Battle of Mbanda Kasi

Battle of Mbandi Kasi
Part of the First Kongo-Portuguese War
DateJanuary 1623[1]
Location
Mbandi Kasi, Angola
Result Kongo victory
Belligerents
Portuguese Angola Kingdom of Kongo
Commanders and leaders
Captain Major Pedro de Sousa Coelho King of Kongo Pedro II
Count of Soyo Dom Antonio Manuel
Strength
Several thousand Mbundu archers
Several thousand Portuguese infantry and Imbangala mercenaries
Unknown
Casualties and losses
Heavy losses Unknown

The Battle of Mbandi Kasi was a military engagement between forces of Portuguese Angola and the Kingdom of Kongo during their first armed conflict which spanned from 1622 to 1623. The battle, while not widely reported by the Portuguese, was recorded in correspondence between the Kongolese and their Dutch allies. The battle marked the turn of the short war in the favor of Kongo and led to the ouster of the Portuguese governor of Luanda and the return of Kongolese subjects taken as slaves in earlier campaigns.

As a result of the conflict, the manikongo Pedro II sought an alliance with the Dutch Empire to drive the Portuguese from the region entirely.[2]

  1. ^ Thornton, John (2010), "A Re-Interpretation of the Kongo-Portuguese War of 1622 According to New Documentary Evidence", The Journal of African History, 51 (2): 235–248, doi:10.1017/S0021853710000277, JSTOR 40985072, S2CID 159509249
  2. ^ Green, Toby, 1974- (21 March 2019). A fistful of shells : West Africa from the rise of the slave trade to the age of revolution. Chicago. ISBN 9780226644578. OCLC 1051687994.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)