Ngoyo was an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
kingdom state of the Woyo ethnic group, located in the south of
Cabinda (present-day
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 ...
and
Angola
, national_anthem = " Angola Avante"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capital = Luanda
, religion =
, religion_year = 2020
, religion_ref =
, coordina ...
). Located 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-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.
By 1700, Cabinda had become the leading
slave port north of
Luanda
Luanda () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major Angola#Economy, industrial, Angola#Culture, cultural and Angola#Demographics, urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atl ...
, 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 Loango, Kakongo became an important political c ...
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 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.
See also
*
Woyo masks
*
Cimpaba
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
History of Central Africa
Early modern 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