List of rulers of Kongo


This is a list of the rulers of the Kingdom of Kongo, known commonly as the Manikongos. Mwene in Kikongo meant a person holding authority, particularly judicial authority, derived from the root -wene which meant territory . The ruler of Kongo was the most powerful mwene in the region who the Portuguese regarded as the king upon their arrival in 1483.
The kings claimed several titles and the following royal style in Portuguese "Pela graça de Deus Rei do Congo, do Loango, de Cacongo e de Ngoio, aquém e além do Zaire, Senhor dos Ambundos e de Angola, de Aquisima, de Musuru, de Matamba, de Malilu, de Musuko e Anzizo, da conquista de Pangu-Alumbu, etc.", that means "By the grace of God King of Kongo, of Loango, of Kakongo and of Ngoyo, on this side of the Zaire and beyond it, Lord of the Ambundu and of Angola, of Aquisima, of Musuru, of Matamba, of Malilu, of Musuko and Anzizo, of the conquest of Pangu-Alumbu, etc.".

Kandas, Gerações and Houses

The kingdom of Kongo had a formal state apparatus, in which most positions were in the hands of the king, and the king himself was elected by powerful officials. Kings sought and held office with the assistance of a kanda. Each kanda was a faction which organized people according to a common goal, often but not always rooted in a kin-based relationship. Kandas generally took the name of a person, but could also take the name of a location or title such as Mbala ) or birthplace. The Kikongo prefix "ki" is added onto these names to mean "people with something in common". These factions were recorded as gerações or casas in Kongo documents written in Portuguese. Until the mid-seventeenth century, following the Battle of Mbwila, these factions were short-lived and fluctuating, but following the battle, factions were much firmer and lasted for generations, particularly the Kimpanzu and Kinlaza. The Quilombo dos Palmares, a Maroon kingdom formed in Northeast Brazil, was founded by princes and nobles who were enslaved and transported to Portuguese Brazil after the battle in Kongo. There, they retained their titles and their lineage survived even after the kingdom itself was destroyed.

Dynasties

When the Portuguese arrived in Kongo in 1483, the reigning king represented the Nimi kanda. This kanda was probably descended from Nimi a Nzima, father of the founder of Kongo. Divisions emerged within the kanda during succession disputes, for example, following the death of Afonso I in 1542, his son Pedro I and grandson Diogo I formed two opposed factions, that of Pedro was called the Kibala faction, and the other, whose name is unknown that followed Diogo. Other elections in the sixteenth century probably also involved similar factions, though the details are unknown.
King Álvaro I was the first king of the House of Kwilu. This kanda or lineage was named for the birthplace of Álvaro, north of the capital city. The Kwilu reigned until 1614 when Antonio da Silva, Duke of Mbamba intervened to place Bernardo I on the throne, in place of Álvaro II's minor son, who would eventually take office as Álvaro III.
Another kanda, the House of Nsundi, later known as the Kinkanga a Mvika, took control of Kongo in 1622 under Pedro II, and retained it through the reign of his son, Garcia I. Garcia never held power strongly, and the Kimpanzu returned to power under Ambrosio I. Kimpanzu domination ended in 1641 when two brothers Álvaro and Garcia of the new House of Kinlaza overthrew Álvaro V and took power. The members of the Kikanga a Mvika were all killed or absorbed into the Kinlaza by 1657. The Kinlaza dynasty would reign until Kongo's catastrophic civil war following the 1665 Battle of Mbwila, when sporadic and violent alternation followed.
The capital was destroyed in 1678. Its destruction forced the claimants from both sides of the conflict to rule from mountain fortresses. The Kinlaza retreated to Mbula where they founded the capital of Lemba. Earlier another branch of Kinlaza, under the leadership of Garcia III of Kongo founded a settlement at Kibangu. The Kimpanzu based their struggle for the throne at Mbamba Luvota in the south of Soyo. A new faction appeared in the form of the Água Rosada kanda, headquartered at the mountain fortress of Kibangu. This might be considered a new house formed from both the Kinlaza and Kimpanzu, its founders were the children of a Kimpanzu father and a Kinlaza mother. All parties claimed kingship over Kongo, but their power rarely held beyond their fortresses or the immediately surrounding area.
The country was finally reunited by Pedro IV of the Água Rosada kanda. Pedro IV declared a doctrine of shared power by which the throne would shift from Kinlaza to the Kimpanzu and back., while the Água Rosada appear to have continued as neutral in Pedro's fortress of Kibangu.
The system functioned sporadically, with considerable fighting, until 1764 when José I of the Kinlaza faction usurped the throne and thrust the country back into civil war. The Kinlaza enjoyed a short-lived second dynasty that ended in 1788. After that, the throne moved through various royal hands until the kingship was extinguished in 1914.

Elections

The selection of kings of Kongo was by a variety of principles, as kings themselves evoked different methods of selection in their letters announcing their succession. Typically the kingdom was said to pass by election, though the electors and the process they used changed over time and according to circumstances. Frequently election seems to have been a combination of elective and hereditary principles.

Kings of Kongo

The following section is divided into periods based on kanda or house rulership. Most houses reigned of a distinct period with few if any intervals. This is not the case, however; after the Kongo Civil War. During this period you will note the name of each king's kanda alongside their reign.

