Nsi Kwilu is a modern
Kikongo
Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola. It is a tonal language. The vast majority of present-day speakers li ...
respelling of "''Essiquilu''" the term used by the Italian
Capuchin missionary
A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thoma ...
Girolamo da Montesarchio[Montescarchio, Calogero Piazza, ed. ''La Prefettura Apostolica del Congo alla' Meta del XVII secolo: la relazione inedita di Girolamo da Montesarchio'', noted in John Kelly Thornton, 1998. ''Africa and Africans in the making of the Atlantic world, 1400-1800'' p 79 note 22.] in 1650 for the territory along the
Kwilu River
The Kwilu River ( Portuguese: ''Rio Cuílo''; French: ''Rivière Kwilu''; Dutch: ''Kwilu Rivier'') is a major river in both Lunda Norte Province and Lunda Sul Province in Angola as well as Kwilu Province, formerly known as Bandundu province, ...
near
Matadi
Matadi is the chief sea port of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the capital of the Kongo Central province, adjacent to the border with Angola. It had a population of 245,862 (2004). Matadi is situated on the left bank of the Congo River, ...
in the modern-day
Democratic Republic of Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...
.
Jean Cuvelier determined this spelling, which means, in Kikongo, "the country of Kwilu". According to Montesarchio, it was in Nsi Kwilu that the first
kings of Kongo reigned before they became the rulers of a great kingdom that controlled the northern part of modern-day
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...
in the fifteenth century. It was an old religious centre, with rock engravings dating back to the 6th century.
References
Geography of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
Regions of Africa
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