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1 Manillas from the Kingdom of Congo

The first Europeans (Portuguese, Diogo Cão) came to the Kingdom of Congo in 1483. The Congolese King Nzinga Nkuwu and six notables were baptised in 1491. Nzinga Nkuwu adopted the Christian name João (I). King João I (died in 1506) and was followed by Affonso I. King João I could only offer the Portuguese ivory and raphia fabrics. The copper from the Kingdom’s centre was not of a high enough quality to be successfully traded with Europeans. Dom Affonso I was the Nsundi ruler from about 1485 until João's death in 1506. As the successor to João I, he retained access to this region’s copper mines (Mindouli-Boko Songo, see Map 1), so that between 1506 and 1511 he could also export 5,200 copper bracelets (manillas) to King Manuel I of Portugal (Hilton 1985:50–55, Brásio 1952, vol.I: 294–323). Early references to manilla occurrence and use in the Kingdom of Congo can be found in the “Monumenta Missionaria Africana” published by Brásio, especially in volume I “Africa ocidental (1471–1531)”, in which the Portuguese missionaries’ correspondence is documented.

Herbert (1984:140–143), Hilton (1985:54–55), and Dupré & Pinçon (1997:50) probably wrote about this situation with reference to Brásio, but usually only using the term copper rings. In the Portuguese texts published by Brásio in 1952, however, manjlhas are clearly mentioned.

For this the following text excerpts:

1) Brásio, António (1952, vol. I) Only the passages mentioning manillas are listed here:

– p. 294, document 83: “Carta do Rei do Congo, a. d. Manuel I (05-10-1514)” – “Letter of the King of Congo to King Manuel I of Portugal from 05/10/1514”

– p. 295: Nós emtã os mãdamos e lhe demospera elles ambos e pera Gonçalo Royz myll e quynhentos manylhas e çento e cynquoenta espriuos. – We sent them now and gave him [meaning the Fernando de Mello]⁷ for both [the Portuguese King?] and Gonçalo Roiz 1,500 manillas and 150 slaves.8

– p. 297: […] e os mãdámos eo dito navyo de Fernã de Mello e mãdámos ao dito Fernã de Mello pera Nos compar o dito socoro, que avyamos mester, oytoçentas manjlhas e cyncoent espriuos pera elle e pera sua molher e çyncoemta manjlhas pera o seo fylho trynta e pera o captitam e espriuam vynte, […] – […] and we sent them in the ship of Fernão de Mello and we instructed the Fernão de Mello said to buy us the help that we had to have, 800 manillas and 50 slaves for him and for his wife and 50 manillas for his son, 30 for the captain and 20 slaves, […]

– p. 301: […] e mãdáuamos hũa carta a suallteza e outra pera Rainha dona Lyanor, pollos quaes nosos parentes mãdáuamos (a) elle sete centos manjlhas e muytos espriuos e papaga yos […] – […] and we sent one Letter to His Highness and another to Queen Eleanor, whereby our relatives gave him 700 manillas and many slaves and parrots […]

– p. 303: […] e mãdamos ao dito Fernã de Mello mjll manjlhas e certos espriuos e de nós ao ditto estruam Jusarte vinte espriuos e trezentas manjlhas, por que nos dizia que era sobrynho suallteza […] por que elle nos dizia que se mãdasemos a suallteza manjlhas ou espriuos, suvallteza que averya memoorja […]. Em tam mãdamos cõ elle a Joam Fernandez con quatro certs (centas) manjlhas pera Vós e vynte espriuos pera em Portugal nos coprar allguũ vistydo, por amdarmos vistido como seluaje. O quall Fernã de Mello, tãto que ho navio cheguou à Jlha lhe tomou ametade das manjlhas e nouem espriuos e Nos ficaram honze e das manjlhas mãdou as por escrauros e mãdou que desem trynta manijlhas porc ada espriuo." – […] and sent to the said Fernão de Mello 1,000 manillas and some slaves and to us said Estevão Jusarte 20 slaves and 300 manillas, for he had told us that he was the nephew of His Highness. […] for he said that if we sent to His Highness manillas or slaves, then His Highness would remember. […] So we sent João Fernandez through him 400 manillas for you and 20 slaves to buy clothes for us in Portugal, so that we were not dressed like savages. That Fernão de Mello, as soon as the boat reached the island of São Tomé, took from him half of the manillas and 9 slaves, and left us eleven slaves, and he caused them to give thirty manillas for each slave.

