Anna Njinga Research Paper

Queen Anna Njinga Ana de Sousa Njinga Mbandu (1583 – 1663) was the seventeenth century female ruler of the Ndongo and Matamba Kingdoms or the Mbundu people in Angola, Africa. Queen Anna Njinga, known for her diplomatic negotiating skills, administrative abilities and brilliant military tactics came to power after the suicide of her brother, Mbundi and the death his young son, Kaza. Her kingdom had no experience with a female monarch so Queen Njinga took on the attributes of a king by dressing like a man, commanding her own armies in combat, and had male concubines, dressed as women to stress her kingly status. Born to King Kiluanji and Kangela in 1583, Njinga would later recall that she was greatly favored by her father. He allowed her watch as he governed his people and carried her with him when he went to war. Njinga lived in a period when the Atlantic slave trade and the consolidation of power by the Portuguese in the region were rapidly growing. In the sixteenth century, England and France

However, the Portuguese never honored the treaty and were unable to restrain the Imbangala. Njinga’s brother committed suicide following this diplomatic impasse, convinced he would never recover what was lost in the war. It was rumored that Njinga may have actually poisoned him, and gave the Portuguese grounds for not honoring her right to succeed him. She then assumed control as regent of Mbundi’s young son, Kaza, who was at the time living with the Imbangala. Njinga sent to have the boy under her charge. Kaza returned whom she is alleged to have killed for his impudence and Njinga assumed her ruling powers over Ndongo. In a correspondence from 1626 she referred to herself as “Queen of Andongo” a title she used for the rest of her