellings like Njinga, Nzingha, and Njingha.[6] Colonial documents, including her manuscripts, also spelled her name as Jinga, Ginga, Zinga, Zingua, Zhinga, and Singa.[7] Her Christian name, Ana de Sousa, was given at her baptism, with “Anna” after her Portuguese godmother and “de Souza” from the then-governor of Angola, João Correia de Souza.[8][9]

As the ruler of Ndongo and Matamba, she was known as Ngola Nzinga. In Portuguese, she was referred to as Rainha (Queen) Nzinga/Zinga/Ginga. The current Kimbundu orthography spells her name as Njinga Mbandi, with “j” as a voiced postalveolar fricative or “soft j” as in Portuguese and French, and the adjacent “n” is silent. A statue of Njinga in Kinaxixi square, Luanda, refers to her as “Mwene Njinga Mbande”.

Early life

Nzinga was born around 1583 into the royal family of Ndongo, an Ambundu kingdom in central West Africa. Her father was Kilombo kia Kasenda, heir to the Ndongo throne, and her mother was Kengela ka Nkombe, his favored concubine.[10][11] Ten years later, Kilombo was crowned ngola. As she was not a direct heir, Nzinga was able to receive extensive attention from Kilombo without causing familial conflict. She was trained as a warrior, excelling in battle axe combat, and participated in legal and war councils, as well as significant rituals, alongside her father.[12] She also learned to read and write in Portuguese from visiting missionaries.[8] Nzinga, like some high-ranking individuals in certain African societies of the time, had both male and female concubines. Her favorite was Kia Ituxi, with whom she had a son.[12]

Political background

At the time of her birth, Ndongo faced multiple crises due to conflicts with the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese founded the city of Luanda and established a trading post in Luanda in 1575, with Kongo, Ndongo's rival to the north. Though initially, Portugal maintained peaceful relations with Ndongo, these soured and led to decades of war. Ndongo faced military pressure from both Portugal and Kongo, resulting in significant territorial losses. The Portuguese waged brutal warfare, burning villages, taking hostages, seizing around 50,000 slaves,[13] and built forts inside Ndongan territory to control the slave trade.[14]

Despite these challenges, Ndongo managed to defeat the Portuguese at the Battle of Lucala in 1590. However, the kingdom had already lost much of its territory, and, by the time Kilombo ascended the throne, the power of the ngola was greatly diminished. Many noblemen, or sobas, refused to pay tribute to the crown, and some even sided with the Portuguese. Kilombo tried a variety of methods to handle the crisis, including diplomacy, negotiations, and open warfare, but he was unable to improve the situation.[13][10]

The situation worsened in 1607 when the kingdom was invaded by the Imbangala, tribal bands of warriors known for their ferocity in battle. [15] The Imbangala occupied Ndongan territory and captured slaves; some Imbangala were even hired by the Portuguese as mercenaries. Kilombo was forced to abandon attempts to reconquer lost territory due to this new threat.[16]

Embassy under Mbandi

In 1617, Nzinga's brother Mbandi became ngola after Kilombo's death.[17] Upon assuming the throne, he engaged in a brutal political purge, eliminating many rival claimants, including his older half-brother and his family. Nzinga, who was thirty-five at the time, was spared, but her young son was killed, and she and her two sisters, Kambu and Funji,[18] were forcibly sterilized, ensuring they would never bear a potential rival.[19] Some sources suggest that Nzinga was subjected to particularly harsh treatment due to a longstanding rivalry with her brother. Fearing for her life, Nzinga fled to the Kingdom of Matamba.[10]

After consolidating his power, Mbandi resolved to continue the war against the Portuguese. Despite forming an alliance with the Imbangala, his lack of military prowess led to significant Portuguese gains. In 1621, he sought Nzinga’s assistance, requesting her to act as his emissary to the Portuguese in Luanda. Nzinga, fluent in Portuguese, agreed on the condition that she could negotiate on his behalf and be baptized.[20]

Contemporary illustration of Queen Nzinga in negotiations with the Portuguese governor, dated 1657

Arriving in Luanda with a large entourage, Nzinga sparked considerable interest, leading the Portuguese governor, João Correia de Souza, to cover her party’s expenses.[21] While Ndongo leaders typically met the Portuguese in European clothing, Nzinga chose to wear traditional Ndongan attire, including feathers and jewels, to showcasing the superiority of her culture.[22] According to a popular story, when de Souza provided only a mat for her to sit on, Nzinga's slave girl became her chair, allowing her to converse with the governor at eye level. Nzinga skillfully used flattery as a diplomatic tool, contrasting her brother’s aggressive approach. Upon concluding their meeting, Governor de Sousa noticed Njinga’s slave still in a crouched position, but Nzinga casually informed him that the woman was a gift, adding that the ngola's envoy never needed to use the same "chair" twice, as she had an abundance of such.[4][23][24][25]

As an ambassador, Nzinga aimed to establish peace between the Ndongo and the Portuguese. She proposed an end to hostilities, permitted Portuguese slave traders in Ndongo, and offered to return escaped Portuguese slaves.[11] In exchange, she insisted on the removal of Portuguese forts from Ndongo territory and refused to pay tribute, asserting that her people were not defeated.