– p. 305: […] e mãdamos ao dito Fernão de Mello duzemtas manjlhas e sençenta espriuos […] – […] and sent to the Fernão de Mello 200 manillas mentioned and also 600 slaves […].[…] e mãdamos duzentas manjlhas pera Vos e çertos espriuos e pera o dito Pedro Afomso leuar a Portugall e Nos cõprar lá alguũ vistido. – […] we sent 200 manillas for you and some slaves for the mentioned Pedro Afomso, so that he took her to Portugal and bought us clothes there.

O quall navio tanto que à ylha cheguou, Fernã de Mello Nos tomou amatade das manjlhas e espriuos […] – As soon as the ship reached the island (São Tomé) Fernão de Mello took half of the manillas and slaves from […]

- p. 521, Document 153: “Carta de D. João III ao Rei do Congo (Fins de 1529)” – “Letter from D. João III to the King of the Congo Empire (late 1529)”

– p. 526f: […] se uos bem pareçer seja asy, porem a my(m) nam me pareçe hommrra vosa ne de voso Reyno, por quem ais de louuar lhe hé tirarese cadanno de Comgo x escrauos e dez mjill manjlhas e outros tamtos demtes de marfym, que dizer se (que) já e Comgo nã há resguate nhuũ, ne vay somete hũu navyo cadanno; asy cõ ysto e o all seja como vós quiserdes. – […] if it seems so to them, then it should be, but it does not seem to me the honour of your king, because more than praiseworthy 10,000 slaves and 10,000 manillas and just as much ivory (teeth) were withdrawn from the Congo each year. To say that there is no salvation in the Congo, not even a ship goes every year, so that's how you want it.

A translation of the original Portuguese text into English can be found at Newitt (2010:152–153):

However, it does not seem to be to the honour of you or your kingdom because it would be more praiseworthy to draw each year from the Congo 10,000 slaves and 10,000 manillas and as many tusks of ivory […].

Randles (1968:178) summarises these notes of Brásio as follows:

Dès 1514, 2300 manilles de cuivre sont exportées de l’embouchure du Congo. Ce cuivre provient des fameuses mines de Bembe qui deviendront, dès le début du XVIIe siècle, l’objet de la convoitise des Portugais de Luanda. – Since 1514, 2,300 copper manillas have been exported through the mouth of the Congo. This copper came from the famous copper mines of Bembe, which since the beginning of the XVII. Century were the desire of the Portuguese in Luanda.

2) Herbert, Eugenia W. (1984:140):

In 1506 the King of Congo, Don Afonso, sent 500 manillas of copper to King Manuel I of Portugal […]. […] Manuel I quickly recognised the wealth […]. In 1516 he sent an emissary to learn more about such local trade goods as copper, ivory and slaves […]. By the next decade relatively large quantities [of copper manillas] were being shipped north to the Guinea coast, probably to Benin in particular, which clung to its preference for copper manillas. The linchpin in this regional trading system was the island of São Tomé9.

Fernando de Mello, the São Tomé way station governor, played a less than trustworthy role in this trade, as can be seen in the previous quotes.

Further information about copper manillas from the Kingdom of Congo are added here by Herbert from Brásios’ “Monumenta Missionaria Africana”. (see also page 12).

3) Hilton, Anne (1985:54):

The copper from within the nuclear kingdom [of Congo ] was poor and in the mid-seventeenth century, it was unacceptable on the European market. The Mindouli-Boko Songo (see Map 1) copper however, was of excellent quality, dominating the interregional copper trade of that century. All the early sixteenth-century copper was exported in the form of manilla armrings and this was the characteristic form of the Mindouli-Boko Songo¹⁰ exports.

4) Cuvelier’s sources were:

a. Paiva Manso, Leon Maria Jordan, Visconde de: Historia do Congo: obra postuma. Documentos. Lisboa 1877

b. Historia do Reino do Congo. Manuscrit No 8080, F. G. de la Bibliothèque Nationale du Lisbonne

c. Cavazzi, Giovanni Antonio: Istoria Descrittione de’ tre Regni Congo, Matamba et Angola. Milano 1690

Cuvelier, Joseph (1946):

– p. 108: […] en l’année 1506 […] Dom Affonso (Mbemba Nzinga) fit des présents aux missionnaires et au capitaine du bateau, remit aux partants une lettre adressée au roi Emmanuel de Portugal […]

[et] leur confia pour le roi cinq cents manilles en cuivre […]. – […] in the year 1506 Dom Affonso (Mbemba Nzinga) made presents to the missionaries and to the captain of the boat, handed to the participants a letter addressed to King Emmanuel of Portugal […] [and] entrusted them for the king with five hundred copper manillas […].

