Manikongo

Manikongo (also called Awenekongo or Mwenekongo) was the title of the ruler of the Kingdom of Kongo, a kingdom that existed from the 14th to the 19th centuries and consisted of land in present-day Angola, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The manikongo's seat of power was Mbanza Kongo (also called São Salvador from 1570 to 1975), now the capital of Zaire Province in Angola. The manikongo appointed governors for the provinces of the Kingdom and received tribute from neighbouring subjects.

The Manikongo giving audience to his subjects and Portuguese visitors

The term "manikongo" is derived from Portuguese manicongo, an alteration of the KiKongo term Mwene Kongo (literally "lord of Kongo"). The term wene, from which mwene is derived, is also used to mean kingdom and is attested with this meaning in the Kongo catechism of 1624 with reference to the Kingdom of Heaven. The term mwene is created by adding the personal prefix mu- to this stem, to mean "person of the kingdom".

Mwene is attested in very early texts, notably the letters of King Afonso I of Kongo, where he writes, to Portuguese kings Manuel I (in 1514) and João III concerning the moenipango (mwene Mpangu) and twice concerning the moinebata. Mani was used to mean not only "king" but also anyone holding authority, so provincial and sub-provincial officials also were called mani. Afonso did not entitle himself Manikongo, but rather rei de congo (king of Kongo).[1]

Subjects were required to prostrate themselves before the Manikongo, approaching him on all fours, and when time came for the Manikongo to eat or drink, an attendant would chime two iron rods, cueing them to lay face-down so that they could not see him do so.[2]

References

Brásio, António (1952). Monumenta Missionaria Afriana. Lisbon: Agência geral do Ultramar. p. 298 (transcribed incorrectly as Muxuebata), 322 see Arquivo Nacional de Torre do Tombo, Corpo Crónologico, I-16-28.
Hochschild, Adam (October 1, 1999). "Prologue". King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0618001903.

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[1] Brásio, António (1952). Monumenta Missionaria Afriana. Lisbon: Agência geral do Ultramar. p. 298 (transcribed incorrectly as Muxuebata), 322 see Arquivo Nacional de Torre do Tombo, Corpo Crónologico, I-16-28.

[2] Hochschild, Adam (October 1, 1999). "Prologue". King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0618001903.

Rulers of the Kingdom of Kongo
Awenekongo of the Kilukeni kanda (1390–1567)	Lukeni lua Nimi Nanga of Kongo Nlaza of Kongo Nkuwu a Ntinu of Kongo João I of Kongo Afonso I of Kongo Pedro I of Kongo Diogo I Nkumbi a Mpudi Afonso II of Kongo Bernardo I of Kongo Henrique I of Kongo
Awenekongo of the Kwilu kanda (1567–1622)	Álvaro I of Kongo Álvaro II of Kongo Bernardo II of Kongo Álvaro III of Kongo
Awenekongo of the Nkanga a Mvika kanda (1622–1626)	Pedro II of Kongo Garcia I of Kongo
Mwenekongo of the Kwilu kanda (1626–1636)	Ambrósio I of Kongo Álvaro IV of Kongo
Awenekongo of the Kimpanzu kanda (1636)	Álvaro V of Kongo
Awenekongo of the Kinlaza kanda (1636–1665)	Álvaro VI of Kongo Garcia II of Kongo António I of Kongo
Civil War Awenekongo (1665–1678)	Afonso II of Kongo and Nkondo Álvaro VII of Kongo Álvaro VIII of Kongo Pedro III of Kongo Álvaro IX of Kongo Rafael I of Kongo Afonso III of Kongo Daniel I of Kongo
Post-Civil War states	Garcia III of Kibangu André I of Kibangu Manuel I of Kibangu Álvaro X of Kibangu Pedro IV of Kongo Pedro III of Kongo João II of Lemba Manuel II of Kongo
Awenekongo after the recapture of São Salvador (1709–1891)	Pedro IV of Kongo Manuel II of Kongo Garcia IV of Kongo Nicolau I of Kongo Afonso IV of Kongo António II of Kongo Sebastião I of Kongo "Pedro V" Álvaro XI of Kongo José I of Kongo Afonso V of Kongo Álvaro XII of Kongo Aleixo I of Kongo Joaquim I of Kongo Henrique II of Kongo Garcia V of Kongo André II of Kongo Henrique III of Kongo Álvaro XIII of Kongo Pedro V of Kongo
Awenekongo after 1881 vassalage treaty with Portugal (1891–1914)	Álvaro XIV of Kongo Henrique IV of Kongo Pedro VI of Kongo Manuel Nkomba of Kongo Manuel III of Kongo
Pretenders to the Kongo throne since 1914	Alvaro XV of Kongo Pedro VII of Kongo António III of Kongo Isabel Maria da Gama, Q of Kongo (regent) Pedro VIII of Kongo Isabel Maria da Gama of Kongo (regent)

Manikongo

See also

References