Origins
The kingdom of Kongo reached its apex during the reign of its most powerful king Garcia II. King Garcia II had come to power after the death of his brother, Álvaro VI, whom he had assisted in seizing the throne of Kongo from the House of Kimpanzu. Together, the brothers forged a new dynasty named for the Nlaza kanda, thus the House of Kinlaza. The ascension of this dynasty, which traced its legitimacy to the throne maternally as opposed to the paternal pedigree of the House of Kimpanzu and House of Nsundi was greeted with hostility from the get go. Rival claimants for the throne of Kongo, by then the most powerful state in Central Africa, united behind the Kimpanzu. When King Garcia II came to power, the Kimpanzu were entrenched in the county of Soyo giving support to the remaining Nsundi and Kimpanzu partisans inside Kongo while claiming the title of Princes and later Grand Princes. By the end of Garcia's reign, Soyo was completely independent of Kongo and there was open hostility between the House of Kinlaza and the House of Kimpanzu including plots on the king's life and military engagements.
Read more about this topic: Kongo Civil War
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