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Pedro V was king of Kongo from 7 August 1859 to February 1891. His base was in the district of Madimba, which lay south of the capital and was in the lands held by the ancient southern branch of the Kinlaza lineage called Kivuzi.
Pedro V was at least the sixth king Pedro to rule Kongo, but from the very beginning of his reign, he signed his correspondence as Pedro V, thus ignoring the Pedro V who had ruled from 1763 to 1764 before being expelled by Alvaro XI. Scholars are unsure as to why he persisted in this error. Other kings, such as Alvaro XIII, were better conscious of the names of earlier kings named Alvaro over a longer period of time, and the kinglist was well known; a copy of one had been in the capital São Salvador since at least 1844. One theory is that he took the name Pedro V in honor of the ruling Portuguese king, who was Pedro V.
Although Pedro had been placed in power by the Portuguese and had accepted vassalage and they in turn had left a garrison in São Salvador, in 1870 the Portuguese decided to withdraw from São Salvador, leaving Pedro in full command. Pedro had already proven to be a problematic vassal, for in the 1860s he had supported rulers in the Dembo area (along the Angolan border) who opposed Portugal.
He was succeeded by his son Alvaro XIV Água Rosada. | 
