At the Battle of Mbwila (or Battle of Ambuila) on October 29, 1665, Portuguese forces defeated the forces of the Kingdom of Kongo and decapitated king Antonio I of Kongo , also called Vita Nkanga, ending native rule of that kingdom. Portugal and the Kongo had been trading partners for almost two centuries; however, the Kongo was attempting to control the slave trade, which was disrupting its society. The rulers of the Kongo had quickly adopted Christianity and even took Portuguese names, but the Portugese were more concerned with the commercial success of their relationship. The Portugese and their allies grouped at their city of Luanda. Under Luis Lopes de Sequeira , a soldier of mixed Portuguese and African parentage, the Portugese forces were centered around a group of 450 musketeers and two light artillery pieces. The Kongo army included a large number of irregular peasant forces and archers as well as a musket regiment of 380 men, 29 of them Portugese led by Pedro Dias de Cabral , who was also of mixed Portugese-African heritage. Antonio carried the state archives and treasury with him to prevent a rival seizing them from the capital in his absence.

After the battle, the head of the king or Manikongo was buried with ceremony by the Portugese in a chapel situated on the Bay of Luanda , and the crown and scepter of Kongo were sent to Lisbon as trophies. After the death of the king, his lieutenants, and his African Capuchin chaplain in the battle, the country disintegrated into civil wars and minor kingdoms.