As uMthwakazi Celebrates uMzilikazi, Bukalanga Commemorates its Demise at the Hands of his Impis!

This month is indeed an eventful time for the Ndebele, that is, the Nguni or so-called amaNdebele oqotho, those who in former times where known as the abezansi, as they commemorate the life and death of their king. But as they do so, we of Bukalanga, the nation that uMzilikazi found living in the territory between the Limpopo and Zambezi, remember the demise of our great nation at the hands of his impis. We indeed commemorate what I have termed Golomodzo Gulu le Bukalanga, or the Great Dispersion of Bukalanga in my book, The Rebirth of Bukalanga: A Manifesto for the Liberation of a Great People with a Proud History Part I.

 The Great Nation of Bukalanga, the most civilized and most cultured of all sub-Saharan African peoples in the pre-colonial era, suffered untold destruction at the hands of the Matebele, or AmaNdebele during their invasions in the 19th century. It is unfortunate that Bukalanga still has not regained its former glory since those days, although the signs are now apparent that the Rebirth and Renaissance of this great nation is at hand.

That the Makalanga or Bukalanga were a great, cultured and highly civilized nation is beyond doubt, for we are told of their great civilization by a number of writers. First we are told by Dr George McCall Theal writing in 1907 and quoting Portuguese documents of the 16th century that:

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When the European fort and trading station at Sofala was formed in 1505 the predominant people in the country between the rivers Sabi and Zambesi were the Mokaranga as termed by the Portuguese, or Makalanga as pronounced by themselves…The Makalanga had developed their religious system and their industries more highly than any of the other tribes of Southern or Eastern Africa.

Of all the Bantu they had the largest proportion of Asiatic blood in their veins, which will account for their mental and mechanical superiority.[1] Almost at first sight the Europeans observed that they were in every respect more intelligent than the blacker tribes along the Mozambique coast.

Their skulls more nearly approached those of Europeans in shape, many of them had the high nose, thin lips, and the general features of the people of South-Western Asia. Even their hands and feet were in numerous instances small and well-shaped, unlike those of ordinary blacks, which are large and coarse.

Their appearance thus indicated a strong infusion of foreign blood, though not sufficient to denationalize them as Bantu. That blood may not have been Arab alone; it is likely that some was Persian, and possibly some Indian … Their language was regarded by the Christians as being pleasanter than Arabic to the ear (Theal 1907, 295-297).

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We are told by Richard Nicklin Hall and WG Neal writing in 1904 that:

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The old Makalanga were in their former semi-civilized state the dominant and most cultured of all South African tribes, and were always noted for their skills in mathematics, evidently acquired from the Semitic gold-workers, and today among the native tribes still retain the preeminence in matters requiring calculation…The Makalangas, whose ancestors had, under the influence of the ancients, become to a large extent civilized, still showed in their commercial capacities, their industries, arts, and religious faiths, the impressions left upon them by the former settlement of the ancients in this country, impressions that in some departments of life can still be noticed in the Makalanga of today (Hall and Neal 1904, 107).[2]

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Hall and Neal further tell us that:

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The Makalanga…were to a large extent civilized and certainly well versed and expert in various arts, such as those of metalworking and textile manufacture; were admirable men of business, possessing the power of calculating money, and commercial instincts beyond those of any other tribes, and, according to Arab writers of the thirteenth century, themselves mined and washed for gold and traded it with the Arab merchants at the coast (Hall and Neal 1904, 121-122).

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Much could be said about the greatness and civilization of Bukalanga that space in this article will not allow. But the reader is directed to the other article herein titled An Account of Bukalanga: With a Description of their Character and Industries.

As to what happened to the onward march and civilization of Bukalanga, let us briefly hear from H.L. Gann in his book, A History of Southern Rhodesia: Early Days to 1934. Gann wrote:

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During the early [eighteen] ‘forties the Matabele sphere of influence formed the home of a great congerie of small tribes which collectively proved incapable of offering concerted resistance. Vast areas in the south and southwest of what is now Southern Rhodesia were inhabited by a group of peoples whom ethnologists have conveniently grouped under the common designation of Makalanga.

