Originally in chronicling a rough outline of the Kongo’s chronology a few weeks ago, I don’t believe I grasped the significance of beginning the framework with migratory patterns of the Bantu expansion. Relying largely upon the primary source Report of the Kingodm of Congo by Duarte Lopez (trans. by Filippo Pigafetta)[1] with secondary sources Jan Vansina’s Kingdom of the Savanna and John K. Thornton’s Kingdom of Kongo: Civil War and Transition 1641-1718, in many ways it seems as if this eventual expansion into neighboring regions provides insight into the evolution of ethnic, linguistic and political factions in the Kongo.
In regards to language patterns of the Kongo Kingdom, Vansina claims that “All peoples of the savanna speak Bantu languages. It is probably that will be impossible to divide the family of languages into subgroups on a genetic basis.”[2] As his work was written in ’68, it helps tremendously to return to some of the articles we read earlier this term on thoughts about linguistic developments of the Bantu expansion. In a 1995 article he wrote, Vansina notes that the concept of a single, primary Bantu expansion has more recently been discredited, with an emphasis now on comparative linguistics to establish historical trajectories and lingual migrations in central Africa. [3] Christopher Ehret explored two linguistic concepts, that of the tree model and the wave model, elaborating on the strength and weakness of each system. He explains that while the tree model deals well with the progression of language evolution, it does not helpfully examine cultural exchange in language patterns; and while the wave model clearly acknowledges cultural crossings and linguistic “borrowing,” it does not adeptly address the chronological narratives of language changes.[4] Taking these complications of migration patterns into careful consideration, it becomes easier to understand the development of Kikongo, Ovambo, Suundi, Mbundu, Luba-Kasai and other regional tongues as being linguistically distinct, though culturally intelligible under the Bantu language umbrella.
The approximate locations of the sixteen Guthrie Bantu zones, including the addition of a zone J
In surveying the development of various ethnic groups in the Kongo, it becomes almost humorous to rely on first hand accounts such as that of Pigafetta and Lopez, as their limited cultural familiarity considerably inhibits their ability to document cultural proceedings accurately. The two explorers do manage to identify six principal provinces, and I have juxtaposed Vansina’s more accurate, culturally sensitive 20th century spellings:
Bamba – Mbamba
Pango – Mpangu
Sogno – Soyo
Batta – Mbata
Sundi – Nsundi
Pemba – Mpemba[5]
Though a number of various ethnic groups existed in central Africa before the emergence of the Kongo kingdom, notably the Lusa, Kasai, SongyeLoango, and Tyo (Teke) peoples, Vansina asserts—and Thornton confirms—that, “by 1482 Kongo was the undisputed leader among all the coastal states of Central Africa.”[6]
Vansina, Thornton and Lopez and Pigafetta all seem to concur that the keystone of the whole political structure was the king. More specifically, Vansina asserts that similarly to many central African kingdoms, “The basic unit of the political structure was the village, and the core of every village seems to have been a localized matrileneage.”[7] Above the village, districts were ruled by officials either appointed by the king or local governors, all of whom could be removed at will by the king himself. A small aristocracy was formed with the title mani, and the state proved secure in said system of hierarchy as freemen and the aristocracy themselves would support the regime in hopes of ascending in political status.[8] The government procured money from its states through taxation and labor service, and a military structure was officially set in place in 1575, as positions were previously held by foreign soldiers or slaves from surrounding states.[9] As Vansina points out, such a system meant that a great degree of centralization was in place as
the king could remove inefficient officials at any point in time. But this also allowed for two great weaknesses of the state:” the strength of the state depended on the personality of the king, and the absence of clear rules for succession to the throne led to the constant formation of opposing factions.”[10] Ultimately, Vansina would claim that in addition to the Jaga invasion and devastation of the capital San Salvador in 1568 as well as the civil wars of the 17th century, such weaknesses aided greatly in the failing of the Kongo kingdom.
[1] Duarte Lopez, as told by Filippo Pigafetta. A Report of the Kingdom of Congo and of the Surrounding Countries: Drawn out of the Writings and Discourses of the Portuguese Duarte Lopez by Filippo Pigafetta, in Rome, 1591. Translated from the Italian and edited, with explanatory notes, by Margarite Hutchinson. Frank Cass & Co. LTD: London, first published in 1881, new edition 1970, pp. 43.
[2] Jan Vansina. Kingdoms of the Savanna. Madison, Milwaukee, and London: The University of Wisconsin Press, 1968, pp. 33.
[3] Jan Vansina. “New Linguistic Evidence and 'the Bantu Expansion',” in The Journal of African History, Vol. 36, No. 2 (1995), pp. 173-195.
[4] Christopher Ehret. “Bantu Expansions: Re-Envisioning a Central Problem of Early African History,” in The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 34, No. 1 (2001), pp. 5-41.
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