Dutch traders began trading with Loango-Angola in the early 17th century, driven south by increasing competition on the
Gold Coast. African traders were generally welcoming of the Dutch, who provided goods the Portuguese were not able to provide. Among other things, the Dutch traded
redwood in
Mayumba, and
ivory and
copper in
Loango. Initially, the Dutch maintained the port city of
Mpinda at the mouth of the
Congo River as the southernmost border of their operations.
Early attempts (1624) As part of the
Groot Desseyn ('Grand Design') plan, the Dutch West India Company (WIC), which had been founded in 1621, tried to capture Luanda after they had
captured Salvador da Bahia, the capital of Brazil. Under the leadership of
Piet Hein, a Dutch fleet tried to capture Luanda in 1624, but failed, because
Filips van Zuylen had tried to capture the city a few months earlier as well, leading the Portuguese to build reinforcements. After Piet Hein
captured the Spanish treasure fleet in 1628, the WIC once again tried to set the
Groot Desseyn plan in motion. With plenty of resources to pay for their military expenditure, the Dutch successfully
captured Recife and
Olinda, the core region of Brazilian sugar cane plantations, in early 1630.
Capture of Luanda (1641) In 1641, a Dutch fleet under the command of
Cornelis Jol, seized Luanda from the Portuguese. On 25 August 1641, the Dutch landed 2,145 troops near Luanda under the command of Jol. Upon the Dutch arrival, 800 Portuguese, some soldiers and some civilians, fled and regrouped at Kilunda. On 19 September, the Dutch drove them from that position and forced them to fall back to the Portuguese plantations along the
Bengo River. The Dutch then fortified their positions along the river. Dutch forces took control of
Luanda and signed a treaty with Queen
Nzinga of the
Ndongo Kingdom. Nzinga unsuccessfully attacked the Portuguese at
Fort Massangano. She recruited new fighters and prepared to engage the Portuguese in battle again, but
Salvador Correia de Sá led Portuguese forces from
Brazil in expelling the Dutch and reasserting control in Angola. Nzinga's forces retreated to
Matamba again.
Dutch rule of emissary Dom Miguel de Castro, cousin of the Count of Sonho, whilst in the
Dutch Republic in 1643. The Dutch ruled Angola from 26 August 1641 to 21/24 August 1648, occupying the coastal areas (under a
WIC governor of Angola. This attack was the culmination of a plan first proposed by Kongo's King
Pedro II in 1622. After the Dutch fleet under Admiral Cornelis Jol
took Luanda, the Portuguese withdrew to the Bengo River, but following the renewal of the Kongo-Dutch alliance, Bengo was attacked and subsequently Portuguese forces withdrew to Massangano. In 1643, the Count of Sonho sent a mission to the
Dutch Republic, headed by his cousin Dom Miguel de Castro. The mission travelled via
Dutch Brazil, where they were received by
John Maurice of Nassau, and arrived in
Vlissingen on 19 June 1643. De Castro sailed by yacht to
The Hague on 2 July 1643, where he had an audience with
Stadtholder Frederick Henry. The Dutch were not interested in conquering Angola, much to the chagrin of the African Monarchs
Garcia II and Njinga, who had both pressed them to assist in driving the Portuguese from the colony. However, Dutch authorities came to realise that they could not monopolise the slave trade from Angola just by holding Luanda and a few nearby places, and moreover, the Portuguese sent several relief expeditions to Massangano from Brazil. Consequently, in 1647, they agreed to reinforce Njinga's army following her defeat by Portuguese forces in 1646. At the
Battle of Kombi, Dutch and Njinga's armies crushed a Portuguese army, and in its aftermath laid siege to
Ambaca,
Massangano, and
Muxima. In 1648, Luanda was
recaptured by the Portuguese. == Administration ==