An Overlooked Queen
For most of history, Queen Nzinga hardly ever got a mention alongside the titanic figures that shaped the world since the dawn of civilization. Recently, however, historians have concluded that the Angolan conqueror is, in fact, one of the Old World’s most consequential rulers, who changed the course of European and African history forever.
But while her status as a female ruler is almost certainly the reason for historians’ past ignorance, Nzinga herself was much more complex, responsible for changing the way the world thought about female rulers for the better—but also for a number of horrific atrocities.
National Portrait Gallery, Wikimedia Commons
1. She Was Royalty
Nzinga was born in central West Africa around 1583, in a Mbundu kingdom in modern-day Angola. She was no mere commoner, however; the young queen-to-be was born into the royal family of Ndongo, during the reign of her grandfather, Ngola Kilombo Kia Kasenda. She did not come from completely royal stock, however.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
2. Her Mother Was Lowborn
Nzinga’s father was Kilombo of Ndongo, son of the king, and as a “perk” of his position, the prince kept many slave wives. His favorite concubine was Kengela ka Nkombe, and it was she who birthed Nzinga in 1583. She couldn’t have known just how significant her daughter would be, but there were immediate signs that the infant would excel.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
3. She Was Born In Struggle
Legend has it that the process of birthing Nzinga was extremely difficult for her mother. In fact, it was this very struggle that gave the future queen her name. Nzinga’s face was upturned, with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck; after surviving birth, they named the infant after a variation of the word kujinga, which means “to twist or turn”. Those present at the birthing took it as a sign of things to come.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
4. Her Success Got Foretold
Mbundu culture viewed difficult and unusual births as more than just medical incidents; many believed that children of the royal family who survived such births possessed spiritual gifts, and some even viewed birthing struggles as a sign that the baby would grow to be a proud and powerful figure. In Nzinga’s case, this prediction nailed it. But first, it was her dad’s turn.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
5. Her Father Ascended
When Nzinga was 10 years old, her grandfather passed, meaning it was her father’s turn to serve as king or, as they called the position within the kingdom, Ngola. This word, in fact, is where the country of Angola got its name—the Portuguese misunderstood the meaning, thinking it was the name of the kingdom itself. Being a girl, however, Nzinga was not the first in line to succeed her father.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
6. She Had An Obstacle
Nzinga was not an only child. She had two sisters, Kambu and Funji (also known as Lady Barbara and Lady Grace, respectively), and, unfortunately for her ambitions, a brother named Mbandi, who was, of course, the heir to his father’s throne. Just because Mbandi was next in line, however, did not mean he was the favorite.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
7. She Got Doted On
During childhood, Nzinga was her father’s clear favorite. The King lavished attention on her, amused by her obvious strength and intelligence. The fact that Nzinga was not considered an heir probably helped her in this regard: because she was no (obvious) threat to her brother’s position, no one was offended by her receiving the bulk of the King’s attention. This came with many advantages.
8. She Was Groomed For Power
Because of his favor, Nzinga got many opportunities from her father rarely afforded to female Ndongan children. She received combat training and political education, both of which she showed a great aptitude for. She took to one instrument in particular.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
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9. She Was A Natural
The traditional weapon of Ndongan warriors was the mighty battle axe, and Nzinga not only received training in the art of its use—she excelled at it. The young princess displayed considerable skill with the axe and put many of her fellow male students to shame. In fact, she had a habit of excelling in male-dominated fields.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
10. She Was A Presence
Nzinga’s competence and capability meant that she became a prominent presence in her father’s court. Her political acumen allowed her to participate in many of her father’s governing duties. The young queen-to-be attended both legal and battle councils and took part in important rituals vital to maintaining her father’s power. She became a go-to for some visiting Europeans, too.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
11. She Was Accommodating
The incursion into Africa by the Europeans had ramped up by Nzinga’s time, and the Kingdom of Ndongo was not spared. It was the Portuguese Empire that set its sights on modern-day Angola, and like many colonizing forces, it began with a trickle of missionaries. Nzinga was accommodating to these visitors, even letting them teach her to read and write in Portuguese. This would come in handy later, but not before things got difficult.
