Resource: Diogo Cão

Description

Diogo Cão was one of the first Portuguese explorers to explore the West Coast of Africa. He did not succeed in reaching the Southern tip of Africa or making his way to the East towards India, but he contributed to Portuguese knowledge of the African coast.

He also recorded the Congo River and came into contact with Bantu-speaking people of the Kingdom of Kongo, some of whom Cão took back to Portugal and they converted to Christianity. These actions had a lasting impact on the region and became fundamental to the early slave trade.