Evaluate the reasons for the rise and expansion of the Kingdom of the Kongo to 1600.

The question requires that candidates make an appraisal of the rise of the Kingdom of the Kongo up to 1600, weighing up the reasons for both its rise and its expansion. Candidates may refer to the arrival of Bantu-speaking people who became firmly established in the savannah region near Kongo (in modern-day Angola). Their cultivation of the land and conquest of the San people facilitated the development of a complex social and political system. The geography of this region also contributed to its success. Other factors that may be addressed include the importance of trade in ivory, cloth and pottery, copper smelting, its commercially strategic position and the impact of leaders including Mbokani Mavinga who expanded the kingdom to encompass, among other areas, the neighbouring state of Loango.