12. Her Visitors Overstayed Their Welcome
As Portugal’s colonization efforts ramped up, Ndongo fell into multiple crises. After years of peace between the two parties, relations soured when the colonizers began doing what colonizers do: they brutalized the region, burning villages, taking hostages, and seizing resources. Most consequentially of all, the Portuguese began taking slaves. Nzinga and her family watched on in horror. Unfortunately for them, however, this only led to cracks in their power.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
13. Her Foundations Shook
In 1590, Ndongo rallied against the European invaders and defeated the Portuguese at the Battle of Lucala. The damage had been done, however: Nzinga’s family had lost much of their territory, a fact which eroded the King’s power. Devastatingly, many Ndongan noblemen (known as sobas) began siding with the Portuguese, seeing them as the more reliable regional power. The King’s efforts to rectify the situation through diplomacy failed. It was time for new blood.
14. Her Brother Rose To Power
1607 only saw things get worse for the Ndongo kingdom as they faced invasion by the Imbangala, a fierce and religious local tribe of warriors. The Portuguese even exploited this position by siding with the Imbangala at times, in an effort to destabilize Ndongo. It proved too much for Nzinga’s father, who passed in 1617. Her brother, Ngola Mbandi, ascended to the throne, and a grim bloodbath followed.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
15. Her Family Split
Ngola Mbandi, the new king, felt insecure in his power, given the unstable situation in Ndongo. To secure his position, he engaged in months of political bloodletting, taking out any rival claimants to the throne that he could get his hands on. His victims included his own half-brother and, brutally, the rest of that brother’s family alongside. Mbandi also turned his sights on his sister’s family, slaying Nzinga’s young son. Nzinga herself got spared, but at great cost.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
16. She Was Brutalized
Though she kept her life, Nzinga did not get off lucky. After slaying her young son, Mbandi turned on his sisters in brutal fashion: Nzinga and her two sisters got forcibly sterilized, ensuring they could mother no potential threats to Mbandi’s rule. It was a despicable move by her brother, and one that may have been years in the making.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
17. She Got Out Of Dodge
Some sources believe the King singled Nzinga out for particularly harsh treatment. The reasons given for this were an apparent long-time rivalry with her brother, likely stoked by her father’s preferential treatment for his daughter. Regardless of her brother’s motivation, Nzinga still feared for her life and fled Ndongo at the first opportunity, settling for now in the Kingdom of Matamba. Her brother would come to regret his actions.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
18. Her Brother Pleaded
Mbandi quickly learned that ruling was difficult, and he did not possess the political and tactical skills that Nzinga had been blessed with. He continued the fight against the Portuguese but struggled greatly. Finally, in 1621, he swallowed his pride and contacted his sister, requesting her diplomatic assistance. It was the first smart thing he did.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
19. She Became A Diplomat
Nzinga’s brother requested she serve as his emissary to Portugal, and she was certainly a great fit for the job: the princess had the royal lineage, diplomatic acumen, and fluent Portuguese required of a competent ambassador. She negotiated a stipulation with the King that he allow her to lead the diplomatic mission and speak in his name. There was no better woman for the job.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
20. She Was Good At Her Job
In this mission, and throughout her storied life, Nzinga showed great aptitude for defusing political crises. She was not afraid to make compromises—for example, she asked her brother for permission to be baptized, knowing it would serve as an important diplomatic tool with the Portuguese. But while she excelled at compromise, she was not afraid to establish her identity either.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
21. She Stood Up For Her Culture
When other Ndongo leaders met with Portuguese diplomats, they would typically dress in European clothing, in a desperate appeal to European power. Nzinga was different, however; the King’s sister-emissary opted to dress in opulent traditional Ndongo clothing, adorned in feathers and jewels, to communicate to the colonizers that her culture was not inferior to theirs. It was a bold and admirable move, and it wasn’t even her most daring one.
