Colonial History of Angola - 18th Century

18th Century

In the 18th century Portuguese governors sought to limit what they considered illegal trade by merchants in their colony with Dutch, French and English merchants who frequently visited the northern kingdoms of Kongo and Loango. To this end, they established a fort and settlement at Encoje (near Mbwila) to block travel through the mountainous gap that allowed merchants to cross to Kongo. In 1783-1784 they sought to occupy Cabinda on the north coast, but were driven away, and from 1789 to 1792 the Portuguese carried on a war against the Marquisate of Mussolo (the district immediately south of Ambriz in Kongo's territory) without much success. In 1791 they built a fort at Quincolo on the Loje, and worked the mines of Bembe.

At the same time, Portugal also sought to extend its relations into the interior, especially the lands beyond the Kwango River. Matamba and Kasanje had consistently blocked attempts by Portuguese merchants to penetrate into their lands, and in 1755-56, Manuel Correia Leitão, visited Kasanje and reported on the lands across the Kwanza. Among them was the powerful Lunda Empire whose armies had conquered much of the territory there. Lunda eventually entered into diplomatic relations with Portugal, sending an embassy there in the early nineteenth century and receiving counter embassies from Luanda.

The Portuguese from Benguela sought increasingly to expand their power and gain resource wealth in the Bihe Highlands during the eighteenth century, and following their intervention in the Mbailundu War in the 1770s had treaty relationships (which they described as vassalage) with the various states there. These arrangements included gathering Portuguese merchants in capital cities and making permanent presences in the capitals of these states. From these bases, Portugal sought to explore trade relations with Lunda that avoided the Kwango River states.