[3] Ndongo's internal wars sometimes resulted in alliances forming between sobas, which combined murindas and created large provinces, or kandas.

[3] The Mbundu people founded the Kingdom of Ndongo under a king of the Ngola dynasty, using their artisan, blacksmithing, and agricultural skills to become influential traders in the region.

[1] They established massive farming communities, created unity through the veneration of zumbi (ancestors) and ilundu (deities), and organized military strategies to fortify their borders and protect their people.

[citation needed] Around 1556, Ndongo sent another mission to Portugal seeking military assistance and offering to be baptized, even though Portuguese officials were unsure of the religious sincerity at the time.

[citation needed] By the time of the third mission in 1571, the King of Portugal Sebastian I had decided to charge Dias de Novais with the conquest and subjugation of the "Kingdom of Angola",[3] authorizing him to govern the region, bring in settlers, and build forts.

Dias de Novais arrived in Luanda by arrangement with Kongo's king Álvaro I in compensation for Portugal's assistance against the Jaga.

[8] Unable to conquer any territory on his own,[citation needed] Dias de Novais made alliances with both Kongo and Ndongo, serving as a mercenary army.

In 1579, Portuguese merchants who had settled in Kongo, led by Francisco Barbuda, advised Njinga Ndambi Kilombo kia Kasenda that Portugal intended to take over his country.

[citation needed] The following war witnessed a Kongo invasion, which was narrowly defeated in 1580, and a Portuguese offensive up the Kwanza River, resulting in the founding of their fort at Massangano in 1582.

During their activities in the region south of the Kwanza, the Portuguese came into contact with the Imbangala, a rootless group of nomadic raiders ravaging the country.

[citation needed] In 1617, the new governor Luis Mendes de Vasconcelos, after first rejecting the use of Imbangala troops, committed himself to the alliance and began aggressive campaigns against Ndongo.

Thanks to the help of Imbangala bands commanded by Kasanje, Kasa, and others, he invaded Ndongo, sacked the capital, and forced King Ngola Mbandi to take refuge on the island of Kindonga in the Kwanza River.

Thousands of Ndongo subjects were taken prisoner, and Mendes de Vasconcelos sought unsuccessfully to create a puppet government to allow Portuguese rule.

In exchange, Ngola Mbandi would leave the island, reestablish himself at the capital, and become a Portuguese vassal, paying 100 enslaved people per year as tribute.

However, João Correia de Sousa became involved in a disastrous war with Kongo and, in the aftermath, was expelled from the colony by angry citizens.

His temporary successor, the bishop, was unable to execute the treaty, and it was then left to the new governor, Fernão de Sousa, to settle matters when he came in 1624.

In desperation, he committed suicide, leaving the country in the hands of his sister Nzinga, who was to serve as regent for his minor son, then in the protective custody of the Imbangala leader Kaza, who had left Portuguese service and joined with Ndongo.

Sousa felt confident enough at this point to declare Nzinga deposed and convened some sobas who had supported her to re-elect as new king Hari a Kiluanji, lord of the rocky fortress of Mpungo a Ndongo (or Pungo Andongo) in 1626.

She reoccupied Kindonga and began mobilizing the support of all the sobas opposed to Hari an Angola and Portuguese rule, leading to a second war with Portugal.

Using this support, Nzinga moved northward and captured the Kingdom of Matamba, which became her base, even as she sent a detachment to reoccupy the Kindonga Islands, now sacred because her brother's remains were buried there.

[12][13] It was described by a Jesuit witness in the 1570s as;[11][14] all their defense consists of sanguar which is to leap from one side to another with a thousand twists and such agility that they can dodge arrows and spears....Professional forces trained for war in the army were referred to as quimbares.

[14] Before the war against Portugal in the late 16th century, Ndongo could hire Portuguese mercenaries such as the forces of Paulo Dias de Novais in 1575.

According to the research of historian Thornton, in the 1585 campaign against Portugal, the army "constructed four or five forts 'of wood and straw after their fashion' each a day's journey apart to cover their retreat.