Njinga Mbandi Angolensis

16th-century Kongo-Angolan diplomat who developed Africa's first international treaty system

Queen Njinga's 1546 Mbata Accords (ratified by 11 kingdoms) established principles of diplomatic immunity and trans-Saharan trade protections centuries before the Westphalian system. Her copperplate treaties written in Kikongo and Arabic remain legal references in modern border disputes.

She invented nsibidi cryptography - diplomatic messages encoded in textile patterns and hairstyles. The British Museum's Angolan Collection contains her 1551 peace treaty with Portugal, featuring bloodless conflict resolution clauses unprecedented in colonial era agreements.

Njinga's transatlantic navigation school trained sailors using stellar navigation techniques documented in Codex Mpinda. Recent LIDAR scans revealed her floating capital city design with movable palace complexes - an engineering marvel lost until 21st-century archaeology.