A History Of The Bakongo People

What about from bro this home team here and welcome back to another video of african history culture and worldview and welcome back to my series a closer look today we're going to be taking a closer look at the bakongo people and as always if you want to support the home team you can do so on patreon.com i have some new rewards for you guys so be sure to check that out also go to afrographics.com a website where you can find unique illustrative infographics summarizing african history all links to patreon afrographics and home team merchandise are in the description box below bakongo people are also known as the isi kongo and they speak a language called kikongo and they're said to number around 10 million people the isi kongo live mostly in the modern countries of angola republic of congo and the democratic republic of congo historically they've cultivated cassava bananas corn sweet potatoes peanuts beans and taro fishing and hunting are still practiced by some groups but many isi kongo live and work or trade in towns the history of the isi kongo people is rich and full because we have various accounts of their impressive civilization society religion and culture they were the first group of people in that region of central africa to convert to christianity in the 15th century in my personal opinion the empire that the isi kongo built called congo was the most powerful state in all the southern african region the primary reason it fell was largely due to the chaos of succession disputes even though the isi kongo people are believed to have migrated into their current location during the 13th century from the northeast their history goes back much farther the congo river region has been populated by people thousands of years ago most scholars believe that the kikongo language may have split from an earlier language in about 950 bc the isi kongo people began to utilize all the resources available to construct complex organized societies and developed farming methods they have many oral traditions one popular oral account concerns the power of naming an isi kongo man called nakunka chose though born in a matrilineal culture to live with his father's people and expected the support of his father's people looked down on his expectations however saying he was a proper member of his mother's family his wife told him he must go to his own people his mother's side to do that he and his wife went to a river descended into it and traveled past many villages under the water until they came to their place of ceremonies as they passed these villages they named their ancestors there to return from the water nakunka and his wife were called out of the river by their own names through the talking drumming and singing of members of nakunka's proper family both sets of names with adjunct ceremonies united nakunka and his wife with his matrilineal set of ancestors and family and restored his power to live another oral tradition concerns the name kongo itself the place later called kongo dia in totila was first discovered by a hunter who while chasing a wounded animal let it go in order to contemplate the beauty of the place he now found himself in fascinated by the place he decided to move his family and settle there he named it kongo meaning a hunting land this is reflected in the kongo proverb kongo belongs to a strong hunter if you are not strong enough you cannot rule it concerning the origin of their kingdom and their capital the isi kongo speak of a man named dukeni nimi oral traditions provide only hints of how the kingdom was formed one interpretation contends that in the late 1300s nimi and zima of mpambakasi and nsakulao of mbata jointly founded a kingdom they formally agree that nimi and zinga's descendants would always be its sovereigns while those of nsakulao would always rule mbata subsequently nimi and zinga's son lukeni lua nimi became the first king of kongo he declared mbanza kongo located near the intersection of mpambakasi and mbata's domains as the kingdom's capital the principal creator of the world is called nzambi mpungu the sovereign master according to the isi kongo people after creating the world and all creatures in it nzambi mpungu withdrew and has little interest in the world and its inhabitants although nzambi withdrew he still causes the rain to fall and seeds to grow into food to sustain people according to isi kongo cosmology the world was initially empty of all life in the beginning then a fire force called kalunga emerged within this empty circle or mbungi and heated up its contents which when cooled formed the earth the earth the starting point of the fire is now a green planet because it has gone through four stages the first is the emergence of the fire the second is the red stage where the planet is still burning and has not formed the next is the gray stage where the planet is cooling but has not produced life and finally the green stage is when the planet is fully mature because it breathes and carries life as part of the universal order all planets must go through this process another important characteristic of isi kongo cosmology is the sun and its movements the rising peaking setting and absence of the sun provide the essential pattern of isi kongo religious culture these four moments of the sun equate with the four stages of life conception birth maturity and death for the isi kongo everything transitions through these stages planets plants animals people societies and even ideas this vital cycle is depicted by a circle with a cross inside in this cosmogram or dikenga according to the isi kongo language the meeting point of the two lines of the cross is the most powerful point in where the person stands i find it very interesting that isi kongo cosmology bears some resemblance to our modern ideas about how the earth was formed as some scientists suggest that our planet was originally a huge ball of molten fire that finally began to cool the early history of the isi kongo kingdom was characterized by technological innovation and territorial expansion quickly becoming a sizable empire archaeology still in its infancy in west central africa attests to the fairly ancient roots of a complex society in that region iron and steel were being worked about 350 bc and some tenuous evidence points to the development of social classes and political one french scholar named george's valendir claims that there existed an expert level of metallurgical art in ancient congo and that the isi kongo people were aware of the toxicity of lead vapors and they devised preventative and curative methods to combat this the mwenekongo or the kings of congo established their capital at mbanza congo building impressive structures and professor leo frobenius the pioneering german africanist of the early 20th century wrote a fantastic summary concerning congo and what early travelers saw centuries before the following quote is probably the most telling concerning the history of the isi kongo people and their impressive civilization further south in the kingdom of congo a swarming crowd dressed in silk and velvet great states well ordered and down to the most minute details powerful rulers flourishing industries civilized to the marrow of their bones i cannot stress enough how organized and how powerful the isi kongo empire was the only crime of the congo empire was that they could not at all control succession disputes and this led to opportunities for portuguese manipulation the persistent presence of civil unrest eventually led to the empire's downfall the isi kongo people have traditionally recognized their descent from their mother and this lineage historically linked them into kinship groups or ruling houses there's a strong religious and cultural tradition amongst the isi kongo which has led to several political religious movements throughout the 20th century these movements eventually led to the war of independence from portugal and the signing of the avor agreement making angola an independent country today well i'm all out guys if you like these videos and want to help out in this continued production please consider supporting the home team on patreon.com the link is in the description box below know thyself remember your ancestors peace