|
The Kingdom of Loango (also ''Lwããgu''〔http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Congo-brazzaville_native.html "© Ben Cahoon" 〕) was a pre-colonial African state, during approximately the 16th to 19th centuries in what is now the western part of the Republic of the Congo. Situated to the north of the more powerful Kingdom of Kongo, at its height in the 17th century Loango influence extended from Cape St Catherine in the north to almost the mouth of the Congo River. Loango exported copper to the European market, and was a major producer and exporter of cloth. The English traveller Andrew Battel, when he was there in about 1610, recorded that the predecessor of the unnamed king ruling at that time was named "Gembe" or Gymbe (modernized as ''Njimbe''), possibly the founder of the kingdom. With the death of King Buatu in 1787, the succession of leadership is uncertain. The kingdom is certain to have come to an end with the Conference of Berlin (1884–1885) at the latest, when European colonial powers divided most of Central Africa between them. ==Name== The inhabitants, who are a branch of the Bakongo, spoke a northern dialect of the Kikongo language also spoken in the Kingdom of Kongo. Missionaries who visited the Loango coast at the end of the nineteenth century often called the people of Loango ''Bafiote'', and their language ''Fiote''. Their ethnic name today is usually given as Vili or Bavili. This term is attested as early as the seventeenth century, where it was usually spelled "Mobili" (plural Mobilis). This term is from the singular form (Muvili today) pluralized according to the rules of Portuguese.〔Phyllis Martin, The External Trade of the Loango Coast, pp. 3 (Fiote) and 8 (Vili).〕〔Olfert Dapper, ''Naukeurige Beschrijvinge der Africa Gewesten'' (Amsterdam, 1668) p. 518. An older English translation is John Ogilby, ''Africa'' (London, 1670), p. 491.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kingdom of Loango」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|