Kinkanga - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Kinkanga, usually known as the Kinkanga a Mvika or House of Nsundi, was a royal kanda

Kanda (lineage)

Kanda In Kikongo any social or analytical group, but often applied to lineages or groups of associated people who form a faction, band or other group. In Kongo documents written in Portuguese, or in older Portuguese accounts of Kongo it often is translated by "geração"...

formed by King Pedro II

Pedro II of Kongo

Pedro II Nkanga a Mvika was a ruler of the kingdom of Kongo during the kingdom's first conflict with the Portuguese colony of Angola. He was the founder of the royal House of Nsundi and could trace his descent to one of Afonso I's daughters.-Career:...

, which ruled the Kingdom 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...

from 1622 to 1631. While King Pedro II (ruled 1622-24) and his son Garcia I

Garcia I of Kongo

Garcia I Mvemba a Nkanga was a manikongo of Kongo whom ruled from April 27, 1624 to March 7, 1626.-Early Reign:Garcia I was the son of King Pedro II. He was the second and last king from the House of Nsundi begun by his father in 1622. When Pedro II died in 1624, Garcia succeeded peacefully to...

(ruled 1624-1626) were the only other member of the faction or kanda to rule, it retained powerful members in provincial offices in the 1650s up until its destruction in the 1670s. Despite this loss in prominence, they were remembered in tradition and are evoked in a proverb, still current in the 1920s Nkutama a mvila za makanda
Nkutama a mvila za makanda
Nkutama a mvila za makanda is a "Catalogue of Praise Names of Clans" in the Kikongo language compiled and edited by Father Jean Cuvelier comprising a list of about 500 Kongo clans in alphabetical order. The list was compiled by Cuvelier between 1926 and 1934 when he was inspector of schools for...

"Kinlaza, Kimpanzu ye Kinlaza makukwa matatu malambila Kongo" (Kinkanga, Kimpanzu

Kimpanzu

The Kimpanzu were members of the Mpanzu kanda also known as the House of Kimpanzu, one of the lineages from which the kings of Kongo were chosen during the 17th century and following Kongo's reunification under Pedro IV.-Origins:...

and Kinlaza

Kinlaza

The Kinlaza were members of the Nlaza kanda or House of Kinlaza, one of the ruling houses of the Kingdom of Kongo during the 17th century. It was one of the main factions during the Kongo Civil War along with the Kimpanzu and Kinkanga a Mvika kandas....

are the three stones on which Kongo cooked)

The Compromise Candidate

Since 1567, the House of Kwilu had ruled Kongo. When its king, Álvaro III

Álvaro III of Kongo

Álvaro III Nimi a Mpanzu, also known as Álvaro III Mbiki a Mpanzu, ruled as king or manikongo of the Kingdom of Kongo from August of 1615 to May 4, 1622. Prior to becoming king, he had served as Duke of Mbamba. Like his predecessor, Bernardo II he was a son of King Álvaro II. King Álvaro III was...

, died in 1622, he had no heir old enough to assume the throne. The electors decided to grant the throne to Pedro II Nkanga a Mvika, the Duke of Mbamba. In Portuguese documents, the ruling house of King Pedro II is called Nsundi for the duchy

Duchy

A duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...

the founding king's father ruled. The line of kings from the House of Kwilu virtually ended over night (Ambrósio I

Ambrósio I of Kongo

Ambrósio I Nimi a Nkanga was a mwenekongo of the Kingdom of Kongo who ruled from March 1626 to March 7, 1631.-Rise to Power:Ambrósio I was the nephew of Álvaro III and as such was a member of the royal House of Kwilu. When Alvaro III died on May 4 of 1622, he had only a young son to leave as heir...

being the lone exception from 1626-1631).

Split with Portugal

The ascension of the House of Nsundi meant the end of what had become a tenuous relationship between Kongo and Portugal. The once close allies had fallen out over slaving and trade rights toward the end of the 16th century. The ambitious governor of the Portguese colony in Luanda claimed that the king had given asylum to runaway slaves while Duke of Mbamba. Furthermore, he also claimed the right to appoint kings of Kongo. This led to a Portuguese invasion of Kongo the very year of King Pedro II's rise. The gross miscalculation of the Portuguese resulted in the king leading a force which crushed the invasion at the Battle of Mbandi Kasi.

Diplomacy with the Dutch

After the disastrous war, the Portuguese sought peace with the House of Nsundi and calm was restored for a little while. Meanwhile, Pedro II harbored plans to remove the Portuguese from his region altogether and sought Dutch assistance to this aim. It would be up to another ruling house; however, to see these plans through.

Garcia I

Garcia I succeeded his father as head of the house in 1624, but when he was overthrown by Manuel Jordão, the Duke of Nsundi in 1626, he fled to Soyo. There he was protected by the Count Paulo of Soyo for many years, as he had been appointed by Pedro II. As a result Soyo formed a close bond with the house. A number of other appointees by Pedro II or Garcia remained in their offices even as other houses ruled Kongo. In 1656, members of the house that held office in São Salvador and the Marquis of Mpemba tried to overthrow Garcia II, and were defeated and the kanda was destroyed as a separate entity in 1678.

The Compromise Candidate

Split with Portugal

Diplomacy with the Dutch

Garcia I

See also