The War with Ngola nzinga mbandi.
Luiz Mendes de Vasconcellos, the new Governor, arrived in November, 1617, and almost immediately found himself involved in a war with the King of Ndongo. Nzinga mbandi ngola kiluanji,467 a great tyrant, had been “removed” by his indignant subjects shortly before the arrival of the new Governor. He left behind him three daughters, one of whom, born in 1582, became famous as Queen D. Anna de Souza Nzinga, and two sons, one by a legitimate wife, the other by a slave woman. It was the latter, Ngola nzinga mbandi,468 whom his partisans raised to the throne, which he reached through rivers of blood, among his victims being his own brother, a son of his sister, and many of the trusted councillors of his father. In 1618 the usurper took the field, intending to expel the Portuguese, who seem to have given provocation by shifting the old presidio of Mbaka (Ambaca) to a site much higher up the Lukala.469 The Governor, ably supported by his captain-major, Pedro de Souza Coelho, not only defeated the King, but also captured his queen and many other persons of consideration. The King sued for peace, but as he failed to surrender the Portuguese whom he had taken prisoner, the war was renewed in 1619. His allies fared no better than the King himself. His vice-king of lower Ndongo, Ngola ari,470 was compelled to pay a tribute of one hundred slaves annually (in 1620); and while the Governor raided the territories of Kahibalongo, Ndonga, and Kasa, his lieutenant, Lopo Soares Laço, destroyed the kilombos of the sobas Ngunza a ngombe and Bangu.
It had been recognised by this time that many of these punitive expeditions were provoked by the lawless conduct of white traders, mulattoes and negros calçados (that is, shoe-wearing negroes), who went inland on slaving expeditions; and only Pumbeiros descalços, that is, native agents or traders not yet sufficiently civilised to wear shoes, should be permitted to do so in future.471
When King Ngola nzinga mbandi heard of the arrival of João Corrêa de Souza, the new Governor, in September, 1621,472 he at once sent his sister to Luandu to arrange terms of peace. This woman, then about forty years of age, proved an excellent diplomatist. When the Governor alluded to the payment of tribute, she declared that tribute could only be demanded from a conquered people, and the treaty ultimately signed was one of reciprocity: fugitive slaves were to be surrendered, and assistance to be given against common enemies.
Before this able ambassadress left Luandu, she was received into the bosom of Holy Mother Church, being baptised as D. Anna de Souza (1622); and on her return home she persuaded her brother to apply for the services of a priest, or Mamaganga.473 A priest was sent, but he was a native, who had been ordained at Luandu, and one of the King’s own subjects. The King looked upon this as an insult; he treated the priest with great indignity, and once more invaded the Portuguese territory. Thrice beaten, and deserted by his vassals, he fled to the island of Ndangi,474 in the Kwanza river, where he died of poison administered by his own sister Nzinga, who thus avenged the murder of her son (1623).