Queen Njinga Mbande is known by many different names including both Kimbundu and Portuguese names, alternate spellings and various honorifics. Furthermore, Njinga was taught by visiting Portuguese missionaries to read and write in Portuguese. She participated in many official and governance duties alongside her father, including legal councils, war councils, and important rituals. She received military training and was trained as a warrior to fight alongside her father, displaying considerable aptitude with a battle axe, the traditional weapon of Ndongan warriors. Since she was not considered an heir to the throne, she was not seen as direct competition to male members of the family, and so the king could freely lavish attention upon her without offending his more likely heirs. As a child, Njinga was greatly favored by her father. When she was 10 years old, her father became the king of the Ndongo. She also had a brother, Mbandi, who was heir apparent to throne. Njinga had two sisters, Kambu, or Lady Barbara and Funji, or Lady Grace. Children of the royal household who survived difficult or unusual births were believed to possess spiritual gifts, and some saw their births as an indicator the person would grow to become a powerful and proud person. According to legend, the birthing process was very difficult for Kengela, her mother Njinga received her name because the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck (the Kimbundu verb kujinga means to twist or turn). Her mother, Kengela ka Nkombe, was one of her father's slave wives and his favorite concubine. She was the daughter of Ngola (a noble title translatable to King) Kilombo of Ndongo. Njinga was born into the royal family of Ndongo, a Mbundu kingdom in central West Africa around 1583. She is remembered for her intelligence, her political and diplomatic wisdom, and her military tactics. In the centuries since her death, Njinga has been increasingly recognized as a major historical figure in Angola and in the wider Atlantic Creole culture. Njinga continued to fight the Portuguese until a peace treaty was signed in 1656. In 1648, the Portuguese recaptured Luanda, with the Dutch leaving Angola. Alongside the Dutch, she defeated the Portuguese in a number of battles but was unable to take the Fortress of Massangano. Between 16, Njinga was able to reclaim large parts of Ndongo. In 1641, she entered into an alliance with the Dutch West India Company who had captured Luanda from the Portuguese. Using this new alliance to rebuild her forces, she conquered the Kingdom of Matamba from 1631 to 1635. In search of allies, she married Imbangala warlord Kasanje. The Portuguese declared war on Ndongo in 1626 and by 1628, Njinga's army had been severely depleted and they went into exile. She ruled during a period of rapid growth of the African slave trade and encroachment by the Portuguese Empire in South West Africa. In 1624, she assumed power over Ndongo after the death of her brother Mbandi. Njinga received military and political training as a child, and she demonstrated an aptitude for defusing political crises as an ambassador to the Portuguese Empire. Born into the ruling family of Ndongo, her father Ngola Kilombo Kia Kasenda was the king of Ndongo. 1583 – 17 December 1663) was a Southwest African ruler who ruled as queen of the Ambundu Kingdoms of Ndongo (1624–1663) and Matamba (1631–1663), located in present-day northern Angola.
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