– p. 111: D. Affonso expédia à Fernand de Mello¹¹ pour le secours demandé, huit cents manilles et cinquante esclaves, cinquante manilles pour sa femme, trente pour son fils, vingt pour le commandant et le comptable du bateau. – D. Affonso sent to Fernand de Mello for the requested assistance, eight hundred manillas and fifty slaves, fifty for his wife, thirty for his son, twenty for the commander and the ship's accountant.

– p. 112: Toute une année se passe. Aucun message de Fernand de Mello. Pas de bombardes, pas de mousquets, dont le prix d’achat avait été payé d’avance en manilles et en esclaves. – A whole year has passed. No message from Fernand de Mello. No cannons, no muskets, of which the purchase price had been prepaid in manillas and slaves.

– p.126: Vers l’année 1511, vint au fleuve un certain Etienne da Rocha. Il se rendit à Mbanza Congo, où il fit accroire au roi Affonso qu’il était camérier du roi de Portugal […]. Etienne da Rocha reçut une lettre pour le roi de Portugal. Sept cents manilles devaient être chargés sur son bateau, beaucoup d’esclaves, des perroquets, des bêtes sauvages, des civettes. – Towards the year 1511, a certain Etienne da Rocha came to the river. He went to Mbanza Congo, where he made King Affonso believe that he was a chamberlain of the King of Portugal […]. Etienne da Rocha received a letter for the King of Portugal. Seven hundred manillas were to be loaded on his boat, many slaves, parrots, wild beasts, civets.

Curvelier (1946:127) stated that this chamberlain was an impostor whose only intent was to steal goods. Identical text at Brásio 1952 Vol. I: 301–302.

5) Dupré & Pinçon (1997:50) have compiled from literature a series of documents confirming a delivery of Congolese manillas to the Portuguese Royal House.

– p. 50: Au début du XVIe siècle, parmi les présents envoyés par le roi de Kongo, Dom Affonso, au roi du Portugal, « 700 manilles de cuivre doivent être chargées sur son bateau. » – At the beginning of the sixteenth century, among the presents sent by the King of Congo, Dom Affonso, to the King of Portugal, « 700 copper manillas must be loaded on his boat. » (Quoted after Cuvelier 1946:126–127 and this in turn after Brásio 1952, Vol. I: 301).

En 1506, 500 manilles de cuivre et 50 esclaves sont expédiés [de Roy Dom Affonso au Roy Manuel I de Portugal] 12 en Europe. – In 1506, 500 copper manillas and 50 slaves were shipped [from Roy Dom Affonso to Roy Manuel I of Portugal] in Europe.

La même année, 800 manilles et 50 esclaves sont envoyés à Fernand de Mello, gouverneur de l’île de São Tomé, pour obtenir bombardes et mousquets. (Quote after Cuvelier, 1946) – The same year, 800 manillas and 50 slaves were sent to Fernand de Mello, governor of the island of São Tomé, to obtain bombards and muskets.

En 1511, 700 manilles sont expédiées au roi du Portugal. – In 1511, 700 manillas are sent to the King of Portugal.

Un total de 5200 manilles sont exportées entre 1506 et 1511. – A total of 5, 200 manillas were exported between 1506 and 1511.

En 1514 [1518 nach Herbert 1984:140], un navire emporte 2300 manilles depuis l’embouchure du Zaire. – In 1514, a ship carries 2,300 manillas from the mouth of Zaire.

En 1529, ce sont 10000 manilles qui partent vers l’Europe. – In 1529, there are 10,000 manillas that go to Europe.

6) One hundred years later, the Kingdom of Congo was still exporting copper manillas. According to Pieter van den Broecke, 1605–1614 (1950:70):

Doen ick in Loango voor de eerste mael aen landt quam […] noch valt hier menichte schoon roo cooper, dan het selfde compt mestal uydt het connuckrijck van den Insiques¹³ (daer die van Loango tegen orlooghen) in groote cooper armringhen van 11/2 tot 14 lb. swaer, steels wijsse uydt het landt woordt gebracht. – [In my time 1605–1614] when I landed in Loango¹⁴ for the first time […] there was a lot of clean red copper, it comes mostly from the kingdom of the Insiques (against which those of Loango are at war) in big copper 11/2 to 14 pound¹⁵ bangles, which are secretly brought out of the country16.

Knight, F. C. (2009:30) has also quoted parts of this text passage, pointing out the “rings” produced by women and men on a work-sharing basis:

The rings were a final product of a multistage process, in which men mined the rich copper ore deposits at sites such as Bembe, which was about 70 miles south of Mbanza Congo [São Salvador, see Map 2]. Women and young people washed and sorted the ore, and men smelted and crafted the copper into its ultimate form.

