1. THE NGUNGUMBANE CHIEFTAINCY OF MBERENGWA EAST 🇿🇼
Umnxeba....📝
Today we look at the Ndebele community of Chief Ngungumbane which was relocated to Mberengwa in the late 1920s. Their migration story is similar to that of the Chief Gwebu community of Buhera we once discussed.
2. The Ngungumbane chieftaincy originates from the Amakhwananzi clan hence their surname is Mkhwananzi. The chieftaincy was established at Entunteni, a village headed by Mhabahaba Mkhwananzi its founding chief. The village was within Umzingwane district.
3. Mhabahaba Mkhwananzi
was succeeded at the time of the Anglo-Ndebele War of 1896 by his son Dliso. Dliso died at a time when Mathalazana, who was his rightful heir, was a minor. As a result Majinkila, Dliso’s son by his wife of the Masuku clan, became regent.
4. Majinkila died in 1922 and
was succeeded by his son Alison Ngungumbane Mkhwananzi, a
former student of Tiger Kloof in South Africa. It is from this son that the Ngungumbane chieftaincy in Mberengwa East got its name.
5. Alison Ngungumbane Mkhwananzi became a chief during the time when whites were taking all the prime agricultural land and establishing mining claims. The chief & his people were forced to abandon their land and move to a proposed area in Mberengwa East, then Belingwe in 1929.
6. However, some of Ngungumbane's people opted to settle in Nkayi, in particular those who were aligned to Mathalazana. The area in Mberengwa East where Ngungumbane established his chieftaincy & homestead is known as Ngungumbane to date.
7. Ingungumbane(Zulu 🇿🇦) /inungu(Ndebele 🇿🇼) is a porcupine in English.
8. During this time of displacements many Ndebele families and clans trekked from Matabeleland to different parts of Mberengwa and settled under Chiefs Mposi, Mataruse and Chingoma.
9. When approaching the chiefs the Ndebele would say 'Sidinga indawo yokuhlala' (We are looking for a place to stay). This earned them the name Amadingindawo or Madinga in short.
10. To date the descendants of amadingindawo are found in areas like Guvaravatonga, Marekeni, Danga, Chasa, Mutaruka/Chegato, Magakava, Pamushana, Langeni, Mudzidzi, Machingwe, Mulungisi, Gwai and Nyala. Intermarriages have happened over the years in these communities.
11. The current Chief Ngungumbane, Mr. Zama Mkhwananzi also sits in the Senate as a representative of the traditional leaders.
The contested coronation of King Lobhengula around 1870 was done in three phases over a period of about three months. This was in line with Nguni customs . The first stage was the welcoming of the new king at his father’s old capital, eMhlahlandlela where his ordination would commence.
2. On his arrival at the eMhlahlandlela town gate, he was welcomed with a black ox and invited to enter through the north gate. There were around 15 000 soldiers to welcome him at eMhlahlandlela, singing, dancing and parading.
3. From the gate he was ushered to the goat kraal, where he was welcomed by a senior inyanga yomuzi who,cleansed and purified him as part of an elaborate purification ritual for kings. The vessels to be used in the festivities for his coronation were also purified.
1. THE PRE-COLONIAL UKUCHINSA - FIRST FRUITS CEREMONY OF THE NDEBELE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE 🇿🇼
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After the conclusion of the Inxwala national ceremony , people went back to their respective villages. After a week or two, the king performed the ukuchinsa /dolo qina ceremony.
2. Citizens of the Ndebele state were prohibited from harvesting their crops until the ukuchinsa ceremony was conducted. This was usually around January or February, when the first crops started to appear.
3. The king was the first to partake of the first crops in the kingdom. Anyone who broke this rule was punished by death.Izinyanga -traditional doctors gathered the first crops like amakhomane, marrows and mixed them with medicines. After that the king would eat the first fruits.
The first Portuguese explorers arrived in present day Luanda around 1500s. By 1575 Paulo Dias
de Novais arrived with a hundred families of colonists and four hundred soldiers. They set up a fort at present day Luanda.
2. The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal area by a series of treaties and wars throughout the 16th century, and their interest in Angola quickly turned to the slave trade.
3. With the capital at Luanda on the coast, the Portuguese struggled against the kingdoms of Kongo, Ndongo, and Matamba to gain control of the interior.
1. THE PRE-COLONIAL INXWALA CEREMONY OF THE NDEBELE PEOPLE OF ZIMBABWE 🇿🇼
Inxwala was a national ceremony for spiritual renewal and thanksgiving for the first fruits in the Ndebele kingdom. The main Inxwala came a lunar month after the conduct of the minor inxwala.
2. Once the date for the main inxwala was set, a clarion call was
was made at all kraals in the regions of the kingdom for people to attend the big ceremony. ‘Umthwakazi kagcobe!’, ‘Let the nation dress up for Inxwala!’ the town criers would announce with great excitement.
3. All roads would then lead to the capital. The people brought with them food, beer and oxen for slaughter. There were special oxen known as amamvubu, the hippo oxen. These oxen were regarded as sacred animals. It was believed that the king’s ancestral spirits lived in them.
Ancient Ndebele people used celestial knowledge to chart seasons, regulate agricultural cycles and ritual calendars. Celestial bodies determined healing rituals, divination, social and political decisions.
2. The sun, ilanga, the stars, inkanyezi and the moon, inyanga, are the most significant celestial beings that affected several aspects of the Ndebele community. One day is known as ilanga or usuku and a month is known as inyanga.
3. One moon cycle makes up a month and thirteen moon cycles make up a year, umnyaka. Daily time is measured in relation to the movement of the sun and the stars. Different measures of time are divided as follows :
King Sobhuza I was born around 1788. He is considered as the founder of modern Eswatini. His father was King Ndvungunye Zikodze ruler of the Ngwane kingdom. Sobhuza I was also known as Somhlolo.
2. The name Somhlolo ('man of mysteries') is in reference to the mysteries, uncommon wisdom and prophetic gifts that were associated with his life. It is said that on the day that he was born his father was struck by lightning.
3. His reign in the early 1800s marked an important phase in the history of Eswatini. As Sobhuza began his reign, the Ngwane kingdom territory was centered along the Phongolo River to the south of modern ESwatini, and it's northern boundaries covered today's southern ESwatini.