TEE EXTERNAL TRADE OF THE LOMGO COAST AND ITS EFFECTS ON THE V IL I» 1576-1870 b y P h y llis M. M a rtin Thesis submitted fo r the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of London 1 9 7 '0 londin. vUIVV- > ProQuest N um ber: 11010283 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11010283 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 I ABSTRACT The Loango Coast is a useful term to describe the West African Coast which lie s between Cape Lopez in the north and the Congo River in the south. In the sixteenth century, the region was divided in to three kingdoms, Loango, Kakongo and Ngoyo. This study discusses two interrelated themes. The firs t concerns the changing patterns of external trade; here, four main phases may be differentiated. The firs t was a pre-slave trade period, from about 1576 to 1630 when indigenous African commercial a c tiv itie s eaqpanded under the impetus of European contact; between I 63O and I 67O the products of legitim ate trade decreased in im portance and th e tra d e in s la v e s gained momentum; the years from 1670 to 1793 have been called the Slave Trade Era; from about 1793 to 1870, the slave traders faced mounting prob­ lems u n til their a ctivitie s were fin a lly ended and a legitimate trade was reestablished. The second theme deals specifically with the V ili kingdom of Loango, which, as the term MLoango Coast” im plies, dominated the region u n til its fortunes changed in the eighteenth century. The discussion suggests how the V ili were affected by the chang­ ing patterns of external trade. Chapters 1 and 8 are prim arily concerned with this subject, although it is also touched on at various other points. The Maloango and the traditional aristo­ cracy, who dominated the sixteenth aid seventeenth century V ili kingdom, were forced to share power witha class of nouveaux- riches thrown up by the slave trade, by the late eighteenth century. The fina l demise of the old kinglom occurred in the nineteenth century, when the order and unity of traditional society was lost amid the unstable conditions brought by the rule of petty chiefs. The last chapter attempts to show that these changes were a positive response to varying circumstances, not mere decay. Loango has teen much neglected by historians, especially compared to other large kingdoms on the West African Coast. In the Congo area, attention has largely focused on regions south of the River, on the Kongo kingdom based on San Salvador and the Mbundu kingdom which the Portuguese encountered in the area of modem Angola. The continuous co n ta cto f these African states with European merchants, missionaries and administrators since the late fifteenth century, has ensured a large body of . materials for researchers in European archives. Even before the interest in African Studies of the la st two decades, works on Kongo and Angola had appeared. Before the Second World War, the books of Paiva Manso, Pelner, Cordeiro and Ihle were published. To these have been added the volumes of documents published more recently by Jadin, Brasio and Cuvelier. No major work on Loango history has been attempted. This is no indication of the importance of the kingdom in the history of the region. In some respects,it was as influential as Kongo its e lf. Rather it is a reflection of the spasmodic and impermanent contact that Europeans had with the V ili kingdom in pre-colonial times. The H istoiie de Loango. Kakongo et Autres Royaumes dfAfrique pub­ lished by the Abbe Proyart in 1776 is a valuable work with a misleading title . It is an account of Loango as it was found by French missionaries in the years 1766-1776, with only a few refer­ ences outside that period. Perhaps the most important studies o f th e area were p u b lis h e d fo llo w in g th e v i s i t o f a German s c ie n t if ic expedition in 1873-1876. The works of A. Bastian, Die Deutsche Expedition an der Loango-Kttste, and E. Pechu^l-Loesche, Volkskunde von Loango. are particularly valuable since they contain many oral traditions. This study has relied mainly on accounts by traders on the Loango Coast and the archives of Dutch, ^rench and English trading companies. Of the published works, the most useful are those by Bat te ll, Broecke, and Brun, fo r the early seventeenth century f and Degrandpre fo r the 1 ate eighteenth century. A thorough search of Portuguese archives might reveal further materials fo r Loango history, but they have not been used here, since the area was generally only of peripheral interest to the Portuguese. The major published works in Portuguese, and especially the collections of documents by Brasio, have been consulted. The work of the Dutch scholar, O lfert Dapper, Naukeurige Beschri.ivinge der Afrikaensche Gewesten. Amsterdam 1668, deserves special mention. This study covers large areas of Africa, but con­ tains a long and detailed account of Loango. It was based on most of the known European sources at that time. The account of Loango seems to be particularly reliable because of the contacts that DutGh traders had had with the V ili kingdom since the beginning of the seventeenth century. Dapper appears to have had access to the reports of the Dutch West India Company, for part of his account is corroborated by documents in the company archives in The Hague. The attraction of Kongo and Angola resulted hi the neglect of the Loango Coast by missionaries. In 1he seventeenth century, the longest mission was that of the Capucin, Bernardino Unghero, who died after only a year in Loango (1663-1664). Some of his le tte rs have been published by Cavazzi. The only other missionary e ffo rt of consequence, that was attempted in the period covered by this study, was that reported by Proyart. Some other documents on the same mission have been published by Cuvelier, Documents sur une Mission Franpaise an Kakongo. 1766-1776. Given the nature of the source m aterial, it has seemed wise to concentrate in this study on the commercial relations of the V ili and to assess how these affected their society. A traditional dynastic listory of the Loango kingdom seems possible, however. Conversations with V ili in Paris have suggested that liv e ly oral traditions exist in the regicn. The Maloango and his fam ily would be an important source of information. There must also be a great deal of m aterial on the kingdoms of Kakongo and Ngoyo which deserve independent study. M. Raymaekers at Lovanium has in itia te d some research into the history of Ngoyo. I should like to thank the many friends, librarians and archivists who have aided me in the course of this research. The Scottish Education Department were kind enough to award me a Major Scottish Studentship and a travel grant to allow me to work in Dutch and French Archives. Dr. Richard Gray advised me 4 during my firs t year at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Students benefit from his wide knowledge of the fie ld of African Studies and his original and stim ulating comment. Most thanks are due to my supervisor Dr. David Birmingham who firs t Introduced me to the V ili and directed me to the relevant archives. Dr. Birmingham1 incisive and rigorous approach to history is matched by an imagin­ ative understanding of African problems. I especially appreciated the personal concern which he has for his students. A fin a l word of gratitude to my fam ily who have at times suffered gross neglect but whose enthusiasm fo r th is work has almost surpassed my own. CONTENTS page A b s tra c t ................................................................................ / P re fa ce ................................................................................ 3 L ist of Maps ................................................................................ 8 Abbreviations ................................................................................ 9 Chapter 1 The V ili Kingdom of Loango II and its Neighbours .................................... Chapter 2 The Early Expansion of Loango* s (? External Trade, 1576-C.1630 C ha pter 3 Slave Trade Beginnings, c.1630-c.1670 9 S' Chapter 4 The Slave Trade Era, c.1670-1793: / Z 8 European R ivalry and African P olicy.. C hapter 5 The Conduct o f T rade ..................................... i STS C hapter 6 The S upply o f S la v e s ..................................... 1 9 8 Chapter 7 Slave Trade Vicissitudes aid the Expansion o f L e g itim a te Commerce, 2 2 - S ' 1793-1870 .......................................................... Chapter 8 Trade and Change anong the V ili 2 5 5 " A ppendix ................................................................................ 2.83 Bibliography ................................................................................ 2 S 5 LIST OF -MAPS 1. West Central Africa. 2. Loango and its Neighbours in the Seventeenth Century. 3. Slave Trade Routes and Sources of Supply. 4 . Legitimate Trade on the Loango Coast; Products and Factories, c.