The Kingdom of Kongo, pressed by an…

October 1665 CE

The Kingdom of Kongo, pressed by an increasingly rapacious Portugal, had begun working for a Spanish alliance, especially following António I's succession as mani-kongo, or king, in 1661.

Although it is not clear what diplomatic activities he engaged in Spain itself, the Portuguese clearly believed that he hoped to repeat the Dutch invasion this time with the assistance of Spain.

António had sent emissaries to the Dembos region and to Matamba and Mbwila attempting to form a new anti-Portuguese alliance.

The Portuguese had been troubled, moreover, by Kongo support of runaway slaves, who had flocked to southern Kongo throughout the 1650s.

At the same time, the Portuguese are advancing their own agenda for the small kingdom of Mbwila, which they claim as a vassal.

Feeling threatened by Portugal's return on Kongo's southern border, António I has sought to renew Kongo's war against the Portuguese with a new alliance similar to the one at the Battle of Kitombo.

Unable to rely on the Dutch for assistance, he has sent emissaries to Spain but failed to procure an alliance.

He has also contacted Kongo's Mbundu allies in Matamba and the semi-independent kingdoms of Dembos and Mbwila.

The deteriorating and increasingly unequal relations between the Kongo and Portugal culminate in 1664 when a long brewing dispute between Angola and Kongo over rights to mining in the area leads to war.

The Portuguese, having heard of António’s plans, are also pressing claims to sovereignty over Mbwila.

When a succession dispute erupts between Mbwila’s adolescent king (supported by Kongo) and his aunt, the regent Dona Izabel, (supported by Portugal), the rivals both come with armies to settle the dispute.

To defend herself, Dona Izabel had signed a treaty of vassalage with Portugal.

António challenging the Portuguese interference, has sent an army down to take Mbwila, personally leading a contingent of 400 swordsmen into the battle.

The Portuguese invade the Kongo from their base in adjacent Angola: the rival armies meet each other on October 29, 1665, at Ulanga, in the valley below Mbanza Mbwila, capital of the district.

Here, the Portuguese forces from Angola score their first victory against Kongo since 1622, defeating the forces under António, killing him and many of his courtiers as well as the Luso-African Capuchin priest Manuel Roboredo (also known by his cloister name of Francisco de São Salvador), who had attempted to prevent this final war.

António is decapitated during or shortly after the battle (his head buried with royal honors by the Portuguese) while his crown and scepter are taken to Portugal as trophies.

In the aftermath of the battle, there is no clear succession, as António died with no heir apparent, and many of the men whom could have taken his place had died or were captured at the battle including his seven year old son.

The power of the mani-kongo broken, the ruling House of Kinlaza and the opposing House of Kimpanzu harden, and partition the country between them as the prelude to what will become a devastating civil war.