The Makalanga, once the mainstay of the Monomotapa dynasty, by now had lost all their cohesion, and they became victims of all kinds of Matabele atrocities. But their cultural influence remained, and the bloodthirsty conquerors themselves to some extent fell under Makalanga religious sway. The native priests of Mwali, the Makalanga High God, continued to practice their rites in the Matopos, and received lavish gifts from Umziligazi, who would periodically summon them to his capital for advice on affairs of state (Gann 1965, 36).

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Such was the arrival of uMzilikazi in Bukalanga, what is today erroneous called Matebeleland Provinces, as well as Midlands and Maswingo provinces. But let us hear the story in the words of Peter Becker in his book, Path of Blood: The Rise and Conquests of Mzilikazi Founder of the Matabele. He gives a most chilling and blood curdling account of wanton destruction of human life.

And it makes any Kalanga question why we are being asked today to hero-worship such an evil man like Mzilikazi Khumalo who could easily fit into the league of Adolph Hitler, Haille Mariam Mengistu, Idi Amin, Charles Taylor, Joseph Stalin, Slobodan Milosevic, Robert Mugabe and many other such tyrants who murdered thousands and millions in the name of nation-building. Writes Becker:

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They called him the Bull Elephant, the King of the Black Kings, the Founder of the mighty Matabele Empire. In his rise to power, he completely exterminated 28 tribes; pillaged half a million square miles of Africa; ruthlessly took girls for his harems and men for his army, leaving the corpses of the slain in smoking ruins to be devoured by hungry lions and leopards … His name? Mzilikazi. Here is the full, vivid and fascinating story of the most savage tyrant who ever cast his shadow across the blood stained history of Africa - the most dreaded warrior since Attila’s hordes swept across the plains of Europe.

While writing this book I travelled, from time to time, to the territories of the tribes who, during the last century, were subjected to the cruel, despotic rule of Mzilikazi king of the Ndebele. I also followed the trail blazed by King Mzilikazi through southern Africa, setting out from the tyrant’s birth-place in Zululand and reaching my journey’s end at the place of his entombment, in the Matopo ranges of Southern Rhodesia.

It was my privilege to conduct research among the Nguni tribes of the east coast of South Africa, the Southern Sotho of the Orange Free State and Basutoland Protectorate, the Northern Sotho of the Northern and Eastern Transvaal, the Tswana tribes of British Bechuanaland and the Western Transvaal, and the Makalanga, Mashona and Matabele (Amandebele) tribal groups in Southern Rhodesia. In all parts of the sub-continent I received cordial assistance from tribal chieftains, their headmen and subjects, and also from white traders, missionaries, recruiters, farmers and Government officials.

In thanking the scores of people, both Black and White, whose co-operation and encouragement greatly assisted my investigations into the life of Mzilikazi, I should like to record especially the names of Paramount Chiefs Nyangayezizwe Cyprian Bhekuzulu, direct descendant of Shaka and Dingane of the Zulu; Bathoen II, CBE., of the Bangwaketsi tribe; Kgari Sechele II, OBE., of the Bakwena; Kebalipile Montshioa of the Barolong; Chieftaincies Mantsebo Seeiso (until recently the Regent of Basuto); and also Chiefs Letsie of Thaba Bosiu, Kuini M. Mopeli of Butha-Buthe, and Wilson K. Mosielele of the Bakgatla of Moshupha. These rulers appointed expert guides to conduct me to historic sites, royal kraals and important landmarks, and they all contributed directly towards the happiness I experienced in their territories. I am most grateful to my old friend Gatsha Mangosuthu ka Mathole, Chief of the Buthelezi, for the constant interest he took in the progress of this book, and also to his mother, Princess Magogo uZulu kaDinuzulu, for the tidbits of information concerning Mzilikazi’s early life she sent me from time to time[3]