22. She Asserted Herself
One popular story recounts a meeting between Nzinga and the Portuguese where the colonizer officials sat on chairs but only provided a mat for the Ndongan emissary. This was classic European condescension: the Portuguese employed tactics like this often to display, according to one historian, a “subordinate status, a status reserved for conquered Africans”.
Nzinga and her chosen diplomatic convoy would not stand for such insults—quite literally. Seeing this sign of disrespect, one of her attendants immediately formed herself into a chair for Nzinga to sit on, establishing the ambassador as an equal and displaying her people’s devotion. Of course, being a skilled diplomat, Nzinga knew when to soften her stance too.
23. She Buttered Up
While she insisted on asserting herself as an equal, Nzinga was not afraid to concede to the Portuguese on her own terms. As part of her diplomatic skillset, she would often strategically employ flattery, particularly to contrast her decorum with her brother’s fiery belligerence. Her methods led to results, though the outcomes were a mixed bag.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
24. She Brokered Peace
Nzinga’s chief diplomatic goal was to secure peace with the Portuguese, and she did so, though at some cost. She promised an end to hostilities with the colonizers, blaming her brother’s mistakes on his youth but, controversially, allowed Portuguese slave traders to remain in operation in Ndongo. She even agreed to return escaped slaves of the Portuguese to their oppressors.
In exchange, she got the invaders to agree to remove forts they had built within Ndongan territory, and refused to pay tribute to the colonizers, remaining adamant that only conquered peoples did so. The Portuguese were skeptical of her desire for peace, however, so she had to pull another move.
25. She Played The Enemy’s Game
Faced with Portuguese cynicism, Nzinga deployed another diplomatic maneuver: she offered to undergo public baptism. Portuguese Christians met the offer with delight. Adding to the flattery, the Ndongan diplomat adopted the Christian name Donna Anna de Sousa, in honor of the Portuguese governor’s wife. This led directly to a peace treaty between the two nations, and Nzinga returned home in triumph, where she launched her next plot—this one against her brother.
26. She Played Her Brother
While Nzinga had successfully brokered peace with the Portuguese, the conflict between the Ndongo and the Imbangala continued. The Ndongan royal family appealed to their new Portuguese “allies” for assistance against the Imbangala, but the colonizers refused to do so unless the King would also agree to baptism.
Mbandi was already distrustful of the Europeans and, seeing an opportunity, Nzinga manipulated her brother. In a possible political ploy, she convinced him not to get baptized, warning him that the act would offend his traditionalist supporters. It worked like a charm, but as a result, things kept getting worse for the Ndongo against the Imbangala. For Nzinga personally, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
27. She Took Soft Control
All the while, Nzinga was increasingly gaining power at court. This culminated in 1624 when, faced with the Imbangalan crisis and bubbling tensions with the Portuguese, King Mbandi fell into a deep depression. Confining himself to his quarters, the King ceded many of his duties to his sister, placing Nzinga in her most powerful position yet. Her proximity to the King paid off.
28. She Ascended
Later that year, Nzinga’s brother suddenly perished of mysterious causes. Some sources claim the King took his own life; others say he got poisoned. Either way, the path was now clear for his capable sister, whom the King had named his successor, and Queen Nzinga ascended to the throne of Ndongo. But she had to make sure she held onto it.
29. She Dug In
Being a female ruler, Nzinga found herself in an unprecedented position, and had to move quickly to consolidate her power. She took numerous measures to do so: she had her supporters seize monarchy-associated ritual objects to prevent their use by potential rivals and began systematically eliminating her rivals from court. She had good reason to be worried.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
30. She Was Threatened
Nzinga’s ascension did indeed face severe opposition, mostly from male claimants of other noble families. It was not just her gender that was used against her, however; many believed that Nzinga (and her brother, for that matter) should never have ascended to the throne because she and her siblings were the children of their father’s slave wives, not his first wife.
