Ngoyo was a kingdom of the Woyo ethnic group, located in the south of Cabinda and on the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

coast of

Central Africa Central Africa is a subregion of the African continent comprising various countries according to different definitions. Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, ...

, just north of the

Congo River The Congo River ( kg, Nzâdi Kôngo, french: Fleuve Congo, pt, Rio Congo), formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the second largest river in the world by discharge ...

, it was founded by

Bantu Bantu may refer to: *Bantu languages, constitute the largest sub-branch of the Niger–Congo languages *Bantu peoples, over 400 peoples of Africa speaking a Bantu language * Bantu knots, a type of African hairstyle *Black Association for National ...

-speaking people around the 15th century. Ngoyo tradition held that the kingdom's ancestors were among the earliest settlers in the area, leading their chiefs to title themselves the ''nfumu nsi'' ("lords of the earth"). The capital was

Mbanza Ngoyo Mbanza, or M'banza, may refer to: Places ;Angola *M'banza-Kongo, a city in Zaire Province * Mbanza-Soyo (officially Soyo), a city in Zaire Province *Mbanza (territory), a historical region of the Kingdom of Kongo ;DR Congo *Mbanza-Ngungu, a city i ...

. In the 1630s Ngoyo was invaded by the forces of

Soyo Soyo (formerly known as ''Santo António do Zaire'') is a city, with a population of 200,920 (2014 census), and a municipality, with a population of 227,175 (2014 census), located in the province of Zaire in Angola, at the mouth of the Congo riv ...

, and the son of the ruler of Soyo was installed as ruler of Ngoyo. It is not clear who the following rulers were for the next few decades. In the 1680s Ngoyo had various relations with Soyo. It also had several English merchants present. When Antonio II Baretto da Silva invaded, the English forces tried to stop him and protect the interests of Ngoyo, but they were unsuccessful and Baretto da Silva imposed for peace terms.Thornton. ''West Central Africa'', p. 203 By 1700, Cabinda had become the leading

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

port north of

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

, and Ngoyo's economy rested heavily on the sale of slaves. In 1783, Ngoyo joined forces with the neighboring state of

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 Kingdom of Loango, Loango, Kakongo became an import ...

to destroy a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

fort. However, the kingdom was soon undone by the growing financial burden that the kingship entailed. With fewer and fewer possible claimants seeking the office, the kingdom effectively disintegrated in the 1830s after the nobles failed to elect a new king. In 1885, the Ngoyo signed the

Treaty of Simulambuco The Treaty of Simulambuco was signed in 1885 by representatives of the Portuguese government and officials in the N'Goyo Kingdom. The agreement was drafted and signed in response to the Treaty of Berlin, which was an agreement between the colon ...

with

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and became a protectorate of that nation.

References

*Martin, Phyllis M. "Family Strategies in Nineteenth-Century Cabinda." ''The Journal of African History'' 28.1 (1987): 65-86.

External links

The origins of the kingdom of Ngoyo (in French)
Iron Age cultures of Africa Countries in ancient Africa Early modern history of Angola History of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Former countries in Africa States and territories established in the 15th century States and territories disestablished in the 1830s 15th-century establishments in Africa 1830s disestablishments in Africa {{Africa-hist-stub

See also

References

External links