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Loango Kingdom
The Kingdom of Loango (also ''Lwããgu'') was a pre-colonial African state, during approximately the 16th to 19th centuries in what is now the western part of the Republic of the Congo, Southern Gabon and Cabinda. Situated to the north of the more powerful Kingdom of Kongo, at its height in the 17th century Loango influence extended from Cape St Catherine in the north to almost the mouth of the Congo River. Loango exported copper to the European market, and was a major producer and exporter of cloth. The English traveller Andrew Battel, when he was there in about 1610, recorded that the predecessor of the unnamed king ruling at that time was named "Gembe" or Gymbe (modernized as ''Njimbe''), possibly the founder of the kingdom. With the death of King Buatu in 1787, the succession of leadership is uncertain. Name The inhabitants, who are a branch of the Bakongo, spoke a northern dialect of the Kikongo language also spoken in the Kingdom of Kongo. Missionaries who visited the L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Democratic Republic Of The Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in Central Africa. It is bordered to the northwest by the Republic of the Congo, to the north by the Central African Republic, to the northeast by South Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda, and Burundi, and by Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika), to the south and southeast by Zambia, to the southwest by Angola, and to the west by the South Atlantic Ocean and the Cabinda exclave of Angola. By area, it is the second-largest country in Africa and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 108 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is the most populous officially Francophone country in the world. The national capital and largest city is Kinshasa, which is also the nation's economic center. Centered on the Cong ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kakongo
Kakongo was a small kingdom located on the Atlantic coast of Central Africa, in the modern-day Republic of the Congo and Cabinda Province, Angola. Along with its neighboring kingdoms of Ngoyo and Loango, Kakongo became an important political commercial center during the 17th through 19th centuries. The people speak a dialect of the Kikongo language and thus may be considered a part of the Bakongo ethnicity. Kakongo was a vassal of the Kingdom of Kongo for a part of its history. Early history The earliest history of Kakongo is unknown, and oral traditions collected in the region in the 19th and 20th centuries do not do much to elucidate. In its present state, archaeology can only attest that the region was already in the Iron Age by the 5th 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 Afonso I in 1535, in which he notes that he was king over this regio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Matamba
The Kingdom of Matamba (1631–1744) was an African state located in what is now the Baixa de Cassange region of Malanje Province of modern-day Angola. It was a powerful kingdom that long resisted Portuguese colonisation attempts and was only integrated into Angola in the late nineteenth century. History Origins and early history The first documentary mention of the Kingdom of Matamba is a reference to it giving tribute to the King of Kongo, then Afonso I of Kongo, in 1530. In 1535 Afonso subsequently mentioned Matamba as one of the regions over which he ruled as king in his titles. There is no further information on the kingdom's early history and modern oral traditions do not seem to illuminate this at the present state of research. However, it does not seem likely that Kongo had any more than a light and symbolic presence in Matamba, and its rulers were probably quite independent. Matamba undoubtedly had closer relations with its south southeastern neighbor Ndongo, then a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verónica I Of Matamba
Verónica Guterres Kangala Kingwanda (''Cangala Quinguanda'' in contemporary spelling; died 1721) was the ruler of the joint kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba, 1681–1721. Background Verónica was daughter to King João Guterres Ngola Kanini of the combined kingdom of Ndongo and Matamba and was an important ruler of the Guterres Dynasty established by Queen Njinga Mbande. She was probably most important in establishing the frequent practice of having female rulers in the country following the turbulent and often challenged reigns of Njinga and her sister Barbara in the period between 1624 and 1666. No contemporary documentation give any indication of her age. She was probably baptised along with most other Ndongo-Matamba nobles during the period of missionary activity in Matamba following the establishment of the Capuchin mission in 1656. She appears to have always regarded herself as a Christian. Reign Verónica came to power following the Portuguese war against Matamba in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Niari Valley
The Niari valley is a fertile region in the Niari Department in the south west of the Republic of the Congo. The soil in the area is good and this state is an important agricultural and industrial region. Geography The Mayombé Escarpment in the Republic of the Congo rises to and runs parallel with the coast. It is a forested area with high rainfall. Inland from this and at a lower elevation is the Niari Valley. It is an area of savannah and woodland and the rainfall here is lower. The valley has most of the country's agribusinesses and the main crops are coffee, cocoa, sugar, maize, tobacco and palm oil. Livestock is also reared in this area. The River Niari is not used for transport because the navigable stretches are separated by frequent rapids, and where it flows through the Mayombé Escarpment there are gorges. Big game such as elephant, leopard and buffalo still roam in this area, especially in the Mount Fouari Reserve. History of agriculture The Niari Valley has an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mindouli District
Mindouli is a district in the Pool Region of south-eastern Republic of the Congo. The capital lies at Mindouli Mindouli is one of two towns in the Republic of Congo with this name. This is the one in the Pool Department. It is very close to the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: Républ .... Towns and villages Pool Department Districts of the Republic of the Congo {{RCongo-geo-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nkisi
