The fifth ManiKongo (King) of the Kingdom of Kongo from 1470 to 1506. He was the first King to have contact with Europeans in 1482 when the first Portuguese ships commanded by Diogo Cão landed in the kingdom, captured some locals, took them to Portugal, and returned them to Kongo in 1485, where the hostages told Nkuwu about Portugal. Nzinga a Nkuwu wanted to established trade with the Portugese and impress the king by giving him expensive gifts and important cultral possessions while expecting the the portugese king would return the favor by exchanging various techology such as guns, building techniques for stone housing because he viewed it as apart of Christianity, cultivation techniques for crops like wheat and bread making because he saw bread as a new food that when produced in his kingdom can strentghen his relationship his portugal, and allowing Kongolese citizens to recieve a portugese education so they take those skill to Kong and benefit his kingdom. April 29, 1491, Nzinga and his wife, Nzinga a Nlaza, were baptized with João and Leonor being their new Christian names. In 1507, João died, with the last contact he had with the Portuguese being a 1506 letter asking for help against rebels. When Gonçalo Rodrigues Ribeiro’s war fleet arrived, Nzinga’s eldest son, Nzinga, had taken the throne with him, talking about how he won it after defeating his brother for succession.
Cited Work(s)
Thornton, John K.. Afonso I Mvemba a Nzinga, King of Kongo : His Life and Correspondence. Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, Incorporated, 2023. Accessed May 5, 2025. ProQuest Ebook Central.
Pan African Studies Encyclopedia 