Nzinga suggested mutual support against common regional enemies.[21] To demonstrate her commitment to peace, she underwent a public baptism[8][10][26] in Luanda, adopting the name Dona Anna de Sousa, with the de Sousa and his wife Ana da Silva as her godparents.[2][10] A peace treaty was eventually signed, and Njinga returned to Kabasa in late 1622, marking a triumphant conclusion to her mission.[27] Despite Nzinga’s successful negotiations with the Portuguese, peace between Ndongo and the expanding Imbangala collapsed.[28] The Ndongan royal family was ousted from their court in Kabasa, leading to the king’s exile and the establishment of the Kasanje Kingdom by some Imbangala.[8][27]

de Sousa was keen to uphold the treaty but refused to assist Ndongo against the Imbangala, until Kabasa was recaptured and Mbandi baptized.[27][10] Mbandi retook Kabasa in 1623 and cautiously embraced Catholicism but remained wary of the Portuguese. Nzinga, growing influential in the royal court, persuaded her brother to reject baptism, possibly to appease his traditionalist supporters.[29] Meanwhile, the Portuguese began violating the treaty, refusing to vacate their fortresses in Ndongo and conducting raids for loot and slaves.

Rise to power

By 1624, a deeply depressed King Mbandi had relinquished many of his duties to Nzinga, who was also named his successor.[29] Mbandi eventually died under mysterious circumstances, with theories ranging from suicide to poisoning by Nzinga.[8] Nzinga swiftly moved to secure her rule, seizing the monarchy’s ritual objects with the help of her supporters and eliminating court opposition.[30] She adopted the title of Ngola, gaining significant influence among her people, and arranged a lavish funeral for her brother, perserving some of his remains in a misete (a reliquary) for future consultation.[14]

A major threat to her rule was her seven-year-old nephew, under the guardianship of Kasa, an Imbangala war chief. To neutralize this potential rival, Nzingha proposed marriage to Kasa. Following their wedding, she had her nephew killed, which she viewed as retribution for her own son’s murder.[31]

Nzinga’s rise to the throne was met with strong resistance from male contenders from other noble families.[14] As per Mbande tradition, neither Nzinga nor her brother had a direct claim to the throne as they were children of slave wives, not the first wife. Nzinga strategically countered this by asserting her rightful descent from the main royal line through her father, unlike her rivals who lacked a bloodline connection.

Her adversaries used various precedents to challenge her, including her gender, which they argued made her ineligible.[11] Furthermore, Nzinga’s diplomatic approach towards the Portuguese, contrasting with previous rulers’ combative stance, was perceived as weakness by some Ndongan nobility. Specifically, the treaty’s provision allowing Portuguese missionaries into Ndongo was viewed unfavorably.[11]

As the succession crisis intensified, Ndongo’s relationship with Portugal became increasingly complicated. Nzinga aimed to fulfill the 1621 treaty with the Portuguese to reclaim Ndongan lands lost during her brother’s wars. Both Nzingha and Governor de Sousa, keen to avoid conflict, were eager to resume the vital regional slave trade.

However, tensions escalated when de Sousa refused Nzingha’s request for the return of kijikos, a servile caste of slaves traditionally owned by Ndongan royalty, from Portuguese territory, as per the treaty. Instead, he demanded the return of escaped Portuguese slaves from Nzinga’s army. De Sousa also insisted that Nzingha become a vassal of the Portuguese king and pay tribute, which she firmly rejected.[32]

Relations further deteriorated when de Sousa launched a campaign in late 1624 to coerce Ndongo sobas into becoming Portuguese vassals. Traditionally, sobas were vassals of the Ndongo ruler and provided valuable provisions, soldiers, and slaves to control Angola. By making the sobas vassals of Portugal, the Portuguese undermined Nzingha’s position as queen of Ndongo.[32]

To weaken the Portuguese colonial administration, Nzinga dispatched messengers (makunzes) to encourage Ndongo slaves to flee Portuguese plantations and join her kingdom, thereby depriving the colony of its income and manpower. When the Portuguese complained about the escapes, Nzinga replied that she would abide by her earlier treaty and return escaped slaves, but that her kingdom had none.[33] Her actions were a success and many sobas joined forces with her, strengthening her position and causing the Portuguese to fear a Mbande uprising was imminent.[32]

Despite these successes, Nzinga's policies threatened the income of the Portuguese and Mbande nobles, and soon the Portuguese began to foment rebellion in her kingdom. In late 1625, the Portuguese sent soldiers to protect[34] Hari a Kiluanje, a soba who had broken ties with Nzinga. Kiluanje opposed having a woman rule Ndongo, and was himself descended from the royal family; upon learning of his actions, Nzinga sent warriors to crush his revolt but was defeated, weakening her position and convincing more nobles to revolt. Nzinga petitioned the Portuguese to stop supporting Kiluanje, and attempted to negotiate as long as possible while she gathered more forces, but the Portuguese guessed this was a delaying tactic and soon recognized Kiluanje as king of Ndongo.[34] The Portuguese subsequently declared war on Nzinga on 15 March 1626.[34]

War with the Portuguese

Facing a Portuguese invasion, Nzinga gathered her army and withdrew to a group of islands in the Kwanza river. After a series of battles, she was defeated and forced to make a long march into eastern Ndongo; during the retreat, she was forced to abandon most of her followers, a strategy that greatly benefited her as the Portuguese were more interested in re-capturing slaves than in pursuing her army. The Portuguese soon suffered their own setback when Hari a Kiluanje died of smallpox, forcing them to replace him as king with Ngola Hari, another Ndongan nobleman.[35] Ngola Hari proved to be an unpopular leader with the Ndongan people, who viewed him as a Portuguese puppet, while some sobas supported his rule. A divide soon formed inside the kingdom of Ndongo in which the common people and lesser nobles supported Nzinga, while many powerful nobles supported Ngola Hari and the Portuguese.[36]

