THE LAST EMBASSY OF AN AFRICAN MONARCH IN BRAZIL: MANOEL ALVES LIMA, AN AMBASSADOR OF THE KINGDOM OF ONIM AT THE COURT OF D. PEDRO I

Abstract

This article focuses on the third embassy of the Kingdom of Onim in Brazil (c. 1822/25). Sent by king Ajan, and headed by Lieutenant Colonel Manoel Alves Lima, this embassy was the last diplomatic mission to an African monarch on Brazilian soil. It was also the only African embassies sent in Nineteenth who obtained permission to complete its purpose, following to Rio de Janeiro to meet the emperor D. Pedro First, who Manoel Alves Lima presented the recognition of the independence of the Empire in the name of Ajan and other sovereigns of Black Continent. So, from an unprecedented diplomatic documentation, this article seeks thus to reconstruct the history of this embassy in Brazil, and through this understanding the context of African-Brazilian historical relations.