Context: The Portuguese explorer Diogo Cão reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484. Commercial relationships quickly grew between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded various commodities, manufactured goods, and people captured from the hinterlands. After centuries as a major hub for transatlantic trade, direct European colonization of the Congo river delta began in the late 19th century, subsequently eroding the power of the Bantu societies in the region.

Question: Whose expedition arrived at the mouth of the Congo River in 1484?
Answer: Diogo Cão

Question: What was Diogo Cao's nationality?
Answer: Portuguese

Question: What did European traders exchange with Bantu people?
Answer: commodities, manufactured goods, and people

Question: When did formal colonization of the Congo River delta begin?
Answer: late 19th century

Question: Colonization reduced the power of what groups in the Congo River basin?
Answer: Bantu societies

Question: What Bantu explorer reached the mouth of the Congo in 1484?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: What is an example of something that was not traded between the Bantu and European merchants?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: What was responsible for the power of Bantu societies growing in the late 19th century?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: What area did the Bantu colonize in the late 19th century?
Answer: Unanswerable

Question: Colonization increased the power of what group in the Congo River basin?
Answer: Unanswerable