In November 1627, Nzinga again attempted to negotiate with the Portuguese, sending a peace delegation and a gift of 400 slaves. She indicated that she was willing to become a vassal of the kingdom of Portugal and pay tribute if they supported her claim to the throne, but was adamant that she was the rightful queen of Ndongo. The Portuguese, however, rejected the offer, beheading her lead diplomat and issuing the counter demand that she retire from public life, renounce her claim to the kingdom of Ndongo, and submit to Ngola Hari as rightful king—these demands were within the diplomatic norm in Europe, but were utterly unacceptable to Nzinga.[37] Faced with the Portuguese rebuke and the realization that many Ndongan nobles stood against her, Nzinga (as had her father and brother) slipped into depression, locking herself in a room for several weeks. She emerged, however, and within a month had begun a new campaign to rebuild her alliances in Ndongo.[35][37]

While rebuilding her strength, Nzinga took advantage of Ngola Hari's political weakness, highlighting his lack of political experience. Ngola Hari was despised by both his nobles and his Portuguese allies, for while previous kings of Ndongo had all been warriors, Ngola Hari had no soldiers of his own and was forced to rely on Portuguese soldiers. Ngola Hari and the Portuguese launched a counter-propaganda campaign against Nzinga, hoping to use her gender as a means to delegitimize her strength,[38] but this backfired as she increasingly outmaneuvered Ngola Hari in Ndongan politics. In one notable incident, Nzinga sent Ngola Hari threatening letters and a collection of fetishes, challenging him to combat with her forces; the messages terrified Hari, who was forced to call on his Portuguese allies for support, thus greatly diminishing his own prestige while adding to Nzinga's reputation.[38] However, she was still unable to directly face the Portuguese in battle, and was forced to retreat from the advancing Portuguese army. She suffered a series of military defeats, most notably in a Portuguese ambush that saw half of her army, most of her officials, and her two sisters captured, though she herself was able to escape. By late 1628, Nzinga's army had been greatly reduced (down to around 200 soldiers according to one source)[39] and she had been effectively expelled from her kingdom.[38]

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,[14] 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).[40] 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)[41][14][11][18] 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)[42] and infanticidal (through the use of an oil made from a slain infant, the maji a samba)[43] initiation rites required for a woman to become a leader in the highly militarized Imbangala society.[41] The ritual was in part to prevent a succession crisis amongst the Imbangala in the future.[44] 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.[8][11] 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).[11][41]

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.[41] Between 1631 and 1635, Nzingha invaded the neighboring Kingdom of Matamba, capturing and deposing Queen 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.[45] 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.[14][11][45] 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.[11] 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.[11][46] 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.[47]

Expansion and Dutch alliance

By the late 1630s, Nzinga had expanded her influence to the north and south of Matamba. Using her forces, she cut other rulers off from the Portuguese-controlled coast, capturing parts of the Kwango River and bringing the region's key slave supplying lands under her control. She also expanded her territory to the north, and in doing so established diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of the Kongo and Dutch merchants, who were increasingly active in the area. Nzinga also established a lucrative slave trade with the Dutch, who purchased as many as 13,000 slaves per year from Nzinga's kingdom.[11][48] She continued to occasionally send peace overtures to the Portuguese, even suggesting a military alliance with them, but only if they supported her return to Ndongo. She also refused to be re-admitted to the Christian faith, which became a point of contention between the two parties.[49]

In 1641, forces from the Dutch West India Company, working in alliance with the Kingdom of Kongo, seized Luanda, driving out the Portuguese and setting up the directorate of Loango-Angola. The fall of Luanda was a major blow to the Portuguese, and Nzinga quickly dispatched an embassy to the Dutch-controlled city. Hoping to form an Afro-Dutch coalition against the Portuguese, Nzinga requested an immediate alliance and offered to open the slave trade to them, though she was concerned that the Kingdom of Kongo (her people's traditional northern rivals) was growing too powerful. The Dutch accepted her offer of an alliance and sent their own ambassador and soldiers (some of whom brought their wives) to her court, soon assisting her in her fight against the Portuguese. Having lost large amounts of territory and forced to retreat to Massangano, the Portuguese governor attempted to make peace with Nzinga, but she refused these overtures.[50] Nzingha moved her capital to Kavanga, in the northern part of Ndongo's former domains. The capture of Luanda also left Nzingha's kingdom as the pre-eminent, if temporary, slave-trading power in the region, allowing for her to build a sizeable war-camp (kilombo) of 80,000[50] (a figure which included non-combatants)[51] members, including mercenaries, escaped slaves, allies, and her own soldiers.[11]

Using the large size of her army, her new wealth and her famous reputation, Nzinga was able to reclaim large parts of Ndongo from 1641 to 1644.[50] However, her expansionism caused alarm amongst other African kingdoms; in one infamous incident, she invaded the Wandu region of Kongo, which had been in revolt against the Kongolese king. Though these lands had never been part of Ndongo, Nzinga refused to withdraw and added the conquest to her kingdom, an act which greatly offended the Kongolese king, Garcia II.[52][46] The Dutch, hoping to preserve their alliance with both Kongo and Nzinga, brokered a peace, but relations between Nzinga and other regional leaders remained strained.[52] In addition, her former husband and ally, Kasanje, feared her growing power in the region and formed a coalition of Imbangala leaders against Nzinga, invading her lands in Matamba (though they made little progress).[52] By the mid-1640s, her successes had won her the support of many Ndongan nobles. With the nobility flocking to her side, Nzingha was able collect more tribute (in the form of slaves) which she in turn sold to the Dutch in exchange for firearms, thereby increasing her military and economic power; by 1644, she considered Garcia II of the Kongo to be her only political equal in the region, while the Portuguese viewed her as their most potent adversary in Africa.[53]

