In 1624 Nzinga’s brother died. When he died Nzinga seized control of the Ndongo. It is surprising that she took power as the Ndongo was always ruled by men, and had a special way of choosing their king. 

 

In 1626 a new Governor arrived in Luanda. He did not keep to Nzinga’s agreement with the previous Governor. Ngola a Hari had wanted to take power of Ndogo instead of Nzinga. Now he worked with the Portuguese and they planned to capture Nzinga. 

 

Nzinga’s spies heard of this plan and told her. She left Ndongo with her followers. They ran away to Mabango. Ngola a Hari took control of Ndongo. 

 

Things were not going well in the Mabango Kingdom. The Portuguese, with the Imbangala, had been attacking the kingdom. Mabango was an unusual kingdom as it had female leaders. These two things (Mabango being in a bad situation and Mabango being used to female leaders) helped Nzinga to take power. 

 

Nzinga wanted Mabango to become a powerful kingdom against the Portuguese. She welcomed runaway slaves and Portuguese-trained African soldiers. She trained them to be in her army. She also sent spies to Luanda to see how the Portuguese were training their troops. This way she could make sure that her troops were ready to fight the Portuguese. She attacked Portuguese slave-traders and she traded slaves with the Dutch in the 1640s. Mabango became a powerful kingdom. 

 

In 1641 Nzinga joined with the Dutch to fight the Portuguese in Luanda. It looked like they were going to win, but then the Portuguese sent more soldiers from Brazil. The Dutch surrendered and left, and Nzinga had to retreat. 

 

Nzinga came up with a new plan and contacted the missionaries. She told them that she wanted to spread Christianity to her people. The Portuguese liked this idea and in 1656 they signed a new agreement with Nzinga and agreed that she was the ruler Ndongo as well as Matamba. 

 

As she grew older she dressed more and more like the Portuguese, she even wore a crown. 

 

Nzinga died on 17 December 1663 aged 81.