List of rulers of Kongo

Kandas, Gerações and Houses

The kingdom of Kongo had a formal state apparatus, in which most positions (rendas in Portuguese-language documents, meaning income bearing positions) were in the hands of the king, and the king himself was elected by powerful officials. Kings sought and held office with the assistance of a kanda. Each kanda (plural: makanda) was a faction which organized people according to a common goal, often but not always rooted in a kin-based relationship. Kandas generally took the name of a person (i.e. Nimi, Nlaza or Mpanzu), but could also take the name of a location or title such as Mbala (court)) or birthplace (Kwilu or Nsundi). The Kikongo prefix "ki" is added onto these names to mean "people with something in common". These factions were recorded as gerações or casas (lineages or houses) in Kongo documents written in Portuguese. Until the mid-seventeenth century, following the Battle of Mbwila, these factions were short lived and fluctuating, but following the battle, factions were much firmer and lasted for generations, particularly the Kimpanzu and Kinlaza. The Quilombo dos Palmares a Maroom Kingdom formed in Northeast Brazil. Was founded by Princes and Nobles who were enslaved and transported to Portuguese Brazil after the Battle. There they retained their titles and their lineage survived even after the kingdom itself was destroyed.

Dynasties

When the Portuguese arrived in Kongo in 1483, the reigning king represented the Nimi kanda. This kanda was probably descended from Nimi a Nzima, father of the founder of Kongo. Divisions emerged within the kanda during succession disputes, for example, following the death of Afonso I in 1542, his son Pedro I and grandson Diogo I formed two opposed factions, that of Pedro was called the Kibala (court) faction, and the other, whose name is unknown that followed Diogo. Other elections in the sixteenth century probably also involved similar factions, though the details are unknown.

King Álvaro I was the first king of the House of Kwilu (Portuguese: Coulo). This kanda or lineage was named for the birthplace of Álvaro, north of the capital city. The Kwilu reigned until 1614 when Antonio da Silva, Duke of Mbamba intervened to place Bernardo I on the throne, in place of Álvaro II's minor son, who would eventually take office as Álvaro III.

Another kanda, the House of Nsundi, later known as the Kinkanga a Mvika, took control of Kongo in 1622 under Pedro II, and retained it through the reign of his son, Garcia I. Garcia never held power strongly, and the Kimpanzu returned to power under Ambrosio I. Kimpanzu domination ended in 1641 when two brothers Álvaro and Garcia of the new House of Kinlaza overthrew Álvaro V and took power. The members of the Kikanga a Mvika were all killed or absorbed into the Kinlaza by 1657. The Kinlaza dynasty would reign until Kongo's catastrophic civil war following the 1665 Battle of Mbwila, when sporadic and violent alternation followed.

The capital was destroyed in 1678. Its destruction forced the claimants from both sides of the conflict to rule from mountain fortresses. The Kinlaza retreated to Mbula where they founded the capital of Lemba. Earlier another branch of Kinlaza, under the leadership of Garcia III of Kongo founded a settlement at Kibangu. The Kimpanzu based their struggle for the throne at Mbamba Luvota in the south of Soyo. A new faction appeared in the form of the Água Rosada kanda, headquarteredd at the mountain fortress of Kibangu. This might be considered a new house formed from both the Kinlaza and Kimpanzu, its founders were the children of a Kimpanzu father and a Kinlaza mother. All parties claimed kingship over Kongo (or what was left of it), but their power rarely spread outside their fortresses or the immediate surrounding area.

The country was finally reunited by Pedro IV of the Água Rosada kanda. Pedro IV declared a doctrine of shared power by which the throne would shift (in due time) from Kinlaza to the Kimpanzu and back., while the Água Rosada appear to have continued as neutral in Pedro's fortress of Kibangu.

The system functioned sporadically, with considerable fighting, until 1764 when José I of the Kinlaza faction usurped the throne and thrust the country back into civil war. The Kinlaza enjoyed a short lived second dynasty that ended in 1788. After that, the throne moved through various royal hands until the kingship was extinguished in 1914.