In 1644, Nzinga defeated the Portuguese army at the Battle of Ngoleme. Then, in 1646, she was defeated by the Portuguese at the Battle of Kavanga and, in the process, her sister Kambu was recaptured, along with her archives, which revealed her alliance with Kongo.[54] These archives also showed that her captive sister, Funji, had been in secret correspondence with Nzinga and had revealed coveted Portuguese plans to her. As a result of the woman's spying, the Portuguese reputedly drowned the sister in the Kwanza River.[11][55] The Dutch in Luanda sent Nzinga reinforcements, and with their help, Nzinga routed a Portuguese army in 1647 at the Battle of Kombi.[2] Nzinga then laid siege to the Portuguese capital of Massangano, isolating the Portuguese there; by 1648, Nzingha controlled much of her former kingdom, while her control over the slave trade increased the economic power of Matamba.[28][11]

Despite these successes, the allies' control over Angola remained tenuous. Lacking artillery, Nzinga was unable to effectively break the Portuguese defenses at Massangano, while political infighting and developments in Europe weakened the Dutch forces in Angola.[46] In August 1648 a Portuguese expedition, led by newly appointed governor Salvador Correia de Sá,[56] besieged Luanda. After suffering through a major Portuguese bombardment, on 24 August 1648 the Dutch commander sued for peace with the Portuguese and agreed to evacuate Angola.[57] When Nzinga's army and the remaining Dutch forces arrived outside Luanda, the peace between Dutch and Portuguese was signed, and unbeknownst to Nzinga, the Dutch forces sailed for Europe.[56] Faced with a bolstered Portuguese garrison, Nzinga and her forces retreated to Matamba.[11] Unlike previous decades however, after 1648 Nzinga concentrated her efforts on preventing a Portuguese push inland (as opposed to trying to re-conquer Ndongan territory), disrupting their soldiers and fomenting wars between smaller tribes and kingdoms.[58][11]

Later years

Last campaigns

While her wars against the Portuguese and their allies continued, Nzingha created alliances with neighboring kingdoms, expanding her influence even as she aged.[8] She sent soldiers to enforce her rule over local noblemen, dispatched forces to fight against Kasanje's Imbangalans in eastern Matamba, and fought against the Kingdom of Kaka in the Congo.[58] She also used her army as a political tool, using its influence to sway the outcomes of succession disputes in her favor.[58]

On Christianity

Throughout the 1640s and 1650s, Nzinga began to tentatively adopt Christian cultural traditions, following her conversion to the faith in 1623. This began in 1644 when her army captured a Portuguese priest, and expanded when her forces in Kongo captured two Spanish Capuchins in 1648; unlike other European prisoners, the queen granted missionaries extended freedoms in her war camp. One of the Spaniards, Father Calisto Zelotes do Reis Mago, would go on to become a longtime resident at her court and her personal secretary.[59][60] Whereas previous missionaries (either parish priests or Jesuits) had been strongly affiliated with the Portuguese and their colonial administration, the Spanish Capuchins were more sympathetic to Nzinga's positions. During the early 1650s, Nzinga sent requests to the Capuchin order for more missionaries and for support against the Portuguese – effectively turning the missionaries into de facto diplomats between her and the Vatican.[59] She pursued closer relations with Catholic leaders in Europe for the rest of her life, even receiving correspondence from Pope Alexander VII in 1661 praising her efforts.[61]

In addition to using Christianity as a diplomatic tool, Nzinga adopted Christian customs into her court. From the 1650s onward, she increasingly relied on Christian converts at her court. Just as she had done with the Imbangalan culture several decades before, Nzinga appropriated aspects of Christian ideology and culture, adding these to her existing court traditions to create a new class of Christian councilors loyal to her.[62][11] She also began practicing Catholic-inspired rituals, placed crosses in places of high honor in her court, and built many churches across her kingdom.[63]

Nzinga's efforts to convert her people was not without controversy, and some conservative religious figures pushed back against her policies. In response, Nzinga empowered her Christian priests to burn the temples and shrines of practitioners who opposed her, and ordered that they be arrested and turned over to her for trial. Traditionalists were dismissed from her court, after which she sentenced them to public whippings. Several prominent Mdundu and Imbangala priests were sold as slaves to the Portuguese, with Nzinga personally asking that they be shipped overseas; profits of the sale were then used to furnish a new church.[64] Some of the wanted priests, however, escaped Nzinga's purge and went into hiding, later working to undermine her legitimacy as queen.[65]

Peace with Portugal

By 1650 the kingdoms of Matamba and Portugal had been at war for nearly 25 years, with both sides having become exhausted.[66] Tentative peace talks between Nzingha and the Portuguese began in 1651, would continue in 1654, and would culminate in 1656.[67] The negotiations were aided by Nzingha's recent conversion to Christianity and by the pressure Portugal was facing from its war of Independence against Spain.[56] The Portuguese hoped to end the expensive war in Angola and re-open the slave trade, while Nzingha – increasingly cognizant of her age[62] – hoped to have her sister Kambu (often referred to by her Christian name, Barbara, during this period) released.[67] She would not, however, pay the ransom the Portuguese demanded for her sister, and so negotiations repeatedly stalled.[62]

Despite difficulties, a peace treaty was signed between Nzingha and the Portuguese in late 1656. Under the term of the peace treaty, Nzingha agreed to cede lands on her kingdom's western coast to Portugal, with the Lucala River becoming the new border between Portuguese Angola and Matamba. In return, Portugal ceded the Kituxela region to her. Nzingha also agreed to allow Portuguese traders inside Matamba, while they agreed to intervene if Kasanje or Nogla Hari attacked her. The Portuguese agreed to concentrate the slave trade in a market in her capital (effectively giving her a monopoly on the slave trade) and send a permanent representative to her court. In return, Nzingha agreed to provide military assistance to the Portuguese and allowed for missionaries to reside in her kingdom. A final provision asking that Matamba pay Portugal tribute was proposed, but never ratified. While several sources[8][11][68] describe the treaty as making concessions to Portugal, others note that her recognition as a ruler by Portugal gained Nzingha legitimacy and political stability.[63][11] On 12 October Nzingha's sister arrived at Nzingha's court in Matamba in a procession led by Father Ignazio de Valassina. Upon Kambu's arrival to Matamba the terms of peace were officially agreed upon, and as was tradition Nzingha and her officials clapped their hands letting the Portuguese know that peace terms were accepted.[56]

