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Kongo Civil War and Succession Struggles in the 1620s

Type Event Region Central Africa Time 1621–1630

In the 1620s the Kingdom of Kongo fell into a prolonged succession struggle after the death of Álvaro II, with the Kimpanzu and Kibangu factions alte…

Timeline

  1. 1621–1622Mbanza Kongo · KongoRoyal authority remained unsettled after Álvaro II's death in 1614; around 1621 Pedro II and Garcia Mvemba, backed by the Kibangu family, contested the throne, splitting the Kongo nobility into opposing camps and changing hands of the capital several times.
  2. 1624–1626Kongo Kingdom hinterland · KongoIn 1624 the Kimpanzu faction installed Gaspar Álvares (Portuguese name Gaspar Nkombe) as king, but his rule was resisted by Kibangu forces; by the mid-1520s Kongo was in de facto fragmentation, with local nobles controlling their own domains and participating in the slave trade.
  3. 1626–1630Mbanza Kongo and Soyo · KongoÁlvaro VI's accession in 1626 briefly stabilized the situation, but Daniel I again challenged royal authority in the late 1620s; the civil war drained central authority, allowing Portuguese penetration and missionary activity along the Luanda–Kongo frontier to expand.

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