Elections

The selection of kings of Kongo was by a variety of principles, as kings themselves evoked different methods of selection in their letters announcing their succession. Typically the kingdom was said to pass by election, though the electors and the process they used changed over time and according to circumstances. Frequently election seems to have been a combination of elective and hereditary principals.

Kings of Kongo

The following section is divided into periods based on kanda or house rulership. Most houses reigned of a distinct period with few if any intervals. This is not the case, however; after the Kongo Civil War. During this period you will note the name of each king's kanda alongside their reign.

Pre-colonial rulers

bele*

Langa*

Mbele tribe, butembo

Awenekongo of the Lukeni kanda

Lukeni lua Nimi

Nanga of Kongo

Nlaza of Kongo

Nkuwu a Ntinu of Kongo (or Nkuwu a Lukeni; ruled c.1450-c.1470)

João I Nzinga a Nkuwu (ruled c. 1470–1509; baptized as João I 3 May 1491)

Afonso I Mvemba a Nzinga (ruled 1509–42)

Pedro I Nkanga a Mvemba of the House of Kibala (ruled 1542–45)

Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi (ruled 1545–61)

Afonso II Mpemba a Nzinga (ruled 1561)

Bernardo I of Kongo (ruled 1561–66)

Henrique I Nerika a Mpudi (ruled 1567–68)

Awenekongo of the Kwilu kanda

Álvaro I Nimi a Lukeni lua Mvemba (ruled 1568 – March 1587)

Álvaro II Nimi a Nkanga (ruled March 1587–9 August 1614)

Bernardo II Nimi a Nkanga (ruled 12 August 1614 – August 1615)

Álvaro III Nimi a Mpanzu (ruled August 1615–4 May 1622)

Awenekongo of the Nkanga a Mvika kanda

Pedro II Nkanga a Mvika (ruled 26 May 1622 – 3 April 1624)

Garcia I Mvemba a Nkanga (ruled 27 April 1624 – March 1626)

Mwenekongo of the Kwilu kanda

Ambrósio I Nimi a Nkanga (ruled March 1626–7 March 1631)

Álvaro IV Nzinga a Nkuwu (ruled 8 February 1631 – 24 February 1636)

Awenekongo of the Mpanzu kanda

Álvaro V Mpanzu a Nimi (ruled 27 February 1636 – 14 August 1636)

Awenekongo of the Nlaza kanda

Álvaro VI Nimi a Lukeni a Nzenze a Ntumba (ruled 27 August 1636 – 22 February 1641)

Garcia II Nkanga a Lukeni a Nzenze a Ntumba (ruled 23 February 1641 – end of 1660)

António I Nvita a Nkanga (ruled start of 1661–29 October 1665)

Awenekongo during the Civil War

Afonso II of Kongo and Nkondo of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled November – December 1665)

Álvaro VII Mpanzu a Mpandu of the House of Kinlaza (ruled December 1665 – June 1666)

Álvaro VIII Mvemba a Mpanzu of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled June 1666 – January 1669)

Pedro III Nsimba Ntamba of the House of Kinlaza (ruled January – June 1669)

Álvaro IX Mpanzu a Ntivila of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled June 1669 – end of 1670)

Rafael I Nzinga a Nkanga of the House of Kinlaza (ruled end 1670 – mid 1673)

Afonso III Mvemba a Nimi of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled mid 1673–mid 1674)

Daniel I Miala mia Nzimbwila of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled mid 1674 – mid 1678)

Awenekongo of Kibangu

Garcia III Nkanga a Mvemba (ruled end 1669 – start 1685)

André I Mvizi a Nkanga (ruled 1685)

Manuel Afonso Nzinga an Elenke of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled 1685–1688)

Álvaro X Nimi a Mvemba Agua Rosada of the House of the Agua Rosada (ruled 1688 – December 1695)

Pedro IV Afonso Agua Rosada Nusamu a Mvemba of the House of the Agua Rosada (ruled December 1695- February 1709)

Awenekongo of Lemba (Mbula) for the House of Kinlaza

Pedro III Nsimba Ntamba (ruled June 1669 – 1680)

João Manuel II Nzuzi a Ntamba (ruled 1680–1716)

