Queen Nanny of the Maroons, as she appears on the Jamaican $500 bill. She died peacefully in her 80s, after a long life of defending her people from colonial rule. Despite multiple attempts by the Portuguese to capture Nzinga, they never succeeded.
Through her leadership, Nzinga successfully held off the Portuguese forces for decades, personally leading her troops into battle-even while in her sixties. In 1627, she formed a temporary alliance with the Dutch-an enemy of the Portuguese-and led an army against them. Nzinga refused to give in to the Portuguese without a fight. Facing attacks from rival African aggressors looking to capture people for the slave trade, Nzinga’s pact with the Portuguese allowed her to fight enemy tribes to enslave for Portugal in exchange for weapons and an agreement that the Portuguese would cease slave raids on the Mbundu people.īut by the time she became queen in 1626, Portugal had broken its side of the deal. But before she became queen, at her brother’s request, Nzinga met with the Portuguese to negotiate peace.Īn adept negotiator, she formed a strategic alliance with Portugal in 1622. Nzinga became queen in 1626 after her brother, the former king, committed suicide in the face of rising Portuguese encroachment. With the growing demand for slave labor, Portugal had established a colony near Mbundu land to expand the slave trade. Queen Nzinga Mbande was monarch to the Mbundu people who fought against the Portuguese and their expanding slave trade in the 17th century.Īn adept politician and skilled military strategist, Queen Nzinga Mbande was the ruler of the Mbundu people in what is now Angola. After years of bitter fighting and significant casualties on both sides, negotiations to end the war began in 24 B.C., culminating in a peace treaty five years after the fighting first began.Īlthough the hostilities ended in a stalemate, Queen Amanirenas-unlike many of her neighbors-was victorious in resisting conquest by Rome, never ceding large swaths of territory or paying taxes to the empire. Amanirenas is remembered throughout the Nile Valley and beyond as the Nubian queen who conquered the Romans. But it wasn’t long before Rome retaliated, invading Kush, destroying the Kingdom’s capital and selling thousands into slavery.
Leading an army of 30,000 from the frontlines, Amanirenas successfully captured three Roman-ruled cities. When Roman emperor Augustus conquered neighboring Egypt in 30 B.C.-with plans to next invade Kush-Amanirenas launched a surprise attack on the Romans. to 10 B.C., in the Nubian region, now modern-day Sudan. Queen Amanirenas ruled the Kingdom of Kush from 40 B.C. An illustration of a statue of Queen Amanirenas, who ruled the Kingdom of Kush.
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