Final years

After the wars with Portugal ended, Nzingha attempted to rebuild her kingdom. As noted by Linda Heywood, Nzingha's final years were spent establishing a unified kingdom she could pass on to her sister. However, her native Ndongo had been ravaged by decades of war, with wide swathes of the land left depopulated; as such, Nzingha focused her efforts on strengthening Matamba.[61] She developed Matamba as a trading power by capitalizing on its strategic position as the gateway to the Central African interior, strengthening her hold on the slave trade.[5] She resettled former slaves on new land and allowed women in her war camp to bear children, which had been banned under the wartime Imbangala customs.[1] She also reformed the legal code of her kingdom and established contact with Christian rulers in Europe, hoping to certify Matamba's status as an internationally recognized Christian kingdom.[61]

Peace caused major changes at Nzingha's royal court. Whereas in wartime she had adopted the masculine dress and mannerisms of an Imbangala warlord, in the postwar era Nzingha's court became more feminine; she adopted new fashions in court, imported silk and goods from Europe, placed renewed focus on education (replacing military drills) and abolished concubinage, eventually marrying her favorite concubine in a Christian ceremony.[61] Nzingha – wary of a potential succession crisis – also worked to increase the power of the royal family in Ndongo. She distanced herself from the Imbangalan culture and abolished many of the democratic and meritocratic policies she had tolerated in wartime, seeing them as a threat to the monarchy.[65] During her later reign, divides opened in her court between educated Christian converts who supported her royalist policies and traditionalists Imbangalans and Mbundus, who supported a return to the more militaristic, meritocratic policies of the past.[69][70]

Death and succession

During the 1660s (specifically after a period of serious illness in 1657) Nzinga grew increasingly concerned about who would succeed her as ruler of Ndongo and Matamba. She feared that her death would lead to a succession crisis, which would cause her Christian conversions to be undone, and spark renewed Portuguese aggression. To ensure the transition would be smooth, she appointed her sister Kambu as her heir, forgoing any of the traditional Mbundu elections. However, she grew increasingly concerned that her sister's husband, Nzinga a Mona, was growing too powerful. Nzinga a Mona was a skilled soldier who was raised in the Imbangala tradition, and while he had been a lifelong soldier in Nzingha's army, in his older age he increasingly came into conflict with Nzinga. She feared that Nzinga Mona's adherence to Imbangala tradition would destabilize the new, Christian kingdom she had established.[69]

In October 1663, Nzinga fell ill with infection in her throat and became bedridden. By December of that year the infection had spread to her lungs, and Nzinga died in her sleep on the morning of 17 December.[71] She was buried with great aplomb in accordance with Catholic and Mbundu traditions. Ceremonies were held across Matamba and in Luanda, where both the Portuguese and Mbundu populations held services in her honor.[72]

Following Nzinga's death, her sister Kambu (more commonly known as Barbara or Dona Barbara) assumed the throne.[72]

Historical portrayal

A powerful queen who reigned for over thirty years, Nzinga has been the subject of many works.[73]

Angolan

In her native Angola, oral traditions celebrating Nzinga's life began immediately after her death. Though her kingdoms would eventually be incorporated into Portuguese Angola, commemoration of Nzinga and her achievements persisted. In the mid-20th century, Nzinga became a powerful symbol of Angolan resistance against Portugal during the Angolan War of Independence.[74] Nzinga's legacy would outlast the Angolan Civil War and remains an area of interest in the country.[73]

Portuguese

The Portuguese, Nzinga's longtime rivals, wrote a number of works relating to her life. The first biography of Nzinga was published by Antonio da Gaeta (a Capuchin priest who had lived in her court) in 1669; Gaeta's work praised Nzinga's diplomatic skills and compared her to famous women from antiquity, but also pointedly noted that she had ultimately been persuaded by divine providence to accept Christianity. Antonio Cavazzi (another Capuchin who had resided in Nzinga's court) wrote a biography of her in 1689, again noting her political skill, but also describing her as a queen who had ruined the land. Together, Gaeta and Cavazzi's biographies became the primary sources for Nzinga's life. Portuguese writers would continue to write about Nzinga into the 20th century, normally depicting her as a skilled, "savage" opponent who had ultimately been forced to submit to Portugal and accept Christianity.[73]

Western

Numerous western authors have written about Nzinga. The first notable, non-Portuguese Western work mentioning Nzinga was written by French Jesuit Jean-Baptiste Labat in 1732. A heavily edited translation of Cavazzi's earlier biography, Labat's work formed the basis on which many Western sources would depict their image of Nzinga; whereas Portuguese sources focused on Nzinga's capabilities as a leader and conversion to Christianity, Western sources in the 18th and 19th centuries tended to heavily focus on her sexuality, alleged cannibalism, and brutality. Jean-Louis Castilhon wrote a fictional story of her life in 1769, portraying her as cruel (but not a cannibal), while the Marquis de Sade wrote about Nzinga's alleged cruelty and promiscuity in his 1795 work Philosophy in the Bedroom, in which he cites her as an example of a woman driven to evil by passion. Likewise, Laure Junot included Nzinga as a symbol of cruelty and lust in her Memoirs of Celebrated Women of All Countries, grouping her alongside women such as Lady Jane Grey, Marie Antoinette, and Catherine I.[73] Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was also critical of Nzinga's (though he did not directly name her) "female state", describing her kingdom as a barren, unfertile land that had eventually collapsed due to her usurping of the natural order.[73]

