Nsundi was a province of the old 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...

 whose capital lay on the Inkisi River

Inkisi River

The Inkisi River is a large south bank tributary of the Congo River, located in Western Central Africa.-See also:...

 right on the border between modern-day Angola

Angola

Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...

 and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

History

According to traditions retold by Duarte Lopes, Kongo's ambassador to Rome, and published by Filippo Pigafetta in 1591, Nsundi was a formerly independent small kingdom which was incorporated into Kongo's domains probably in the early to mid-fifteenth century. The province was expanded by its earlier holders east and west along the south bank of the Congo River, and in the late fifteenth century also on the other bank of the river. Portuguese military forces, sent to assist the kings of Kongo in 1491 were deployed to put down a rebellion from sections on both banks of the river.

Later tradition suggested that it was often given to the king's chosen successor to rule, and in fact, the earliest known ruler of Nsundi, Afonso Mvemba a Nzinga, son of Nzinga a Nkuwu, who ruled it in the late fifteenth century did become king in 1509. However, the subsequent history of the country does not support the idea that the heir apparent always held this post, and in fact kings came from many different provinces.

Nsundi was a royal province, meaning that it was governed, at the king's pleasure, by an appointed official on a limited term, often three years. When King Álvaro II

Álvaro II

Álvaro II Nimi a Nkanga was king of Kongo from 1587 to 1614. He was one of Kongo's most powerful and important kings, who succeeded his father Álvaro I, but not until resolving a dispute with his brother...

 renamed the provincial nobility along European lines in the late sixteenth century, Nsundi was declared a Duchy. One of the more powerful of its Dukes, Manuel Jordão, served as something of a king-maker in the period 1624-28, before he was humiliated and removed by King Ambrósio I in 1628.

During the civil wars that followed the Battle of Mbwila

Battle of Mbwila

At the Battle of Mbwila on October 29, 1665, Portuguese forces defeated the forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitated king António I of Kongo, also called Nvita a Nkanga.-Origins of the War:...

 in 1665, Nsundi gradually became more or less independent under a line of Dukes from the 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:...

branch of the royal family.