According to oral tradition, the Kingdomkingdom of [[Bissau]] was founded by the son of the king of Quinara (Guinala), who moved to the arearegion with his pregnant sister, his six wives, and the subjects of his father's kingdom.<ref>{{Cite thesis |last=Nanque |first=Neemias Antonio |title=Revoltas e resistências dos Papéis da Guiné-Bissau contra o Colonialismo Português – 1886–1915 |date=2016 |type=Trabalho de conclusão de curso |publisher=Universidade da Integração Internacional da Lusofonia Afro-Brasileira |url=https://repositorio.unilab.edu.br/jspui/bitstream/123456789/778/3/2016_mono_nnanque.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920143123/https://repositorio.unilab.edu.br/jspui/bitstream/123456789/778/3/2016_mono_nnanque.pdf |archive-date=2022-09-20 |access-date=24 November 2022}}</ref> Relations between the kingdom and the Portuguese were initially warm, but deteriorated over time.{{sfn|Lobban|Mendy|2013|pp=55}}
The kingdom strongly defended its sovereignty against the Portuguese "pacification campaigns," defeating them in 1891, 1894, and 1904. In 1915, theThe Portuguese, under the command ofcommanded officerby [[João Teixeira Pinto|Teixeira Pinto]] and warlord [[Abdul Injai]], fully absorbed theBissau kingdomin 1915.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bowman |first1=Joye L. |date=22 January 2009 |title=Abdul Njai: Ally and Enemy of the Portuguese in Guinea-Bissau, 1895–1919 |journal= The Journal of African History|volume=27 |issue=3 |pages=463–479 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700023276 |s2cid=162344466}}</ref>