Nzinga's reputation in the West recovered significantly in the 20th century. Nzinga's usage as a symbol in the Angolan War of Independence increased interest in her life, and authors began to take a more nuanced approach to her biography.[73] American historian Joseph C. Miller published a widely cited essay on Nzinga in the 1975 The Journal of African History, highlighting her struggles and innovations but also criticizing her autocratic methods.[11] Afro-Cuban poet Georgina Herrera published a 1978 poem extolling Nzinga's wisdom and connecting her culturally with Afro-Caribbeans in the Americas.[73] American feminist author Aurora Levins Morales wrote about Nzinga, praising her anti-colonial and anti-patriarchal struggles but also criticizing her status as a ruling elite and her propagation of the slave trade.[75] In his writings on Nzinga, American historian John Thornton focused on her lifelong struggle to establish her authority over the Mbundu culture, noting that her legendary reputation and actions helped to establish a wider Atlantic Criole culture.[70] American historian Linda Heywood wrote an extensive biography of Nzinga in 2017, featuring much of her life and describing her as a great historical figure.[73] Heywood cautioned against portraying Nzinga as either a populist hero or tyrant,[76] noting instead that she should be viewed as a complicated individual who used culture, diplomacy, religion and war to secure her kingdom.[73]

Legendary accounts

One legend records that Nzinga executed her lovers. She kept 50–60 men dressed as women, according to Dapper's Description of Africa, as her harem,[77] and she had them fight to the death for the privilege and duty of spending the night with her. In the morning, the winner was put to death.[18][78]

According to an account by the Capuchin priest Cavazzi, Nzinga maintained her strength well into her later years. Upon witnessing her during a military review in 1662 (the year prior to her death), Cavazzi praised her agility, to which the elder queen replied that, in her youth, she was able to wound any Imbangala warrior, and that she would have stood against 25 armed men – unless they had muskets.[51]

Legacy

Statue in Luanda, Angola

Today, she is remembered in Angola as the Mother of Angola, the fighter of negotiations, and the protector of her people. She is still honored throughout Africa as a remarkable leader and woman, for her political and diplomatic acumen, as well as her brilliant military tactics.[1] Accounts of her life are often romanticized, and she is considered a symbol of the fight against oppression.[74] Nzingha ultimately managed to shape her state into a form that tolerated her authority, though surely the fact that she survived all attacks on her and built up a strong base of loyal supporters helped as much as the relevance of the precedents she cited. While Njinga had obviously not overcome the idea that females could not rule in Ndongo during her lifetime, and had to 'become a male' to retain power, her female successors faced little problem in being accepted as rulers.[55] The clever use of her gender and her political understandings helped lay a foundation for future leaders of Ndongo today. In the period of 104 years that followed Njinga's death in 1663, queens ruled for at least eighty of them. Nzingha is a leadership role model for all generations of Angolan women. Women in Angola today display remarkable social independence and are found in the country's army, police force, government, and public and private economic sectors.[55] Nzingha was embraced as a symbol of the People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola during civil war.[5]

A major street in Luanda is named after her, and a statue of her was placed in Kinaxixi on an impressive square in 2002,[1] dedicated by President Santos to celebrate the 27th anniversary of independence. Angolan women are often married near the statue, especially on Thursdays and Fridays.

On 23 December 2014, the National Reserve Bank of Angola (BNA) issued a 20 Kwanza coin in tribute to Nzingha "in recognition of her role to defend self-determination and cultural identity of her people."[79][80]

An Angolan film, Njinga: Queen Of Angola (Portuguese: Njinga, Rainha de Angola), was released in 2013.[81]

A Starz series, Queen Nzinga, is in development with Yetide Badaki as the titular character and 50 Cent, Steven S. DeKnight and Mo Abundu as producers.[82]

Nzinga (referred to as Nzinga Mbande) leads the Kongolese civilization in the 2016 4X video game Civilization VI, since the release of Great Negotiators on 21 November 2022, as part of the DLC "Leader Pass".

The 2023 Netflix docudrama African Queens: Njinga chronicles her life, dramatized through historical reenactment.[83][84][85]

