1. HOW PRINCESS ZINKABI ATTEMPTED A COUP ON LOBHENGULA....
Umnxeba... 🧵
Princess Zinkabi was King Mzilikazi's daughter. She was married to Mbiko the son of Madlenya Masuku. Mbiko was a powerful warrior who was respected in the northern Ndebele kingdom.
Umnxeba... 🧵
Princess Zinkabi was King Mzilikazi's daughter. She was married to Mbiko the son of Madlenya Masuku. Mbiko was a powerful warrior who was respected in the northern Ndebele kingdom.
2. Mbiko Masuku was a powerful military leader of the feared Zwangendaba regiment . As a reward for his bravery King Mzilikazi had given him his daughter Zinkabi as a wife & thus Mbiko was elevated to royalty.
3. According to the late author Mayford Sibanda, Princess Zinkabi made it clear to her husband ukuthi ubukhosi buyaphangwa njalo buyahluthunwa ngolamandla. Akekho ozalwa eyinkosi! As such her husband had to seize power to become the next Northern Ndebele king.
4. Zinkabi did not believe that Lobhengula as the next in line was the rightful heir to the throne. This was because Lobhengula was born to a Swazi mother (MaTshabalala) & she felt that he was of a lesser class. Lobhengula was loathed for eating zebra meat among other vices.
5. Mbiko & his wife devised a secret plan to influence the leaders that Lobhengula was not the rightful heir and that Nkulumane should be sought from Zululand to replace king Mzilikazi.This was a decoy to give them time to eliminate Lobhengula & pave way for Mbiko to kingship.
6. Zinkabi was already preparinhg herself to be the next Ndebele Queen & King through her husband! However, the two greatly underestimated Lobhengula's political & military acumen or his political advisors.
7. The two thus created confusion in the Ndebele nation’s senior political and military leadership on whether Lobhengula was the rightful heir. Some therefore listened to Mbiko & agreed that a delegation be sent to Zululand to 'find' Nkulumane.
8. Sensing a coup loading commander, Velane, of the Mzinyathi regiment, sent his own people to another Lobhengula supporter, Fakafaka Mabhena, urging him to go & take Lobhengula from his regiment, Mahlokohloko, to Mhlahlandlela Palace to be officially installed as king.
9. This quick move denied Mbiko an opportunity to mobilise his base. Realising that his coup plans had been exposed Mbiko and his loyalists boycotted the Lobhengula coronation ceremony. Being a military man Mbiko knew that trouble was brewing & he mobilised to attack.
10. A few days after his coronation, after an intelligence tip off, Lobhengula strategised to move first & attack Mbiko & his feared Zwangendaba regiment before they eliminated him.
11. To prove his courage, Lobhengula travelled on horseback to the battlefront to motivate his warriors. He then secretly left for Mbiko’s village & found Mbiko sitting near his calves’ kraal, stabbed him with a spear and then set the village on fire whilst riding his horse.
12. Upon learning that her husband had been killed by her half brother, Zinkabi committed suicide. Other Mbiko loyalists followed suit & either drank poison or hanged themselves. The rest fled!
13. The raid on Mbiko’s regiment was vicious & bloody. Many of the Zwangendabas fled in order to save their families & were to never return the Ndebele state. By his heroic bravery Lobhengula established himself as king Mzilikazi's successor.
14. For more drama READ the historical novel 'UMbiko KaMadlenya' by the late Mayford Sibanda.
*ISIPHETHO*
*ISIPHETHO*
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