A source review showed, however, that this is a generalised statement regarding various copper mining areas in this region and does not represent a typical local feature of “Congomanilla” production. In my opinion, the metal rings mentioned by van den Broecke are probably not manillas either, but very heavy copper jewellery rings.

7) Samuel Brun (1624/1946) has very similar information. On his first journey in 1611, he arrived at Loango and from there reported the following:

Das Kupfer kompt weit auß dem Land, welches sie finden ohne mühe: allein verschmeltzen sie es, und machen ring darauß, etwa von 1. 2. 3. oder 4. pfunden schwär, handlen darfür Eysen und Wollenthuch, blaw, rot, gelb, grün, gläsen-Corallen, welche sie gar wol bezahlen. (Brun 1624, as facsimile edition Basel 1946:17) – The copper comes from far outside the country. They easily find it, melt it and make rings of about 1, 2, 3, or 4 pounds of weight out of it. For these they trade iron and woollen cloth. They pay well for blue, red, yellow and green glass beads.

It is unclear again whether manillas or rather weighty jewellery rings were referred to here.

8) The Portuguese man Oliveira Cadornega had lived in Luanda since 1669, during this time he was employed in various military and legal positions. In his multi-volume work “História geral das guerras Angolanas” he also counted “bacias, manilhas, pandeiros e casoaveis” in rich people’s possession (A. de Oliveira de Cadornega 1681 Bd. 3:275). Since bacias (brass bowls) are mentioned beside manilhas (manillas), they were most likely European and not Congolese products (see also Randles 1968:173–174).

9) Vansina (1962:380) writes with reference to Battell (after 1589):

Copper from Loango and Pinda was exported to Luanda and turned into manillas which were exported to Benin, Calabar, and the Rio del Rey17, where blue cloth would be bought to be sold again in Loango and Pinda.

However, it was not possible for me to find this quotation at Battell at the given or any other place.

10) Dapper (1668:571; 1670:553; Ogilby 1670:532) also later pointed out again that Songo copper was of better quality than that of Pembo and was exported by the Portuguese in the form of bracelets (manillas?) to the Rio Real and Rio del Rey and other places:

DS18 571: In Songo valt koper, dat vee beter is, als dat von Pembo; hoewl daer ook slecht kope valt, daer in Lovando de graeuwe armringen gemeenlijk af gemarkt worden, die de Portugesen na Kalbarien [Rio Real = New Calabar River], Rio de Ry [Rio del Rey], en andere ontrentgelegen plaetsen vervoeren. (Maps 12, 13, 14, 17a, 17b, 18, 19)

GS 553: In Songo fället Kupfer, dass viel besser ist, als das Pembische: wiewohl alhier auch schlechtes Kupfer zu finden; darvon in Lovando gemeiniglich die grauen Armringe gemacht werden, welche die Portugallier nach Kalbarien, Rio de Ry [Rio del Rey], und in andere ümliegende örter führen.

OS¹⁹ 532: The like Mines are found in Songo, yielding better Copper than that of Pembo; whereof in Lovando the Purple Armlets are commonly made, which the Portuguese carry to Calabare, Rio de Rey, and other places.

In summary, the following situation arises: From correspondence between Portuguese kings and the Portuguese missionaries in the Kingdom of Congo and the Congolese king, it is clear that Congolese-produced copper manillas were shipped in considerable quantities from the Mindouli-Boko Songo copper region to the Guinea coast and on to Portugal. Whether these manillas were genuine Congolese objects or were only produced according Portuguese patterns must remain open at present.

However, manilla exportation from the Kingdom of Congo to Portugal and elsewhere has yielded no proof that manillas were a Congolese invention nor that they were made there. This is because in Antwerp during the years in question, copper and brass manillas from German/Flemish production were already sold in very high quantities to the Portuguese.

11) Alpern (1995:13) represents the following view:

Until the late seventeenth century, not all manillas came from Europe: some were made in the Congo/Angola border area.

Bisson (2000:114) goes one step further by assuming that the discovery of copper and lead mines in Nigeria increases the possibility that European brass, bronze and even iron manillas are ultimately replicas of indigenous copper ring currency that were already used in the coastal trading zone at this time.

The recent discovery of copper and lead mines in Nigeria increases the possibility that European brass, bronze, and even iron manillas were ultimately copies of indigenous copper ring special purpose currencies already in use in the coastal trade area.