See also

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Elliott, Mary; Hughes, Jazmine (19 August 2019). "A Brief History of Slavery That You Didn't Learn in School". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 20 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 Snethen, J (16 June 2009). "Queen Nzinga (1583–1663)". BlackPast. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019.
  3. ↑ "Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade". enslaved.org. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 91
  5. 1 2 3 Burness, Donald (1977). "Nzinga Mbandi' and Angolan Independence". Luso-Brazilian Review. 14 (2): 225–229. JSTOR 3513061.
  6. ↑ Wallenfeldt, Jeff (2010). Africa to America: From the Middle Passage Through the 1930s. Britannica Educational Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-61530-175-1.
  7. ↑ Nzinga Mbandi, reine du Ndongo et du Matamba. UNESCO. 2014. p. 48. ISBN 978-92-3-200026-2.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Williams, Hettie V. (2010). "Queen Nzinga (Njinga Mbande)". In Alexander, Leslie M.; Rucker, Walter C. (eds.). Encyclopedia of African American History. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781851097746.
  9. ↑ Stapleton, Timothy J. (2016). Encyclopedia of African Colonial Conflicts [2 volumes]. ABC-CLIO. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-59884-837-3.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Queens of Infamy: Njinga". Longreads. 3 October 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Miller, Joseph C. "Nzinga of Matamba in a New Perspective." The Journal of African History 16, no. 2 (1975) pp. 201–206, 208, 209, 210–216. Accessed 30 March 2021. JSTOR 180812
  12. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 65
  13. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 27
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Pantoja, Selma (2020). "Njinga a Mbande: Power and War in 17th-Century Angola". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.326. ISBN 9780190277734. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  15. ↑ Miller, Joseph C. “The Imbangala and the Chronology of Early Central African History.” The Journal of African History 13, no. 4 (1972): 549–74. JSTOR 180754.
  16. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 37, 38
  17. ↑ "Njinga Mbandi biography | Women". en.unesco.org. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  18. 1 2 3 Jackson, Guida M. (1990). Women Who Ruled: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 130. ISBN 0874365600.
  19. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 44, 45
  20. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 50
  21. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 51
  22. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 61, 62
  23. ↑ Gallouët, Catherine (2012). "Farouche, touchante, belle et cannibale : transmissions et permutations des représentations de Njinga, reine d'Angola du 17eau 18esiècle". Dix-huitième siècle. 44 (1): 258–260. doi:10.3917/dhs.044.0253. ISSN 0070-6760.
  24. ↑ Pantoja, Selma (27 April 2020), "Njinga a Mbande: Power and War in 17th-Century Angola", Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.326, ISBN 978-0-19-027773-4, retrieved 29 November 2023
  25. ↑ Rubinkowska-Anioł, Hanna (1 July 2018), "Between Oral and Written Tradition", Oral Traditions in Ethiopian Studies, Harrassowitz, O, pp. 65–80, doi:10.2307/j.ctvcm4fb5.7, S2CID 189287984, retrieved 29 November 2023
  26. ↑ Baur, John. "2000 Years of Christianity in Africa – An African Church History" (Nairobi, 2009), ISBN 9966-21-110-1, pp. 74
  27. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017), p. 52, 53
  28. 1 2 Kostiw, Nicolette M. (2016). "Nbandi, Ana Nzinga "Queen Ginga"". Oxford African American Studies Center. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.74658. ISBN 9780195301731. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
  29. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 54, 55, 61
  30. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 64, 65
  31. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 65
  32. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 66, 67, 68
  33. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 66-68
  34. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 70-74
  35. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 82-88
  36. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 92, 96
  37. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 93-98
  38. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 98-104, 105–110
  39. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 107
  40. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 111
  41. 1 2 3 4 Heywood (2017) p. 119-126
  42. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 119
  43. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 124
  44. ↑ "Book 1, Chapter 3 | African American Studies". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  45. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 126
  46. 1 2 3 Tojo, Natalia (2007). The Dutch West India Company's establishment in Angola, 1641–1648: a reluctant commitment (Master thesis). Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University. hdl:1874/25632.
  47. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 127
  48. ↑ Pieter Mortamer, report published in S. P. l'Honore Naber, 'Nota van Pieter Mortamer over het gewest Angola, i643', Bijdragen en Medeelingen van het Historisch Genootschap gevestigd te Utrecht, LIV, (1933), pp 1–42.
  49. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 128-133
  50. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 133-136
  51. 1 2 Thornton, John K. "The Art of War in Angola, 1575–1680." Comparative Studies in Society and History 30, no. 2 (1988): 360–78. JSTOR 178839.
  52. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 138, 139, 142
  53. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 143, 144
  54. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 148
  55. 1 2 3 Masioni, Pat; et al. (2014). "Njinga Mbandi: Queen of Ndongo and Matamba". UNESCO Digital Library. Archived from the original on 15 October 2019.
  56. 1 2 3 4 Heywood, Linda (2017). Nzinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen. Harvard University Press.
  57. ↑ Boxer, C. R. (1948). "Salvador Correia de sá e Benevides and the Reconquest of Angola in 1648". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 28 (4): 483–513. doi:10.2307/2507790. ISSN 0018-2168. JSTOR 2507790.
  58. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 160-165
  59. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 166, 167, 168
  60. ↑ Baur, John. "2000 Years of Christianity in Africa – An African Church History" (Nairobi, 2009), ISBN 9966-21-110-1, pp. 74–75
  61. 1 2 3 4 Heywood (2017) p. 193-210
  62. 1 2 3 Heywood (2017) p. 180, 181, 184
  63. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 185-192, 222, 223
  64. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 217-221
  65. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 225, 226
  66. ↑ "20. The European Presence, Treaty Making, And The African Response". Conflict in Africa: Concepts and Realities. Princeton University Press. 8 March 2015. pp. 331–368. doi:10.1515/9781400867424-022. ISBN 978-1-4008-6742-4.
  67. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 173, 174
  68. ↑ Piętek, R. and Rubinkowska-Anioł, H., Constructing Angola's history through pictures–the case of queen Nzinga. THE ARTISTIC, p.53.
  69. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 224, 225, 232, 234
  70. 1 2 Thornton (1991) pp. 1–33
  71. ↑ Heywood (2017) p. 235
  72. 1 2 Heywood (2017) p. 236-244
  73. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Heywood (2017) p. 245-257
  74. 1 2 Bleys, Rudi C. (1995). The Geography of Perversion: Male-to-Male Sexual Behavior Outside the West and the Ethnographic Imagination, 1750–1918. New York University Press. ISBN 9780814712658.
  75. ↑ Levins Morales, Aurora (2019). Medicine Stories: Essays for Radicals (Revised & Expanded ed.). Duke University Press. p. 79. ISBN 9781478003090.
  76. ↑ "Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen". Library of Congress. Retrieved 14 April 2021.
  77. ↑ Belys, Rudi C. (1995). The Geography of Perversion: Male-to-Male Sexual Behavior Outside the West and the Ethnographic Imagination. New York University Press. p. 33.
  78. ↑ bachmann (18 November 2013). "The Enigmatic Queen Nzinga of Ndongo". The Shelf. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
  79. ↑ "Angola to Launch New Kwanza Coins in 2015". Mena Report. 26 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2016 – via HighBeam Research.
  80. ↑ "Lançamento da moeda de 20 Kwanzas (Launch of 20 Kwanza coin)". 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  81. ↑ "Njinga, Queen of Angola (Njinga, Rainha de Angola) UK Premiere". Royal African Society's Annual Film Festival. 6 November 2014. Archived from the original on 12 August 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  82. ↑ "Yetide Badaki To Star In African Warrior Queen Nzinga Drama Series In The Works At Starz From 50 Cent, Mo Abudu & Steven S. DeKnight". Deadline. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
  83. ↑ "Watch African Queens: Njinga | Netflix Official Site". Netflix.
  84. ↑ "African Queens: Njinga (TV Series 2023– ) – IMDb". IMDb.
  85. ↑ "The Story Behind the Netflix Series African Queens: Njinga". 15 February 2023.

