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The Portuguese heavily influenced the kingdom of Kongo. The reason Portugal had so much influence in the Kongo was because the Kongolese were open to adopting Portuguese culture. When the Portuguese arrived in Kongo King Nzinga Nkuwu and his son (later known was Afonso I) converted to Christianism. Together they helped spread Christianism across their Kingdom as well as accepting many Portuguese missionaries into the Kongo. Many Kongolese adopted Portuguese names. At the request of King Nzinga Nkuwu the portuguese also sent tradesman and military advisors.The Kongo built european style schools and churches across the Kingdom.
The Kongo had influence on Portugal because the Kongo had an important commodities that the Portuguese needed to expand their empire. The slaves that were sold or taken from the Kongo were highly prized comodities. There was a shortage of laborers in the Portuguese empire and slaves were able to fill that shortage. With the forced labour the Portuguese made a lot of money of the backs of their slaves. For example, Brazil heavily depended on slaves to work in sugar plantation which enriched the Portuguese. Although cultural Kongo did not have an influence on Portugal, the slave trade had a huge influence the enrichment of the Portuguese.
The kongo couldn't meet the demand of slaves for the Portuguese so the Portuguese decided to take Kongolese citizens as their slaves. This drastically deterioated the relationship between the two nations. The Kongo's population declined from the portuguese raids. The situation was a so devastating to the Kongolese that King Afonso I, who once welcomed the Portuguese with open arms, sent a letter to Portugal begging for the Portuguese to stop taking his people. After the death of Afonso I the kingdom of Kongo experienced a lot of turmoil with wars and public unrest.
When the Portuguese wanted to establish a route in Africa south of the Muslim controlled regions, they landed in the Kongo. The king of the Kongo welcomed the Portuguese and adopted many aspects of Portuguese culture including Christianism, portuguese names and infrastructure. The relationship between both kingdom was mutually beneficial. The Kongolese sold enslaved prisoners from neighbouring region and then the Portuguese shipped slaves back to the americas or europe. The Kongo and Portugal had a high degree of trade during the Kongolese King Afonso's reign.