Pre-colonial rulers

Ancestors of later rulers

According to oral tradition, the first king was the son of chief Nimi and his consort of unknown name, Mwene Mbata's daughter. Most of the succeeding dynasties either claim descent from this union or otherwise derive their legitimacy from it.

House of Kilukeni/Lukeni kanda (1390s–1568)

House of Kwilu/Kwilu kanda (1568–1622)

House of Nsundi/Kinkanga a Mvika kanda (1622–1626)

House of Kwilu/Kwilu kanda (1626–1636)

House of Kimpanzu/Mpanzu kanda (1636)

House of Kinlaza/Nlaza kanda (1636–1665)

Civil War (1665–1709)

Kings of São Salvador
Kings of Kibangu for the House of Kinlaza
Kings of Nkondo for the House of Kimpanzu
Awenekongo of Lemba-Mbula for the House of Kinlaza
'''Mwenekongo of Mbamba-Lovata for the House of Kimpanzu '''

Reunification and Elective Monarchy (1709–1888)

Pretenders to the throne 1914-2000

  • Álvaro XV Afonso of Kongo, also known as Nzinga
  • Pedro VII Afonso of Kongo
  • António III Afonso of Kongo
  • Isabel Maria da Gama of Kongo wife of António III Afonso of Kongo
  • Pedro VIII Afonso of Kongo, also known as Mansala son of António III Afonso of Kongo
  • Isabel Maria da Gama of Kongo wife of António III Afonso of Kongo
  • Interregnum, 1975–2000

    Pretenders to the throne since 2000

  • José II Henrique da Silva Meso.
The head of the nucleus of the Traditional Authorities of the Royal Court of Kongo is Afonso Mendes and is living in Mbanza-Kongo
  • Manuel Alvaro Afonso Nzinga
  • King Nsola Meso Antônio, King of Mbata and King of Kongo In 2008, the Angolan constitution began to recognize the authority of traditional monarchs in its articles 223 and 224. The now king of Mbata, Nzola Meso Antônio, reorganized the kingdom's court and began to establish diplomatic relations with the other kingdoms originally part of the Greater Congo and, on January 7, 2017, signed the Act of Unification, being crowned on May 3, 2018 as the King of Kongo. King Nsola Meso Antônio died on October 9, 2021, and was succeeded by the young prince Makitu, who was enthroned as King Makitu III on July 29, 2023, after a long and traditional succession process. The ceremony took place at the old São Miguel Fortress, known as Forte Velho de Luanda, and was attended by ambassadors from several countries, such as the United States, Italy, Israel, Mozambique, Norway, and other traditional kingdoms such as Bailundo and Cuanhama.

    Usurpation

Following the usurpation of the title of King of Kongo by certain ill-intentioned individuals, the traditional authorities of Mbanza-Kongo issued a statement on April 17, 2024, declaring that any person claiming to be the King of Kongo is an imposter, as no king has been elected or resides in Mbanza-Kongo today.
"The head of the Department of Tourism at the Provincial Office for Culture, Tourism, Youth, and Sports of Zaire, Abia Graça Fortunato, explained that most of these individuals arrive in Mbanza Kongo as tourists and take advantage of the photos they take with the coordinator of the Lumbu and the director of Culture to carry out their deceptions.
Often, he noted, they welcome visits from both local and foreign tourists to the Museum of the Kings of Congo, where representatives of the Royal Court of the former Kingdom of Kongo work. Unfortunately, some people use these photos to present themselves as kings."
— Fernando Neto, 2024
  • Tuzolana Sakibanza Ngiangalele is a Congolese painter and former politician, married to Maman Fatuma Mugeni. Known for his artistic talent, he has received numerous awards and traveled widely to promote his work. Politically, he served as a councilor in the municipality of Anderlecht in Brussels and later worked as a diplomat for the African Union in Ethiopia. He eventually chose to leave these roles to focus on his community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He also claims the title of traditional leader of Nkolo Fuma and has been involved in projects like Bana Bilaka, an initiative focused on grassroots economic development in the DRC. Despite his local leadership role, he has no recognized historical or blood ties to the monarchy of the Kingdom of Kongo.
  • Mfumu Difima is a Congolese customary chief as well as the president of the Commission Consultative de règlements des conflits Coutumiers CCRCC LUILA and then the president of the Conseil Supérieur de l'Autorité Traditionnelle et Coutumière CONATC RDC/AFRIQUE. With a degree in physical education, he proclaimed himself King of all Kongos in 2018 on the Pouvoirs d'Afrique programme. Today, he calls himself the King of the Kongos of the Democratic Republic of Congo and continues to present himself outside the territory of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the king of the Kongo people.
  • Samuel Masambukidi, also known as Samuel Nitufuidi Masambukidi Kulala kwamakanda II, is the founder of the Lumière du Christ church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the spiritual leader of the Masambukidist church. On October 30, 2025, he was crowned in Kinshasa, in Lingala, as the “Divine King of Kongo and King of the Congo Basin” by a group of Congolese from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The coronation has been widely contested and is considered an act of usurpation, as there is currently no legitimate King of Kongo recognized by the Kongo people or by the customary authorities across the region. Another self-proclaimed claimant, MenguMengu, also declared himself the “King representing Kongo-Central” and was present at the ceremony.