Review of Njinga of Angola

Linda Heywood. Njinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2017). 310pp.

Introduction

Portuguese expansion further into the African interior seemed inevitable to the citizens of Kongo and Ndongo, but were prevented from doing so by the efforts of Njinga of Angola.  This monumental accomplishment of resisting colonial expansion appears to be a very significant moment in world history, and yet the name Njinga is rarely ever heard within the context of historical discussions.  In her book, Linda Heywood attempts to reveal Njinga’s “full and complex life” (3).  Heywood aims to aid “Njinga’s resurrection” (257) by portraying Njinga as a powerful and influential female leader that deserves to be discussed as much as similar European female leaders of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Heywood’s arguments concerning Njinga’s political power and influence effectively communicate the importance of Njinga as a historical figure.  The different strategies Njinga deployed to consolidate power and expand her influence are clearly outlined by Heywood in a manner that makes the reader appreciate Njinga’s political savvy.  Njinga’s constant conflict with the Portuguese further supports Heywood’s assertion that Njinga is a noteworthy leader in global history, and deserves to be recognized as such.  Furthermore, Heywood intentionally discusses the many controversial aspects of Njinga’s rule, primarily her willingness to trade slaves with Europeans, in an attempt to most accurately depict Njinga’s complexity as a historical figure.

As a powerful female leader in the 17th century, the topic of Njinga’s gender must be included in an analysis of Njinga’s life.  Heywood does discuss Njinga’s gender throughout her book, however Heywood’s specific arguments relating to Njinga’s gender do not effectively present a clear argument.  It is unclear whether Njinga’s gender is essential to the narrative of Njinga that Heywood would like to craft, and the purpose of Heywood’s narrative on Njinga’s gender is similarly unclear at times.

Summary

The book begins with the initial confrontation between the Portuguese and Ndongo, creating an environment that Njinga could effectively politically navigate when she rose to power.  The Portuguese are essential to Njinga’s status as an African leader, and Heywood beginning the book with the Portuguese provides needed context to support the assertion that Njinga was a skilled and important political figure.  Religion is also introduced at the beginning of the book as religion would later be a critical tool that Njinga used to increase her power.  The context of an expanding external threat, the Portuguese, makes Njinga’s rule all the more pivotal from a historical perspective.

The next chapter provides a summary of the two rulers of Ndongo before Njinga, Mbande a Ngola and Njinga’s brother Ngola Mbande.  The legacies of these two rulers are defined by their failure to reach diplomatic agreements with the Portuguese, leading to an expansion of Portuguese control and influence in the region.  These two leaders had to deal with both Portuguese interests and local interests from Ndongo and surrounding kingdoms that often contradicted each other.  Neither leader was able to negotiate an agreement with the Portuguese that local political elites would support.  By demonstrating the difficulties that previous Ndongo rulers encountered in diplomatic negotiations, Heywood is able to portray Njinga as an extremely skilled political leader that was able to accomplish a political goal that her predecessors could not.

Njinga’s rise to power in Ndongo is then analyzed with a specific focus on Njinga’s diplomatic skills and use of religion during the process.  Njinga, a trusted advisor to Ngola Mbande, was able to initially seize power by leading a delegation to Luanda to negotiate with the Portuguese.  After successfully resisting pressure from the Portuguese, Njinga returned to Ndongo as “the de facto leader” (64).  Njinga capitalized on the opportunity to become the official leader of Ndongo after Ngola Mbande’s death, and her reputation for resisting the Portuguese quickly won her the support of many local political elites that felt threatened by the Portuguese.  This section also discusses Njinga’s relationship with religion, as she used religious traditions to gain political support from both the Portuguese and the Mbundu.  Heywood’s emphasis on the political benefits of Njinga’s relationships with religions depicts Njinga as a gifted diplomat that is not constrained by religion, as many diplomats of the time would be.

After the Portuguese reinforced their military capabilities, Njinga was essentially exiled from Ndongo for a period.  During this time, Njinga’s political influence began to diminish.  She was able to reverse this trend, however, by prioritizing the consolidation of power through forming relationships over other values.  Njinga once again used religion as a tool in order to gain the support of the Imbangala, a crucial alliance that threatened Ngola Hari, the Portuguese choice to succeed Njinga.  After securing the support of the Imbangala, Njinga turned her attention to the Dutch.  The Dutch had shown interest in the region as a possible source for enslaved people, which was the main objective for the Dutch in Africa.  Njinga recognized that an alliance with the Dutch would greatly increase her chances of victory over the Portuguese, so she agreed to provide the Dutch with access to enslaved people in exchange for military aid.

