The+Kingdoms+of+Central+and+South+Africa+(699-705)+2

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The Kingdoms of Central and South Africa (699-705) __THE KINGDOM OF KONGO__ __SLAVE RAIDING IN KONGO__ __THE KINGDOM OF NDONGO__ __QUEEN NZINGA__ __THE PORTUGUESE COLONY OF ANGOLA__ __REGIONAL KINGDOMS IN SOUTH AFRICA__ __EUROPEAN ARRIVAL IN SOUTH AFRICA__ (Marisa Laue)
 * As trade networks multiplied and liked all regions of sub-Saharan Africa, an increasing volume of commerce encouraged state building in central Africa and south Africa.
 * In 1483 a small Portuguese fleet reconnoitered the estuary of the Congo River and initiated commercial relations with the kingdom of Kongo.
 * The kings of Congo converted to Christianity as a way to establish closer commercial relations with Portuguese merchants and diplomatic relations with the Portuguese monarchy.
 * Relations with Portugal brought wealth and foreign recognition to Kongo but also led eventually to the destruction of the kingdom and the establishment of a Portuguese colony in Angola.
 * In spite of periodic invasions, Kongo remained strong until the mid seventeenth century.
 * Portuguese explorers were developing a brisk slave trade to the south in the kingdom of Ndongo, which the Portuguese referred to as Angola from the title of the king, //ngola//.
 * The conquest of Angola didn't come easy. For forty years Queen Nzinga (1623-1663) led spirited resistance against Portuguese forces.
 * Although she was a cunning stregist and effectie military leader, Nzinga was unable to oust Portuguese forces from Ndongo.
 * Historical records do not shed as much light on the political structures of south Africa as they don on Kongo and Angola, but it is clear that in south, as in central Africa, regional kingdoms domination political affairs.
 * After 15th Century, series of smaller kingdoms displaced rulers of Great Zimbesi & Portugues & Dutch mariners began playinga role in south African affairs.
 * In search of commercial oppurtunitites, Europeans struck alliances w/ local peoples & intervened in disputes w/ aim of supporting allies & advancing own interests- became especially active Dutch mariners built a trading post at Cape Town in 1652.
 * Encountered hunting & gathering Khoikhoi poeple(who referred to pejoratively as Hottentots). With help of firearms, they claimed lands for themselves & commandeered Khoikhoi labor with ease.
 * By 1700 large #'s of Dutch colonists began to arrive in south Africa; by mid-century they established settlements throughout the region(bounded by Orange and Great Fish rivers). Their conquests laid foundation for a series of Dutch & British colonies, which became the most prosperous European possessions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Indigenous religions remained influential throughout sub-Saharan Africa in early modern times. They devoted most of their attention to powerful spirits who were thought to intervene directly in human affairs- associated with prominent geographical feaures(mountains, waters, or forests). Others were thought of as the "living dead"-(spirits of ancestors who roamed the world, distributed rewards to descendants who led worthy lives & who honored the memories of departed kin. Also met out punishments to those who didn't. __ISLAM IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA__ __THE FULANI AND ISLAM__ __CHRISTIANITY IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA__ __THE ANTONIAN MOVEMENT__
 * __ISLAM AN CHRISTIANITY IN EARLY MODERN AFRICA__**
 * Islam & Christianity attracted increasing interest in sub-Saharan Africa.
 * Islam=most popular in commercial centers of west Africa & the Swahili city-states of east Africa.
 * In 16th century the trading city of Timbuktu had a prominent Islamic university (180 schools that taught Quran).
 * Most African Muslims blended Islam w/ indigenous beliefs & customs- resulted in a syncretic brand of Islam that made a place for African beliefs in spirits & magic; and permitted men & women to associate with one another on more familiar terms than in north Africa, Arabia, and southwest Asia
 * Appealed to Africans, but it struck many devout Muslims as impure & offensive.
 * Fulani, was orginally pastoral people who kept herds of cattle in the savannas of west Africa for centuries.
 * In late 17th century, many Fulani settled in cities. They observed a strict form of Islam like that practiced in north Africa & Arabia. They led a series of military campaigns to establish Islamic states & impose their own brand of Islam in west Africa.
 * They did NOT 'stamp out' African religions, or eliminate indigenous elements from syncretic Islam practiced in west Africa.
 * Fulani founded powerful states (now Guinea, Senegal, Mali, and northern Nigeria). They promoted the spread of Islam beyond the cities to the countryside.
 * Established schools in remote towns & villages to teach the Quran & Islamic doctrine.
 * Their compaigns strenghened Islam in sub-Saharan Africa; and laid foundation for new rounds of Islamic state-building and conversion efforts in the 19th and 20th centuries.
 * Christianity made compromises w/ raditional beliefs & customs.
 * Portuguese community supported priests and missionaries who introduced Roman Catholic Christianity to central Africa.
 * Found intrest in rulers like King Afonso I of Kongo- eagerly adopted European-style Christianity as foundation for commercial and political alliances w/ Portugal.
 * Christian teachings blended w/ African traditions to form syncretic cults.
 * Africans regarded Christian missionaries as magicians & wore crosses & other Christian symbols as amulets to ward off danger from angry spirits.
 * An influential syncretic cult= Antonian movement in Kongo- flourished in early 18th century when Kongolese monarchy faced challenges throughout realm.
 * Began in 1704; an aristocratic woman, Dona Beatriz, proclaimed that St. Anthony(later became patron saint of Portugal) was a 13th century Franciscan missionary & popular preacher.
 * Dona Beatriz was known to cure diseases and work miracles. She used her prominince to promote African form of Christianity (taught that Jesus Christ was a black African man, that Kongo was the true holy land of Christianity, and heaven was for Africans). She urged Kongolese to ignore European missionaries & heed her disciples- sought to harness the widespread popular interest in her teachings and end the wars plaguing Kongo.
 * Her movement was a challenge to Christian missionaries.
 * The missionaries satisfied themselves that she was a false prophet & she knowingly taught false doctrine. On recomendation, royal government sentenced her to death(burned her at the stake). Her disciples continued working to strengthen monarchy and reconstruct Kongolese society.
 * In 1708, army of almost 20,000 challenged King Pedro, and their efforts showed the tendency of Kongolese Christians to fashion a faith that reflected their own needs & concerns and intrests of European missionaries.