KONGO KINGDOM

major Bantu-speaking kingdom astride the Congo River in west-central Africa, probably founded in the 14th century. It was governed by a king, the manikongo, whose economic power was based upon trade in ivory, hides, slaves, and a shell currency of western Africa. Within a few years after the kingdom was first encountered by the Portuguese in 1484, the sixth manikongo, Nzinga Mbemba (later Afonso I), converted to Christianity and extended diplomatic and economic relations with Portugal. The agreement soon collapsed, however, as the Portuguese extended their slave-raiding activities. By 1570 the power of the Kongo kingdom had begun to decline, and severe internal tensions had developed. After the key Battle of Mbwila (1665), the kingdom broke up into a number of rival and warring chiefdoms.