A group of Kongo in the late…

A group of Kongo in the late fourteenth century, led by the son of a chief from the area of present-day Boma, had moved south of the Congo River into northern Angola, conquered the territory, and established Mbanza Kongo Dia Ntotila (Great City of the King) as the capital of their kingdom (the capital was later moved to São Salvador).

By the middle of the fifteenth century, the Kongo king ruled the lands in northern Angola and the north bank of the Congo.

By the early sixteenth century, the kingdom was divided into six provinces, each under a subchief or governor, who also held a religious title and authority.

The last really effective years of the Kongo monarchy were from 1641 to 1661, although the kingdom endured into the next century.

By the eighteenth century, however, most of the kingdom's provinces (Mbamba, Mbata, Mpemba, and Soyo) had become self-governing principalities.

The king, though claiming a divine right to the monarchy, has little authority beyond his capital, and internal bickerings thaturrounded his throne and further diminish his power also contribute to the weakening of the provincial chiefdoms.