Mwenekongo of Mbamba Lovata for the Kimpanzu

Manuel de Vuzi a Nóbrega (ruled 1678–1715)

Awenekongo after the Reoccupation of São Salvador

Pedro IV Nusamu a Mvemba of the House of the Agua Rosada (ruled Kibangu December 1695 – early 1709; ruled reunited kingdom from São Salvador February 1709 – 21 February 1718)

Manuel II Mpanzu a Nimi of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled February 1718 – 21 April 1743)

Garcia IV Nkanga a Mvandu of the House of Kinlaza from Mbula (ruled 27 July 1743 – 31 March 1752)

Nicolau I Misaki mia Nimi of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled 27 August 1752 – post 1758)

Afonso IV Nkanga a Nkanga of the House of Kinlaza

António II Mvita a Mpanzu of the House of Kimpanzu

Sebastião I Nkanga kia Nkanga of the House of Kinlaza

Pedro V Ntivila a Nkanga of the House of Kimpanzu (ruled September 1763 – 1764)

Álvaro XI Nkanga a Nkanga of the House of Kinlaza from Nkondo (ruled May 1764 – 1778)

José I Mpasi a Nkanga of the House of Kinlaza (ruled 1778–1785)

Afonso V of Kongo of the House of Kinlaza from Nkondo (ruled 1785–1787)

Álvaro XII of Kongo of the House of Kinlaza from Nkondo (ruled 1787–unknown)

Aleixo I Mpanzu a Mbandu (ruled unknown–1793)

Joaquim I of Kongo (ruled 1793–94)

Henrique II Masaki ma Mpanzu (ruled 10 January 1794 – 1803)

Garcia V Nkanga a Mvemba (ruled 1803 – start 1830)

André II Mvizi a Lukeni (ruled start 1830–1842)

Henrique III Mpanzu a Nsindi a Nimi a Lukeni (ruled 1842 – January 1857)

Álvaro XIII of Kongo also known as Ndongo (ruled January 1857–7 August 1859)

Peter V of Kongo also known as Elelo (ruled 7 August 1859 – February 1891; signed treaty of vassallage with Portugal in 1888)

Awenekongo after becoming a vassal of Portugal

Álvaro XIV of Kongo also known as Agua Rosada (ruled February 1891 – November 1896)

Henrique IV of Kongo also known as Tekenge (ruled 1896–1901)

Pedro VI of Kongo also known as Mbemba (ruled 1901–10)

Manuel Nkomba of Kongo (ruled 1910–11)

Manuel III of Kongo also known as Kiditu (ruled 1911–1914)

The Portuguese abolished the title of King of Kongo following the revolt of 1914.

Pretenders to the throne since 1914

Álvaro XV Afonso of Kongo also known as Nzinga (ruled 1915–1923)

Pedro VII Afonso of Kongo (ruled 1923–1955)

António III Afonso of Kongo (ruled 1955–1957)

Isabel Maria da Gama of Kongo (f., 1st regency 1957–1962)

Pedro VIII Afonso of Kongo also known as Mansala (ruled September to October 1962)

Isabel Maria da Gama of Kongo (f., 2nd regency 1962–1975)

Brazilian branch of Palmares

The Quilombo dos Palmares was a Maroon Kingdom formed in the Captaincy of Pernambuco in what is now Northeast Brazil sometime around 1605 by Princes and Nobles from the Kingdom of Kongo captured during the Battle of Mbwila and transported there as slaves. After having escaped slavery they retained their noble titles. They probably belonged to the House of Awenekongo of the Nlaza kanda of Antonio I.

Ganga Zumba King (ruled 1630–1678). son of Princess Aqualtune daughter of an unidenfied king of kongo. she was present at the Battle of Mbwila.

Ganga Zona. King (ruled 1678–1678). Brother of Ganga Zumba.

Zumbi also known as Francisco. King (ruled 1678–1695). nephew of Ganga Zumba. Son of Princess Sabina. Today a National Hero in Brazil.

Camuanga. King (ruled 1695–?). son of Zumbi. last known member of the lineage in the Americas.