Nzinga Mbande: The Ruthless Queen

Queen Nzinga Mbande

Queen Nzinga Mbande was a 17th century queen of the Mbundu people from Angola. She is known as a ruthless ruler who did not let men stand in her way when seeking power. She was born daughter to Ngola Kiluanji the king of Ndongo in 1583. When she was born her mother's umbilical chord was tangled around her neck. It is stated in the article "Portuguese Slave Traders were no Match for Angolan Queen Nzinga Mbande" that she was promptly named Nzinga (or Njinga which is another way to spell her name) after the Mundu word 'kujinga' which means to twist. Ngola had both Nzinga and her brother learn the monarchs duties of the kingdom and both of them witnessed many guerrilla attacks made on the Portuguese slave traders and colonists who were infringing upon territory and terrorizing the Mbundu people at the time. 

Modern Depiction of young Nzinga

Once king Nzinga's brother Ngola Mbandi sent her as his emissary to Luanda while he was trying to keep the Portuguese away from Launda's highlands. Nzinga took up Christianity during her visit and adopted the Christian name Ana de Souza which would serve to help her communicate better with Portuguese administrators. Two years after she was sent to Luanda her brother died, and this made her the ruler of the Mbundu people. There was some dispute about who the actual ruler of the Mbundu should have been, even though Nzinga immediately claimed the title. Various political groups in the kingdom did not agree that it was her's to take and did not like the idea of woman ruler, even one who was on the verge of a diplomatic breakthrough with the Portuguese. Normally kingship would have gone to a male member of the kingdom with a lot of followers and a large political influence. On the other hand Portuguese did not recognize her as a legitimate ruler at first. They thought that she had possinly killed her brother, and believed that the throne belonged not to Nzinga but to Ngola Mbandi's son. Nzinga gathers a group of Imbangala warriors from just outside the state and offered to help slaves to freedom that joined her cause. The Imbangala were more comfortable with the idea of a woman leader than the Mbundu were, and followed her readily. She is also rumored to have used the kaza (a warlord who lead the Imbangala) to kill her nephew and secure the crown. 

Queen Nzinga

Soon enough after recruiting the Imbangala warrior they abandoned Nzinga for the Portuguese as they had no real blood loyalty to her. This left her completely unprotected and in danger. She left for the Mbundu city of Matamba, where she quickly stepped up as a leader after numerous raids and other political issues had shaken up the kingdom. The people readily accepted her guidance and were more than happy to have a female leader unlike many other people at the time. Once reestablished Nzinga blocked Portuguese slave trade routes and lead the slaves into Matamba instead. This helped her to increase her armies as she offered asylum to slaves that would fight for her, and helped to increase her power and money as well. Nzinga is mentioned to have lead her own armies into war zones, which was very unusual for a woman of her time. Nzinga is rumored to have had a large male harem (this is also mentioned in "Portuguese Slave Traders were no Match for Angolan Queen Nzinga Mbande"), and the rumors concerning her harem are very lurid. It is said that Nzinga would have her lovers murdered after sleeping with them, and that she also forced them to dress in women's clothes This is again a very unusual role for a woman to assume as women having harems is largely unheard of. She signed a peace treaty with the Portuguese in 1657 at the ripe old age of 74. She died in 1663 after putting much effort into the rehabilitation of her nations land that had been so destroyed by war. 

Nzinga was a woman surrounded by chaos, war, hardship, and sexism. Not only her enemies, but her own people did not always accept her as an authority figure because of her gender, but she kept pushing back and fought to keep her kingdom no matter how ruthlessly she had to. Nzinga knew how to hand politicians and warlords with skill and was able to cut (possibly literally) the men out of her life that stood in her way. It is still rumored today that she had hands in both her brother's and her nephew's deaths, however there is no actual proof of the matter and it is possible that the rumors could have been fabricated by people who sought to undermine her reign. Nzinga also fought for a very humanitarian cause: fleeing slaves. She worked hard to ensure that her people were no longer captured by the Portuguese and laid the ground work that lead to Agola's independence in 1975. 

Works Cited:

Queen Nzinga (1583-1663) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663.

Banerji, Urvija. “Portuguese Slave Traders Were No Match for Angolan Queen Nzinga Mbandi.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 9 June 2016, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/portuguese-slave-traders-were-no-match-for-angolan-queen-nzinga-mbandi.

Engel, KeriLynn, et al. “Ana Nzinga Mbande, Fearless African Queen.” Amazing Women In History, 1 May 2017, www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/anna-nzinga-mbande-fearless-africa-queen/.

Banerji, Urvija. “Portuguese Slave Traders Were No Match for Angolan Queen Nzinga Mbandi.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 9 June 2016, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/portuguese-slave-traders-were-no-match-for-angolan-queen-nzinga-mbandi.

Engel, KeriLynn, et al. “Ana Nzinga Mbande, Fearless African Queen.” Amazing Women In History, 1 May 2017, www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/anna-nzinga-mbande-fearless-africa-queen/.

Queen Nzinga (1583-1663) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed, blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663.

Queen Nzinga (1583-1663) | The Black Pas

t: 

Remembered and Reclaimed, blackpast.org/gah/queen-nzinga-1583-1663.

Banerji, Urvija. “Portuguese Slave Traders Were No Match for Angolan Queen Nzinga Mbandi.” Atlas Obscura, Atlas Obscura, 9 June 2016, www.atlasobscura.com/articles/portuguese-slave-traders-were-no-match-for-angolan-queen-nzinga-mbandi.

Engel, KeriLynn, et al. “Ana Nzinga Mbande, Fearless African Queen.” Amazing Women In History, 1 May 2017, www.amazingwomeninhistory.com/anna-nzinga-mbande-fearless-africa-queen/.