The Manikongo was the title of the ruler of the 14th century - 17th centuryKingdom of Kongo, a large area consisting of land in present-day Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, who ruled from the kingdom's capital Mbanza-Kongo, present day capital city of the Angolan province of Zaire (renamed Sao Salvador during the portuguese colonial rule of that country). Their rule became largely threatened around 1571 when the colony of Luanda was established by the Portugese and did not get the patrionage or political alliances that they needed from the Catholic Church. This 14th-century statue from south India depicts the gods Shiva (on the left) and Uma (on the right}. It is housed in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... The Kongo Empire was an African kingdom located in southwest Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. ... Mbanza Kongo, formerly known as São Salvador, is the capital of Zaire province in Northwestern Angola, close to the DOC Border. ...
The Manikongo appointed the governors of the six provinces of the Kingdom of Kongo and received tribute from some other subject areas.
The kingdom came increasingly under the control of its Portuguese trading partners, and the power of the Manikongo waned especially in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. The army of the Kongo was defeated by the Portuguese at the battle of Mbwila in 1665 and the Portuguese decapitated the Manikongo, essentially ending the office and the kingdom. (15th century - 16th century - 17th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 16th century was that century which lasted from 1501 to 1600. ... At the Battle of Mbwila (or Battle of Ambuila) on October 29, 1665, Portuguese forces defeated the forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitated king Antonio I of Kongo, also called Vita Nkanga, ending native rule of that kingdom. ... Events March 4 - Start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ...
Their ruler, who was tributary to the manikongo, was called the ngola a kiluanje.
It was the first part of the title, its pronunciation changed to "Angola," by which the Portuguese referred to the entire area.
Although officially ignored by Lisbon, the Angolan colony was the center of disputes, usually concerning the slave trade, between local Portuguese traders and the Mbundu people, who inhabited Ndongo.
Kongo was ruled by the manikongo, or king, and was divided into six provinces, each administered by a governor appointed by the manikongo.
The next manikongo, Afonso I (reigned 1505–43), was raised as a Christian and attempted to convert the kingdom to Christianity and European ways.
In 1641, Manikongo Garcia II allied himself with the Dutch in an attempt to control Portuguese slave traders, but in 1665 a Portuguese force decisively defeated the army of Kongo and from that time onward the manikongo was little more than a vassal of Portugal.
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