The Kingdom of Matamba (pre-1550–1744) was an African state located in what is now the Baixa de Cassange region of Malanje Province of modern-day Angola.
During the mid-sixteenth century Matamba was ruled by queen Njinga, who received missionaries from Kongo, then a Christian kingdom, dispatched by King Diogo I (1545–1561).
In 1618 the Portuguese governor of Angola, Luis Mendes de Vasconcelos, launched a large-scale attack on Ndongo, using newly acquired Imbangala allies.
The allied Imbangala, mercenary soldiers from south of the Kwanza River, turned the day and allowed Mendes de Vasconcelos' forces to sack Ndongo's capital and pillage the country.
During the following two years, Mendes de Vasconcelos' son João led a detachment of Portuguese and Imbangala forces into Matamba where they did great damage.
Ndongo continued to suffer attacks from Portuguese forces, and in 1624 Queen Njinga Mbandi (also known as Nzinga) took over as ruler of that country.
Njinga hoped that a peaceful relationship with Portugal would allow her to settle her kingdom and determine a successor, as she had no children.
She formed a close alliance with a related family, whose leader João Guterres Ngola Kanini, became one of her most important councillors.
This strategy was successful, she signed a peace treaty in 1657 and Italian Capuchin missionaries began working in her lands.
However, Imbangala forces in the Portuguese army managed to stiffen resistance, and in the ensuing battle, Francisco and several of his relatives were killed.
In order to forestall another Portuguese invasion, Verónica sent an embassy to Luanda that negotiated a peace treaty, signed 7 September 1683.
Verónica appears to have been anxious to re-establish a Christian mission in the country, abandoned following the death of Njinga and the civil war that followed.
In order to avoid a long war and to get them to withdraw, Ana II signed a treaty of vassalage with Portugal which renewed points conceded by Verónica in 1683.
However, two of Ana's daughters, Kamana and Murili escaped the civil war, took refuge in the ancient capital of Ndongo on the Kindonga islands and successfully resisted Francisco II's attempts to oust them.
Kamana's son and successor did manage to end the division of the country by successfully recovering the capital and being crowned as king of Matamba in around 1810.