Kakongo
Encyclopedia
Kakongo was a former small kingdom located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa
, in the modern day Republic of Congo. Although independent, the people speak a dialect of the Kikongo language and could be considered a part of the Bakongo ethnicity.
The kingdom is first mentioned in the titles of the King of Kongo
Afonso I in 1535, in which he notes that he was king over this region, as well as a number of others located along the north bank of the Congo River
. This title has led historians to believe that Kakongo was once part of a federation of states that included Kongo and that may have formed as early as the late fourteenth century.
Kakongo was, however, an independent state for all intents and purposes from the sixteenth century onward. Portuguese merchants, interested in the trade in copper, ivory, and slaves began to establish factories in Kakongo in the 1620s and Dutch and English merchants also visited the kingdom during the seventeenth century.
living at the town of Manguenzo in the interior. The mission was ultimately abandoned, however.
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, in the modern day Republic of Congo. Although independent, the people speak a dialect of the Kikongo language and could be considered a part of the Bakongo ethnicity.
Early history
The earliest history of Kakongo is unknown, and oral traditions collected in the region in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries do not do much to ilucidate the earliest history of the country. In its present state, archaeology can only attest that the region was already in the Iron Age by the fifth century BC, and that complex societies were emerging in the general vicinity by the early centuries CE.The kingdom is first mentioned in the titles of the King of Kongo
Kingdom of Kongo
The Kingdom of Kongo was an African kingdom located in west central Africa in what are now northern Angola, Cabinda, the Republic of the Congo, and the western portion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
Afonso I in 1535, in which he notes that he was king over this region, as well as a number of others located along the north bank of the Congo River
Congo River
The Congo River is a river in Africa, and is the deepest river in the world, with measured depths in excess of . It is the second largest river in the world by volume of water discharged, though it has only one-fifth the volume of the world's largest river, the Amazon...
. This title has led historians to believe that Kakongo was once part of a federation of states that included Kongo and that may have formed as early as the late fourteenth century.
Kakongo was, however, an independent state for all intents and purposes from the sixteenth century onward. Portuguese merchants, interested in the trade in copper, ivory, and slaves began to establish factories in Kakongo in the 1620s and Dutch and English merchants also visited the kingdom during the seventeenth century.
A Commercial Center
Kakongo became a very important commercial center in the eighteenth century, regularly visited by ships from England, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal. Slaves dominated the exports of the country, though most were simply transshpped from areas further south, both in the Kingdom of Kongo and the eastern provinces of Angola (such as Matamba). In 1775, French missionaries sought to convert the kingdom, along with its neighbors, to Christianity, hoping to reap the fruit of its long association with the neighboring, Christian, Kingdom of Kongo. The mission was largely unsuccessful, but did make contact with a community of Christians from Kongo's province of SoyoSoyo
Soyo is a city located in the province of Zaire in Angola. Soyo recently became the largest oil-producing region in the country, with an estimate of .-Early history:...
living at the town of Manguenzo in the interior. The mission was ultimately abandoned, however.