[…] In 1840 Southern Rhodesia was inhabited by the miscellany of insignificant tribes, each governed by a patriarchal chief, each cultivating its crops and tending its cattle. Occupying the immense stretch of country between the Maclautsi River in the south west, the Tuli in the east and the Maitengwe in the north-west, were several of these tribes, who for the sake of convenience ethnologists have termed the Makalanga. About Gibixhegu and in the region of the Matopo ranges small scattered groups of the BaLozwi lived under the Mambos, or chiefs, while in the great plateau extending to the north-east were located a hotch-potch of tribes known collectively as the Mashona.

During the past century and a half the BaLozwi had ruled supreme over the other tribes of Southern Rhodesia, but only four years before Mzilikazi’s arrival in the territory Zwangendaba, a fugitive from Zululand, had invaded and crushed them and then moved northwards to found the Angoni tribe of Nyasaland. Among Zwangendaba’s host was a Swazi queen named Nyamazana – the Antelope – who preferred not to proceed to the Zambezi but to settle in the Matopo region. On meeting her, Mzilikazi married her and housed her in one of his harems. The king incorporated the queen’s followers in his tribe and bestowed upon them the honor of joining his Abezansi, the inner circle of aristocratic and privileged Matabele.

During the next five years there was to be carnage in Southern Rhodesia and the tribes were to buckle beneath the might of the Matabele army. The BaLozwi settlements were invaded, the once autocratic mambos ousted from their thrones and the huts, cattle-folds and granaries pillaged and destroyed. The BaLozwi, once the conquerors of the Monomotapa dynasty, a proud ruler-tribe of farmers, expert hunters, smiths and artisans, were swept out of Matebeleland into the tsetse country fringing the Zambezi. Their ranks decimated, their young women taken prisoner and their men enslaved, the BaLozwi tumbled into the jungle country to the north in a bid to elude the Matabele regiments. The relentless onslaught of Mzilikazi’s forces eventually compelled the BaLozwi to cross the Zambezi and seek a home among the tribes of Northern Rhodesia.[4]

One section of these fled from the Matopos to the sources of the Tati River, and the mambo, an influential ruler, took to the hills with his servants and wives to seek shelter in a cave. Looking on to the slopes below him, the mambo could see the Matabele approaching, and rather than fall into their hand, he decapitated his wives and then allowed himself and the other corpses to be consumed in the flames of brushwood pyre.

The Makalanga tribes suffered a fate similar to that of the BaLozwi[5]. Until the latter half of the seventeenth century they had been the rulers of Southern Rhodesia under the Monomotapa dynasty, and on being conquered by the BaLozwi armies they degenerated into a timid and inoffensive people. The Makalanga were butchered by the Matabele; indeed, the atrocities that took place followed the Mzilikazian pattern of the past, except that by this time the Matabele tyrant had decided to leave several of the settlements unscathed so that the inhabitants might be allowed to breed conscripts for the Matabele army and also produce crops and herds for their overlords.[6]

Although the Makalanga were amongst the least warlike tribes the Matabele ever encountered in southern Africa, they had an extraordinarily high reputation for their powers in witchcraft and magic. Their diviners and hereditary priests led the tribe in the worship of Mwali, a deity they believed had created the universe, controlled rain and dwelt in an inaccessible fastness in the Matopos. Mzilikazi regarded the Mwali priests with the deepest respect, and never attempting to injure them, and lavishing gifts regularly upon them. Often the Matabele heard Mwali, the great god, speaking oracularly in the Matopos. They were awestruck, for they did not know that the mysterious voices were in fact those of the priests, who were masters in the traditional art of ventriloquism. Although eventually the Makalanga tribes were subjugated by the Matabele and forced to pay tribute to Mzilikazi, their magicians enjoyed the privilege of being summoned periodically to the capital to give advice on important religious matters (Becker 1966, 15-21, 184-188).

