Origins
The origins of the kingdom remains vague and obscure. It seems to overlap with that of Bakongo and Téké. From oral tradition the Vili migrated from the Nguunu Kingdom to the coast, during the 1300s. For most of the 1400s, Loango was a tribute paying state to Kongo.
Organization
The Loango Kingdom was rule by the semi-devine maloango. Over-time, with the decline of the Kongo kingdom, the maloango assumed more authority. The kingdom was divided into 4 provinces. The maloango came from someone who assumed the governorship of one of the provinces. Local office positions were assigned by the maloango. They were typically royal family members. Office holders were typically appointed for life. They made decisions on legal disputes, collected taxes, and formed the army during time of war.
The population lived in villages of 100 people. They farmed sorghum, cassava, and maize(corn). They fished and hunted.
Commerce
The kingdom had extensive trade routes along the coast and the interior. All routes converged to Loango Bay at the capital of Buali, with a population of 15,000. The Kingdom traded with surrounding peoples, the Mpongwe to the north and the Bakongo to the south. They traded ivory, copper, and dyewood. Vilis on the coast produced salt. They traded mainly ivory and slaves with Europeans( Portuguese and Dutch), for salt and manufactured goods. Slave trading took off in the 1630s with the Dutch.
Works Cited
Appiah, Kwame Anthony and Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.(1999). Africana: the Encyclopedia of African and African American Experience. Basic Civitas Books, p. 1187. ISBN 0-465-00071-1