or (plural varies: , , or ) are spirits or an object that a spirit inhabits. It is frequently applied to a variety of objects used throughout the Congo Basin in Central Africa, especially in the Territory of Cabinda that are believed to contain spiritual powers or spirits. The term and its concept have passed with the Atlantic slave trade to the Americas. Meaning The current meaning of the term derives from the root , referring to a spiritual entity or material objects in which it is manifested or inhabits in Proto-Njila, an ancient subdivision of the Bantu language family. In its earliest attestations in Kikongo dialects in the early seventeenth century, it was transliterated as in Dutch, as the ''mu-'' prefix in this noun class was still pronounced. It was reported by Dutch visitors to Loango, current territory of Cabinda, in the 1668 book '' Description of Africa'' as referring both to a material item and the spiritual entity that inhabits it. In the sixteenth century, w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nzambi A Mpungu
Nzambi a Mpungu is the Kongolese name for a high creator god. The idea of such a god spread from Central Africa into other Kongo related religions. History He is mentioned as the name for God as early as the early sixteenth century by Portuguese visitors to the Kingdom of Kongo. This deity has been known as the high and creator god from before this time until today. European missionaries along with Kongo intellectuals (including King Afonso I of Kongo) set out to render European Christian religious concepts into Kikongo and they chose this name to represent God. Jesuit missionaries in the 1540s noted the acceptance of this relationship as well, and it was probably included in the now lost catechism produced by Carmelites in Kikongo in 1557. Certainly it was used for God in the catechism of 1624, a translation by the "best masters of the church" in Kongo under the supervision of the Jesuit priest Mateus Cardoso. It is not clear if the elevation of Nzambi a Mpungu to the stat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kings Of Loango
This is a list of the known kings of Loango. It is not possible with current knowledge to present a definitive list of the rulers of Loango. There are only scattered references in the documentation left by visitors that can help to establish a chronology. *"Gembe" or "Gymbe" was noted as the ruler who preceded the king during the visit of Andrew Battell in around 1605. *An anonymous Dutch source mentions that an unnamed ruler died around 1625 and that he had ruled for "a good 60 years". *An anonymous Dutch source describes the successor to this ruler as his sister's son, and gives his name as "Iemby Cambrijs", and describe him of being of "good nature" and likely to have a successful reign. *The Italian Capuchin missionary Bernardo Ungaro baptized a king in 1663 as Afonso, who was overthrown soon afterward by a non-Christian rival, who was in turn succeeded by a Christian in 1665. *The English merchant Nathaniel Uring visited Loango in 1701 and reported that the king had recently ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nathaniel Uring
Nathaniel Uring was an English merchant who traveled to Africa and the Americas in the early eighteenth century. His 1725 and 1726 accounts are important sources for the history of early colonial Saint Vincent, Saint Lucia, and Belize, as well as the Kingdom of Loango, among other subjects. By letters patent of 22 June 1722 George I of Great Britain granted John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu the islands of St. Lucia and St. Vincent's in the West Indies, and appointed him governor and captain-general thereof. Montagu appointed Uring deputy-governor, and sent him out with seven ships containing settlers and their families. The British men-of-war on the station would not directly support the enterprise, and when the French landed a body of troops from Martinique to oppose him, Uring was compelled to conclude a treaty agreeing to quit St. Lucia within seven days. A similar attempt to obtain a footing in St. Vincent's was opposed by the inhabitants, and also ended in failure, Montagu i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas Van Wassenaer
Nicholas is a male given name and a surname. The Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Anglican Churches celebrate Saint Nicholas every year on December 6, which is the name day for "Nicholas". In Greece, the name and its derivatives are especially popular in maritime regions, as St. Nicholas is considered the protector saint of seafarers. Origins The name is derived from the Greek name Νικόλαος (''Nikolaos''), understood to mean 'victory of the people', being a compound of νίκη ''nikē'' 'victory' and λαός ''laos'' 'people'.. An ancient paretymology of the latter is that originates from λᾶς ''las'' ( contracted form of λᾶας ''laas'') meaning 'stone' or 'rock', as in Greek mythology, Deucalion and Pyrrha recreated the people after they had vanished in a catastrophic deluge, by throwing stones behind their shoulders while they kept marching on. The name became popular through Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in Lycia, the inspir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olfert Dapper
Olfert Dapper (January 1636 – 29 December 1689) was a Dutch physician and writer. He wrote books about world history and geography, although he never travelled outside the Netherlands. Biography Olfert Dapper was born in early 1636 in the Jordaan in Amsterdam. On 6 January 1636, he was baptized in the Lutheran church in Amsterdam. In 1663 wrote a book on the history of Amsterdam. His '' Description of Africa'' (1668) is a key text for African studies. His book "is one of the most authoritative 17th century accounts on Africa published in Dutch. Translations appeared in English, French, and German. Dapper never traveled to Africa but used reports by Jesuit missionaries and other (Dutch) explorers. Within a few years he published about China, India, Persia, Georgia, and Arabia. His books became well known in his own time. The fine plates include views of Algiers, Benin, Cairo, Cape Town, Valletta, Marrakesh, St. Helena, Tangier, Tripoli, Tunis, as well as, animals and plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