Conflict between Njinga and the Portuguese continued until Njinga began an attempt to establish diplomatic relationships with the Vatican.  Njinga wrote to the Vatican for support, and even promised to return to Christianity after having been baptized decades earlier.  Once again, Njinga used religion to her political advantage in negotiations.  Njinga successfully used her new Christian identity to finally negotiate a peace settlement with the Portuguese in which her position as ruler of Ndongo was protected.  The book concludes with Njinga displaying a desire to fully internalize Christianity, while still retaining her connections to local religious traditions, before her passing.

Analysis

Heywood is able to effectively present Njinga as a consequential and influential ruler, which helps Heywood achieve her ultimate goal of “resurrecting” Njinga in contemporary historical debates.  She does this first by providing context surrounding the difficulty of the political situation Njinga faced as a ruler.  Heywood uses the failure of the two Ndongo rulers that preceded Njinga to protect the kingdom from the Portuguese, Mbare a Ngola and Ngola Mbare, to emphasize just how difficult and consequential Njinga’s rule was.  Njinga’s successful rule that is outlined by Heywood throughout the book appears even more remarkable given the context, and certainly supports Heywood’s assertion that Njinga was an extremely significant ruler.

Njinga’s rule was so influential that Heywood credits her with having “created the conditions for the first popular Mbundu uprising against Portuguese exploitation” (68).  Njinga used the threat of Portuguese violence against the Mbundu to gather support from local political elites, and it was this coalition that allowed Njinga to develop into a figure of resistance.  Heywood successfully characterizes Njinga as a significant figure by drawing the reader’s attention to the importance of her rule.  Organizing the first popular uprising against the Portuguese is such a pivotal historical event that the reader is certainly convinced of Heywood’s broader argument.

While Njinga is certainly depicted as an important historical figure, Heywood is careful to also depict Njinga as a “complex” ruler.  Heywood does not want to portray Njinga as altruistic, but rather as a ruler that shaped the history of a region.  This allows Heywood to properly place Njinga’s within the context of history rather than creating a narrative that is not entirely accurate with regards to the type of ruler Njinga was.  The first and perhaps most prominent example Heywood uses throughout the book is that of Njinga’s passive support for the slave trade.  The extent to which Njinga was aware of the atrocities occurring within the slave trade is unclear, but it is certainly evident that Njinga was comfortable engaging in the slave trade if doing so would provide her some political benefit.  This is best exemplified by her negotiations with the Dutch, who wish to develop a relationship with Njinga because “between two thousand and three thousand slaves per year came from her land” (139).  Heywood uses Njinga’s involvement in the slave trade to prevent the reader from glorifying Njinga as a ruler, and instead approach Njinga critically.

While Heywood clearly outlines how Njinga was both an important and complex ruler, her approach to discussing Njinga’s gender leaves the reader with many unanswered questions.  In the epilogue, Heywood refers to Njinga as a “powerful woman” (257) and that part of her goal is to “reclaim Njinga for all women” (247), yet the book does not accomplish this.  Njinga’s identity as a female ruler is not often discussed by Heywood because it does not seem that Njinga herself is concerned with her gender identity and because women in positions of power was likely a much more common occurrence in Ndongo than in Europe.  Heywood even states that the Portuguese were “not aware of the political reality in Ndongo, where women were major players in governance” (99).  This suggests that Njinga’s story is not one of a female ruler who overcame enormous obstacles based on her gender, but rather that of an incredibly powerful female ruler in a society in which that was more common.  While this does not detract from Njinga’s importance and complexity as a ruler, Heywood certainly does not portray Njinga as an advocate for women more broadly.  The reader is left with the impression that Njinga’s gender identity is not a hugely important aspect of her story, yet Heywood states that Njinga is a historical figure for women.  More discussion on Njinga’s gender and how she was perceived as a female ruler would allow Heywood to more effectively communicate her argument on Njinga’s female identity.

Conclusion

Overall, Heywood’s book provides a solid overview of Njinga of Angola and her role as an influential leader.  The book certainly establishes the influence Njinga had as a ruler, and clearly portrays Njinga as a complex ruler.  Njinga’s female identity is addressed by Heywood, but there are many gaps between Heywood’s goals regarding Njinga’s gender identity and the conclusion the reader reaches.  This book should be considered by students interested in colonial occupation, the slave trade, or African political history.  Njinga’s successful resistance to Portuguese expansion is a monumental moment in the history of colonialism that deserves to be studied by those that have a real interest in the subject.  Additionally, this book should be considered by scholars of religion and religious history.  Njinga’s story as a political ruler is inextricably linked to religion as Christianity and local religious traditions were used by Njinga to her political advantage depending on her audience.  The influence of religion on both European and African societies at the time was exploited by Njinga as she rose to power, a story that any scholar of religion should be familiar with.  The book certainly leaves the reader impressed by Njinga’s many successes, making the book a relative success for achieving Heywood’s stated goals.