However, it cannot be excluded that even before the arrival of the Europeans, copper in the form of rings (?) was traded from the copper mines of the Congo to the Kingdom of Benin. Here is a quotation by Marquart (1913: XLVIII–XLIX):

Wenn dagegen die schon von Pacheco (1505) als Tausch- bzw. Einfuhrartikel erwähnten Messing- oder Kupferringe (manillas) das Material zur Bronzebereitung lieferten, so wird es auf der anderen Seite wahrscheinlich, daß (sic) die Bini den Bronzeguss bereits vor der Ankunft der Portugiesen gekannt haben. Sicherlich haben diese die Leute von Benin nicht erst mit den so hoch geschätzten manillas bekannt gemacht, sie werden sich vielmehr einfach dem Geschmacke und den Bedürfnissen der Eingeborenen angepasst haben. Aller Wahrscheinlichkeit sind also Kupfer- und Messingringe schon vor dem Auftreten der Portugiesen in Benin eingeführt worden, nicht nur von der Seeseite, sondern vom Binnenlande her. – If, on the other hand, the brass or copper rings (manillas) already mentioned by Pacheco (1505) as exchange or import items supplied the material for bronze preparation, it becomes probable on the other hand that the Bini already knew the bronze casting before the arrival of the Portuguese. Surely, they didn’t first introduce to the people of Benin the highly esteemed manillas, they will have simply adapted to the tastes and needs of the natives. In all probability, copper and brass rings were introduced to Benin before the Portuguese appeared, not only from the ocean, but also from inland.

Although this train of thought cannot be proven to this day, it is very close.

The Portuguese trading station on the Island of São Tomé (Map 3) was a stopover point for trading goods, under the direction of the Portuguese Governor Fernão de Mello, who had taken office in 1500. He had received a contract from the Portuguese King Manuel, which granted him great autonomy (Ryder 1969:42). As a result, he kept part of the manillas for his own purposes, part of them will have been delivered to the royal house of Portugal as planned, and another part will have been delivered to the Portuguese territories on the Guinea coast. Fernão de Mello also purchased manillas directly from Portugal to supply the Guinea coastal trading stations.

In terms of weight, Congolese copper manillas were formed relatively heavy ingots for the purchase of clothing, slaves, etc. They were too heavy for bracelets; no way of wearing them as jewellery is reported. Their period of use ranges from about 1500 to about 1625. However, it is obvious that before 1500 interregional trade using manillas was already taking place. What the local population called manillas is still unknown. It is also unclear why Portuguese missionaries and traders chose the term manilla.

The manillas did not only come from Europe to Africa, but also from Africa to Europe. The question of their exact form remains unanswered. They were rings, but whether standardised or arbitrary, must go unanswered.

12) In the ethnological collection of the Musée de l’Homme (now in the collection of the Musée du Quai Branly) there are two copper manillas (No. 71.1951.73.338.1 and No. 71.1951.73.388.4), which were left to the museum by Charles Henri Olivier Pobéguin in 1951 (Figs. 3, 4). After 1886 he worked with de Brazza in French Congo (People’s Republic of Congo). The origin of these manillas are indicated as Mindouli and the pool region (Stanley Pool, today Malebo Pool) (Map 1). These may well be indigenous Congomanillas. Their weight is given as 263 g and 153 g respectively. In shape they resemble the Portuguese tacoais manillas, however, the ends are not thicker than the arch. If one considers that these two manillas were acquired 400 years after the first written reference to Congo manillas, then a certain change in shape and weight must be taken into account. However, the two manillas are the only material evidence of “manillas from the Congo” so far.

⁷ The Governor of São Tomé (Map 3) appointed by the Portuguese King; see also pages 15 and 19 here.

⁸ Newitt (2010:119, n.7) commented on this sentence with the following note: “Brass or copper rings or anklets, which were a form of trade currency in western Africa and were one of the major exports of the Congo Kingdom.”

⁹ Foreign language texts were, unless otherwise stated, translated by the author.

¹⁰ Songo, in the Sundi language nsongo = copper (Herbert 1988:19).

¹¹ Fernão de Mello, Portuguese governor on the island of São Tomé.

¹² The text supplements in square brackets have been taken from other publications by the author and are inserted for better understanding.

¹³ People from the interior. Here it could be the Teke.

¹⁴ Loango: Coast of western central Africa northwest of the Zaire (Congo) estuary.

¹⁵ If English lb (pounds) are meant, then it is 0.8 kg to 6.34kg.

¹⁶ I thank Mr Jan van Loo for the translation from the old Dutch.

¹⁷ River in Cameroon (Maps 17b, 18, 19).

¹⁸ DS – Dutch edition 1668. GS – German edition 1670.

¹⁹ OS – Ogilby 1670: This book is mainly a translation of Dapper’s text from 1668.