Queen Nzingha of Angola

Today, I will be talking about another great queen of Africa: the Queen Nzingha of Angola, who defended her kingdom against the Portuguese for 40 years and defeated them.  Yes! DEFEATED THE PORTUGUESE IN THE 1600s!  See… another gap in our textbooks: anybody heard of this great queen and of her military and diplomatic genius?

Well, the great Queen Nzingha was born in Angola at the end of the 1500s, just over 100 years after the Portuguese started slavery ports across Africa.  She was born to Ndambi Kiluanji, Ngola (king) of the Mbundu and Ndongo people and his second wife Kangela, in 1582.  At her birth, a wise woman predicted that she will one day become queen, which was unheard of since there were no women rulers in those days.

In her youth, Nzingha was strongly favored by her father, who allowed her to witness…