FEATURE Zombo Sculpture: The Kingdom of Kongo and the Baptist Missionary Society 118 By Annemieke Van Damme-Linseele Zombo and the Kingdom of Kongo Centuries ago, the present-day Zombo seem to have lived in the ancient province of Mbata or at least derived from one or more of its clans. Mbata is situated on the left bank of the Kwango (Cuango) River and is one of the six core provinces of the former Kingdom of Kongo (fig. 1). A sixteenth century account by Odoardo Lopez (Pigafetta & Lopez, 1591, cfr. Lacroix, 1992: 54(36), 62(5); Bal, 1963: 70–71(235)) mentions the Muzombi (Monsobo(s), Monsobi, or Mozombos), residents of “Batta,” who are described by their contemporaries as being “less civilized” than the more centrally located “Maciconghi” (Mocicongo or Muchicongo), though they spoke the same language. The Zombo are also mentioned—this time under the name of Mosombi—in Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi’s seventeenth century work Istorica Descrizione de’Tre Regni Congo, Matamba ed Angola (1687, L. IV: 41, cf. Labat, 1732: 237). He describes them as forming part of the “duchy” of Mbata, in the northeastern corner of the Kingdom of Kongo. At the time of the formation of the Kingdom of Kongo at the end of the fourteenth century, the chiefdom of Mbata2 fell within its boundaries and became the Mbata “province.” It retained a certain degree of autonomy and its leadership became the hereditary right of the Nsaku clan. FIG. 1: Congi Regnum (Kingdom of Kongo) by Gerhard Mercator (1512–1594). The Kongo province of Bata (Mbata) is located to the east of the center along the “Lefunda Rio,” south of the Congo River. Copperplate engraving on paper. Published c. 1630. Northwestern University Library, African Maps Collection. The Zombo Plateau in what is now northern Angola is home to an eponymously named people with a long, rich history. Fr. Michel Plancquaert (1932: 34–36) refers to this people with a slight variant, Zomba (from pays des Bazomba), but Josef Chavanne (1887: 283) instead uses N’zaddi for the plateau, observing it lies “on the right bank of the Quango River’s largest left tributary.” José Redinha (1962: 11) uses a similar ethnonym, Zadis or N’zadis, which can be translated as “riverains,” to designate the portion of the Zombo people located around the comuna of Quilo-Futa in Angola’s Uíge Province.1 This family enjoyed many privileges. The Mbata leader received the title neakon dia nene Kongo, or nkak’andi a manicongo:3 “maternal grandfather of the Kongo-sovereign,” whereby, in this author’s opinion, the Kingdom of Kongo’s immigrant founders (besi Kongo) denoted the acceptance of the superior position of the existing landowners, the Nsaku clan, who remained the original (and thus spiritual) leaders. Those ascending to the throne were obliged to choose their initial wife from the “House of Mbata,” that being the Nsaku clan. The Mbata chief (mani Mbata) and its religious leader (kitome) of the Nsaku ne Vunda lineage ranked among the most important advisers to the king (ntinu) of Kongo, and their attendance was required and their vote decisive in the appointment of any new Kongo monarch. In the absence of an appropriate candidate, the Mbata leader was entitled to act as regent. He was also the sole mani with the right to maintain an army. This particular prerogative came from the fact that Mbata was said to be in a permanent state of war with its neighbors (Cuvelier, 1946: 276, 305 ; Van Wing, 1959: 27).4 The prestige of the mani Mbata grew and in the early sixteenth century he was seen as the most important governor within the Kingdom of Kongo (Hilton, 1985:39). He owed his position to the Nsaku clan’s property rights over the fertile soils of the Inkisi River valley. In addition to the strong political and economic position that resulted from this, this association also gave him a spiritual superiority. These favorable conditions resulted in his territory being densely populated. It was also crossed by a major trade route, which guaranteed even further wealth. Early chroniclers report that by the end of the sixteenth century the mani Mbata had drawn many of the peoples east of his province into tribute. According to Plancquaert
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