Introduction of Diego Cao true story.

First, it is important to highlight that in Congo everyone knows the name of Diego Cao, even small kids.

All books tell the story of this young sailor who discovered the mouth of the Congo River.
Yes, maybe he discovered the mouth of the congo river for Europeans but not for Africans because he found our African ancestors already living there.

The true story of Diego Cao is slightly different from what was being taught in schools.
Few Congolese or africans knows the true story that we will be talking about in a moment?

Duty of memory obliges, in this story, we will tell as simply as possible the story of Diego Cao.
From his travels while going back to the origins of the black slave trade in africa and Kongo.

Historical reminder :

In our article “These Congolese ethnic and tribal wars that make the Happiness of others (Case of the Hema and Lendu)” that we invite you to rediscover.

You will notice that the people lived in harmony until the arrival of the Belgian colonist in 1880.
However, it should be noted that if the Belgian colonists arrived in 1880 in the Congo.
The first contact with Europeans took place 400 years earlier around 1482 with the Portuguese Diego Cao.

Here are small historical facts about Diego Cao from the African perspective.

The kidnapping orchestrated by Diego Cao

It is important to point out that when Diego Cao arrived in Kongo.
He quickly captured a few hostages and quickly left for Portugal.
It was therefore a small kidnapping quickly orchestrated.

The reconverted African brothers

Three years later in 1485, he returned to Africa with his hostages.
The difference is that this time, they didn’t come back with him as slaves this time.
They travel with him as ambassadors to establish a connection with the Kongo kingdom and facilitate cooperation.

The liaison mission was a huge success because this time he did not need to take hostages.
Many locals including Kongo nobles agreed to leave voluntarily the Kongo Kingdom for Europe.

The sealed alliance of the Kongo Kingdom and Diego Cao

On Diego Cao’s third trip in 1487, Kongo King Nzinga Nkuvu himself sent the Kongo spiritual leader including high-ranking notables of the kingdom to Portugal.

In 1491 Ruy de Souza led the first Portuguese diplomatic mission.
In less than 10 years the marriage between the Kongo people and Portugal was sealed.

King Kongo Nzinga Nkuvu Kongo even agrees to be baptized in the name of Joao 1st before making a back-pedal to his traditional name following the pressure of his Kongo brothers.

The fact that his successor, his son, bears the name of Afonso is revealing.
The Kongo subjects no longer traveled to portugal as free men but as slaves.

The great period of black slave trading in Kongo

More than 5,000 slaves a year took the ships .
This figure rose to 15,000 slaves a year around the 1600s.

“Almost 100 years after Diego Cao’s first arrival, Africans had become tradable goods.”

It is important to note that, it was the Portuguese who first launched a new black slave trade business in 1442.
The first slave trader brought 263 Africans from the Gulf of Guinea.

The young Diego Cao was only a child during this event, but we can assume that in 1482 he was quite tall and knew what he was looking for when he discovered “the mouth of the Kongo River”.

Young Diego joined the navy at 14. He became a captain at 30, and landed at the Kongo when he was about 32 years old.

Remember his attitude during his first travel.
He kidnapped a few Africans to bring them back to Portugal. Certainly as a sample of his discovery or proof of merchandising material.

The Kongo slaves were highly quoted on the markets, they were a bit like the latest iPhone or Samsung of that time.

In short, first quality gadgets that European masters needed to have for their business.

For two centuries the Portuguese kept the monopoly of the black slave trade. With globalization, as with all commercial battles, other countries entered the battle to compete with Portugal.

It is exactly this trade that later gave birth to colonization.
Why buying some slaves when you can take an entire country?

Conclusion :

To the attention of all, the question is asked, how should the Congolese people remember this historical figure?

Diego Cao, like the explorer who discovered the mouth of the Congo River when he found the Kongo people already on this land? or Diego Chaos the Portuguese who brought the black slave trade to the gates of the Kongo kingdom.

Do not hesitate to share this question with any Congolese or African around you because we need to rewrite our stories.

Sources: “The Democratic Republic of Congo Between Hope and Despair” by Michael Beibert