Sources

Nzinga is one of Africa's best documented early-modern rulers. About a dozen of her own letters are known (all but one published in Brásio, Monumenta volumes 6–11 and 15 passim). In addition, her early years are well described in the correspondence of Portuguese governor Fernão de Sousa, who was in the colony from 1624 to 1631 (published by Heintze). Her later activities are documented by the Portuguese chronicler António de Oliveira de Cadornega, and by two Italian Capuchin priests, Giovanni Cavazzi da Montecuccolo and Antonio Gaeta da Napoli, who resided in her court from 1658 until her death (Cavazzi presided at her funeral). Cavazzi included a number of watercolours in his manuscript which include Njinga as a central figure, as well as himself. However, Cavazzi's account is peppered with a number of pejorative statements about Nzinga for which he does not offer factual evidence, such as her cannibalism.

  • Brásio, António. Monumenta Missionaria Africana (1st series, 15 volumes, Lisbon: Agencia Geral do Ultramar, 1952–88)
  • Baur, John. "2000 Years of Christianity in Africa – An African Church History" (Nairobi, 2009), ISBN 9966-21-110-1, pp. 74–75
  • Burness, Donald. "'Nzinga Mbandi’ and Angolan Independence." Luso-Brazilian Review, vol. 14, no. 2, 1977, pp. 225–229. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3513061.
  • Cadornega, António de Oliveira de. História geral das guerras angolanas (1680–81). mod. ed. José Matias Delgado and Manuel Alves da Cunha. 3 vols. (Lisbon, 1940–42) (reprinted 1972).
  • Cavazzi, Giovanni Antonio da Montecuccolo. Istorica descrizione de tre regni Congo, Matamba ed Angola. (Bologna, 1687). French translation, Jean Baptiste Labat, Relation historique de l'Éthiopie. 5 vols. (Paris, 1732) [a free translation with additional materials added]. Modern Portuguese translation, Graziano Maria Saccardo da Leguzzano, ed. Francisco Leite de Faria, Descrição histórica dos tres reinos Congo, Matamba e Angola. 2 vols. (Lisbon, 1965).
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  • Heintze, Beatrix. Fontes para a história de Angola no século XVII. (2 vols, Wiesbaden, 1985–88) Contains the correspondence of Fernão de Souza.
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  • Snethen, J. (16 June 2009) Queen Nzinga (1583-1663). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/queen-nzinga-1583-1663/
  • Thornton, John K. (1991). "Legitimacy and Political Power: Queen Njinga, 1624–1663". The Journal of African History. 32 (1): 25–40. doi:10.1017/s0021853700025329. JSTOR 182577. S2CID 145579317.
  • Thornton, John K. (2011). "Firearms, Diplomacy, and Conquest in Angola: Cooperation and Alliance in West Central Africa, 1491-1671". In Lee, Wayne E. (ed.). Empires and Indigenes: Intercultural Alliance, Imperial Expansion and Warfare in the Early Modern World. New York: New York University Press. ISBN 9780814753095.
  • Vansina, Jan (1963). "The Foundation of the Kingdom of Kasanje". The Journal of African History. 4 (3): 355–374. doi:10.1017/s0021853700004291. JSTOR 180028. S2CID 162901922.
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Further reading

  • Patricia McKissack, Nzingha: Warrior Queen of Matamba, Angola, Africa, 1595; The Royal Diaries Collection (2000)
  • David Birmingham, Trade and Conquest in Angola (Oxford, 1966).
  • Heywood, Linda and John K. Thornton, Central Africans, Atlantic Creoles, and the Making of the Americas, 1580–1660 (Cambridge, 2007). This contains the most detailed account of her reign and times, based on a careful examination of all the relevant documentation.
  • Heywood, Linda M. Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen. Harvard University Press, 2017.
  • Saccardo, Grazziano, Congo e Angola con la storia dell'antica missione dei cappuccini. 3 Volumes, (Venice, 1982–83)
  • Williams, Chancellor, Destruction of Black Civilization (WCP)
  • Nzinga, the Warrior Queen (a play written by Elizabeth Orchardson Mazrui and published by The Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya, 2006).
    • The play is based on Nzinga and discusses issues of colonisation, traditional African rulership, women leadership versus male leadership, political succession, struggles between various Portuguese socio-political, and economic interest groups, struggles between the vested interests of the Jesuits and the Capuchins, etc.
  • Kenny Mann, West Central Africa: Kongo, Ndongo (African Kingdoms of the Past). Parsippany, NJ: Dillon Press, 1996.
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