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Y209: African Kingdoms c.1400–c.1800: Four Case Studies

The Kingdom of Kongo c.1400–c.1709: the kingdom c.1400, conversion and royal power

  • 3 things to know
  • Unit group 2

Overview

Recall questions on Kongo around 1400, Diogo Cão, the Kilukeni kanda and Mbanza Kongo, the conversion of 1491, Afonso I and Henrique, the kingdom’s church structures, centralisation, currency and trade.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Who was Diogo Cão and why is he important to Kongo's history?

Key term

Describe the ecclesiastical structures the kings of Kongo built.

Who and when

What did the kingdom use as currency?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What sort of state was the Kingdom of Kongo around 1400?

    Model answer

    It was a young kingdom south of the Congo river, formed by conquest and marriage alliance under the Kilukeni line, ruling a group of provinces from the highland capital of Mbanza Kongo.

  2. 2

    Who was Diogo Cão and why is he important to Kongo's history?

    Model answer

    He was the Portuguese navigator who reached the mouth of the Congo river in 1483 and opened permanent contact between Kongo and Portugal, exchanging hostages and envoys who returned from Lisbon as Christians.

  3. 3

    Explain what the Kilukeni kanda was.

    Model answer

    It was the founding descent group of the kingdom, the royal kanda from which the kings of Kongo were drawn, so that legitimacy rested on membership of that lineage rather than on simple father-to-son inheritance.

  4. 4

    Why was Mbanza Kongo so important to the kingdom?

    Model answer

    It was the royal capital and by far the largest town, the seat of the court, the cathedral and the treasury, and the point from which provincial governors were appointed and tribute collected; the Portuguese renamed it São Salvador.

  5. 5

    What happened in 1491 at the Kongolese court?

    Model answer

    King Nzinga a Nkuwu was baptised as João I along with leading nobles, formally opening the kingdom to Christianity, although he later drew back from the new religion.

  6. 6

    Why is Afonso I regarded as the key figure in Kongo's conversion?

    Model answer

    Ruling from 1509 to 1542, Mvemba a Nzinga took the throne as a committed Christian, made Catholicism the religion of the state and the nobility, promoted literacy in Portuguese and used the church to strengthen royal authority.

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