Nzinga countered this with the fact that, through her father, she was a proper descendent of the kingdom’s main royal line, a fact that was not the case for any other rival claimant. All this aside, however, Nzinga was clearly the best choice for leadership.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
31. She Was Capable
The Ndongan kingdom could have done a lot worse than Nzinga. It was as if the Queen was born to rule; she showed incredible acumen for every aspect of leadership. Many remember Nzinga for her diplomatic wisdom, intelligence, political savviness, and even battlefield tactics. And with times as they were, the Ndongan people needed someone like her to weather the historical storm brewing.
32. She Met Her Moment
Nzinga’s capability as a leader was especially evident because of the era she presided over; she didn’t exactly have an easy job. Her rise coincided with the rapid expansion of the African slave trade, which caused ripples of crisis across the continent.
Despite the tepid peace she had brokered with the Portuguese, the colonizers continued their encroachment into West Africa. Indeed, relations strained with the Europeans as Nzinga’s rule continued, culminating in a complete breakdown.
33. Her Friends Turned On Her
Nzinga’s policies as ruler threatened the income of the Portuguese nobles pillaging the region, which caused grumbles within the country’s halls of power. In an effort to destabilize her rule, the colonizers recognized Hari a Kiluanje, a rival claimant, as King of Ndongo.
Nzinga was furious, but kept her cool for now, negotiating with the Portuguese while she secretly built her forces to move against them. The Portuguese caught on, however, and, feeling deceived, declared a campaign against Nzinga on March 15, 1626. It would prove disastrous for the hard-pressed queen.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
34. She Turned Heel
The conflict with the Portuguese did not go well for Queen Nzinga. She was already rebuilding her forces from a previous battle when the colonizers declared against her, and after facing the full-scale invasion, her forces were severely depleted by 1628 (with some estimating she was down to only 200 men). With the walls closing in, the situation forced Nzinga to flee her kingdom. That didn’t mean she was giving up, however.
35. She Sought An Alliance
With essentially no army left, Nzinga desperately needed to bolster her forces—and desperate times called for desperate measures. She received a message from Kasanje, an Imbangalan warlord who had previously fought the Ndongan.
Kasanje suggested an alliance, but it came with a price: Nzinga would have to marry him. Seeing little other choice, the Queen made the political decision to do so. Now finding herself in a new culture, she exercised her characteristic diplomacy to great effect.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
36. She Adapted Without Concession
Ever the skillful political player, Nzinga quickly adapted to her new culture. To win the hearts and minds of the Imbangalan people, she adopted many of their religious rites (including one in which she had to drink human blood!), which ingratiated her as a leader with her new people.
Crucially, however, she did not abandon her own cultural roots; instead, she competently weaved together her people’s beliefs with those of the Imbangala, which resulted in the rebuilding of a highly capable army. With such a force behind her, she turned her sights home again.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
37. She Pressed Forward
By 1631, Nzinga had amassed a big enough force to engage the Portuguese again. Over the next four years, she waged a guerilla campaign in the neighboring Kingdom of Matamba, eventually deposing the rulers there and claiming the land as her own. It was a long and arduous fight, and she had to get the funds somewhere.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
38. She Compromised Her Morals
Complicating Nzinga’s legacy as a just and trailblazing woman was the odious practices she engaged in to retake her homeland. Having captured Matamba, the Queen began extensively expanding the slave trade within her new kingdom, sacrificing the people of Matamba to fund her campaign to recapture Ndonga. It was a shameful act by a desperate queen, and she began changing in other ways too.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
39. She Masked
During the 1630s, Nzinga, previously unashamed of her femininity, began adopting more masculine traits. She adopted male titles and dressed in male clothing; she also established an all-female bodyguard. She took many lovers too and, hilariously, ordered that her male concubines dress in women’s clothing and address her as king. This was the least of the male concubines’ worries, however.