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What a sad tale, what a painful story! As the Cape Argus noted in commentary on Becker’s book, “No story of America’s Wild West, of Chicago’s gangsters, of the torturers of the Spanish Inquisition, or of the mass guillotining of the French Revolution equals the history of Mzilikazi’s 18 years of terror as he marched from Zululand to the Zambezi in the last century.”

Indeed, so destructive was the Ndebele career of rapine, violence and murder in Bukalanga that 170 years later, it is still memorialized in the San word used by Bakalanga to refer to the Ndebele, that is, Mapothoko, (pronounced Mapo-tro-ko), meaning killers or murderers!

I honestly still do not understand, and probably never will, why the children of Bukalanga are being asked to see Mzilikazi as a nation-builder and hero. This is a line especially advanced by the Mthwakazi liberation movements, and was originally conceived by the Matabele Homeland Society in the 1950s. The question is will this continue for as long as we live, or shall it be stopped at some point in the near future? The people shall decide, and only time will tell.

REFERENCES

1.     Becker, P 1966. Path of blood: The rise and conquests of Mzilikazi founder of the Matabele. London: Granada Publishing Limited.

2.     Ndzimu-unami, E 2012. The Rebirth of Bukalanga: A manifesto for the liberation of a great people with a proud history Part I. Plumtree: Mapungubgwe News Corp.

3.     Gann, L. H 1965. A history of Southern Rhodesia: Early days to 1934. London: Chatto & Windus.

4.     Hall, R and Neal, W 1904. The ancient ruins of Rhodesia: Monomotapae Imperium. London: Methuen & Company.

5.     Theal G.M.  1907. History and ethnography of Africa south of the Zambesi: From the settlement of the Portuguese at Sofala in September 1505 to the conquest of the Cape Colony by the British in September 1795 (vol. 1). London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.

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[1] A proposition in line with the theories of his age. I do not believe nor proposition that Bukalanga intelligence and capability has anything to do with their racial make-up.

[2] Hall and Neal had held to the worn out belief that there once was an ancient Semitic race that had established the Zimbabgwean Civilization and later over-run by the Bantu. Subquent research has since disproved those theories and showed that the so-called "ancient Semitic race" were none other than Bukalanga. See Chapters One, Six, Nine and Eleven of The Rebirth of Bukalanga.   

[3] I have included the above to serve as a guard against the accusations that the work of Becker is unreliable. It can be seen that his information was supplied by Africans, it wasn’t crafted from some office in colonial Europe.

[4] As a result of this, some people tend to confuse the BaLozwi with the BaLozi. These are two different groups, although the BaLozwi who live among the BaLozi now identify by that name. I recently received a comment on my blog from one Mbulayi in Zambia stating: “Interesting piece on the Kalanga nation. There are three clans of Bakalanga in Western Zambia or Barotseland. These are the Mananzwa, Manyai and Mahumbe. As should be expected these people are now Lozwi or Rotse by acculturation. Their mother tongue is now Silozi and not iKalanga. I am a descendant of an ironsmith by the name of Machambuzi. Our village is also called Machambuzi. We still carry our Kalanga names such as Mbulayi, Mbulawa, Mbano, Siyanda, Mukundu, Galilo, Mulapesi, Tubapi, Chibu, Kwati, Lumbidzani, etc.” (Email received on June 15th, 2012). 

[5] These are one people even though Becker seperated them here. The Lozwi had only been the ruling clan for the 150 years before the arrival of the Nguni.

[6] In June 2012 I had the fortune to meet the Revered Mothibi Tshuma, great-grandson of Zhange (Hwange) who told me that his great-grandfather was murdered by Mzilikazi's man and skinned. Rev. Mothibi is over 70 years old. His grandfather, he told me, was originally a Moyo but changed to Tjuma because the Moyo-Lozwi were being hunted and murdered by the Ndebele as they were the national leaders. This also explains the change of many surnames, for example, the Nkiwane were originally Moyo but changed as a way to evade murder.