Screenshot from Njinga: Queen of Angola, Semba Comunicacao (2013), Enhanced
40. She Made Them Fight
Nzinga’s harem of 50-60 cross-dressing male concubines enjoyed the luxuries of royal association, but that didn’t mean their lives were always comfortable. Legend has it that Nzinga would select two of her lovers and make them fight until one of them slayed the other for the privilege of spending the night with her.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Nzinga would put the winner to the sword the next morning too. The 1630s were a strange decade for the Queen, but she got back on track with the dawn of the 1640s.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
41. She Saw Another Chance
In 1641, the chess pieces shifted again in West Africa, after forces from the Dutch West India Company captured the Ndongan city of Luanda in a massive hit to Portugal. Nzinga sensed an opportunity and quickly sent an emissary to broker an alliance with the Dutch, offering to open the slave trade to the Company. They accepted her terms, and Nzinga eyed a dramatic return home.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
42. She Took It Back
Now backed by the powerful Dutch West India Company, Nzinga launched an all-out assault on Portuguese-occupied Ndongo, reclaiming large parts of the territory in a series of dramatic battles between 1641 and 1644. Things seemed to go well, but when the dust settled, it would leave Nzinga with only consolation gains.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
43. Her Allies Abandoned Her
Despite numerous defeats of the Portuguese, Nzinga and her forces never successfully captured the Fortress of Massangano, a key defensive fixture that secured the colonizers’ longevity in the region. To make matters worse, the Portuguese recaptured Luanda in 1648; seeing the writing on the wall, the Dutch no longer viewed Angola as a safe investment and evacuated their forces. Nzinga adopted increasingly desperate measures to pacify the Europeans.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
44. She Christianized
Throughout the 1640s, Nzinga began tentatively implementing more Christian cultural traditions within her kingdom, hoping to secure closer relations with any potential European allies. These efforts were not without controversy among her people, however, with a number of Ndongan conservative religious figures pushing back against her policy shifts. It was no wonder Nzinga was returning to diplomacy, though—the fighting had gone on too long.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
45. She Was Tired
By 1650, Nzinga and the Portuguese had been in constant conflict for nearly 25 years. Both sides were exhausted and peace finally seemed to be on the table. Negotiations for this peace began in earnest in 1651, and lasted five long years, finally culminating in a peace treaty in 1656. The Queen looked around at what remained of her kingdom and decided it was time to secure her legacy.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
46. She Rebuilt
With peace secured, Nzinga now turned her efforts to rebuilding her kingdom, hoping to leave it a little more intact than it was for her successor. The Queen established many changes at court as well.
She developed Matamba as a trading power, reformed the legal code to align more with Christianity (hoping to gain status as an internationally recognized Christian kingdom), and abolished concubinage, opting to marry her favorite boytoy in a Christian ceremony. A health scare convinced her to finally look to the future too.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
47. She Named An Heir
After suffering from a serious illness in 1657, Nzinga bluntly faced her immortality; it was time to name a successor. Fearing her demise would cause a succession crisis, she appointed her sister, Kambu, as her heir, feeling she would be the best candidate to carry on her work. She settled into her final years as ruler.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
48. She Departed
Queen Nzinga fell ill with a throat infection in October 1663, which confined her to her bedchambers. By December, the illness had spread to her lungs, and she would never recover. Nzinga passed in her sleep on the morning of December 17. She was around 80 years old and lived an astonishingly long and eventful life. Her impact rippled for centuries thereafter.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
49. She Changed The Game
Many today remember Nzinga today as the Mother of Angola. Her success as a ruler normalized female rule in the region, and she got succeeded by many women leaders. Even today, women in Angola demonstrate a remarkable level of social independence and occupy many positions of power across numerous sectors, all thanks to Nzinga’s influence. Of course, her legacy had its negative sides too.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
50. She Was Complicated
Western historians largely ignored Nzinga’s legacy for centuries, but modern historians have reassessed her as a major figure in Angolan, Atlantic Creole, and, indeed, world history. Her legacy gets complicated by some of what appear, in retrospect, to be major transgressions, namely her support for and expansion of the African slave trade. Queen Nzinga was a complex figure who, regardless of her net impact, deserves our attention and fascination.
Screenshot from African Queens: Njinga, Netflix (2023)
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