The Sunday News
Before we render the narrative given to us by the people at King Mphezeni’s country we need to give an update of the people themselves. Why did King Lobengula choose to go and live among them, if at all he did? There were several groups across the mighty Zambezi River but he chose not to settle among them. At the same time we should be alert to the fact that Mphezeni’s Ngoni were not the only Nguni group in the region.
There were several other Ngoni/Nguni groups farther east of those of Mphezeni. For example, there was a larger group under Mphezeni’s brother M’mbelwa amongst whom several other sons of King Zwangendaba Jele were found: Mthwalo, Ndabazakhe, Mahlantshana and Mabilalo, inter alia. This group settled further east in what is Malawi today. In addition to these there were other groups then known as AmaZongendaba. Some of these belonged to Ngwana Maseko, Nxaba Maseko and Gama some of whom were located east of Lake Malawi.
In order to better understand Mphezeni and his contending brothers we need some historical background to explain the critical events. Zwangendaba Jele or Gumbi of isithakazelo Phakathi was leader of the Mfekane sub-clan of the Ndwandwe who were ruled over by Zwide Nxumalo, the son of Langa. In addition to Zwangendaba, King Zwide had other leading army generals who included Sotshangane, also a Nxumalo like King Zwide, Nxaba Maseko and Ngwana Maseko. King Zwide also ruled over the Khumalos under chiefs Donda, Bheje and Matshobana.
King Zwide’s rising nation state was poised against that of King Dingiswayo Mthethwa the son of Jobe. King Zwide got the better of King Dingiswayo and had him killed. Living among the Mthethwa people was Prince Tshaka kaSenzangakhona who was destined to become the Zulu king after getting rid of the upstart Prince Sigujana. Ultimately, it was to be war between the Ndwandwe and the Zulu then under King Tshaka.
Apparently, it was one of the Khumalo chiefs who supplied intelligence to King Tshaka about King Zwide’s intentions to attack the Zulu. Two of the Khumalo chiefs including Matshobana the father of Prince Mzilikazi were killed. Prince Mzilikazi then crossed over to serve under King Tshaka. It was the unsettled political conditions that led to Chief Sotshangane to leave Ndwandweland. Chief Zwangendaba was the son of Hlatshwayo kaMagangatha. Magangatha’s eldest son Gumede did not rule. Instead, it was Prince Hlatshwayo who took over. In fact, Gumede was happier with the youngest son Mafu and preferred him to take over from Magangatha.
Chief Zwangendaba lived at Elangeni. He was a short man whose poet described him as, “Umfitshane onganyathel’ ingubo, Ingani ezabade bayazinyathela.” Chief Zwangendaba married two of King Zwide’s sisters, namely Lompethu and her younger sister Soseya who was later to become King Mphezeni’s mother. The two Nxumalo sisters lived at Emveyeyeni. This is the Mphezeni, then living at Chipata within the district of Lundazi in Zambia, who was to host King Lobengula of the Ndebele from 1894 till his death in 1922.
Chief Zwangendaba did not immediately leave Ndwandweland following the flight of Chief Sotshangane. Initially, he proceeded to Swaziland where he had married Mnene Nzima, the woman who was to be Prince M’mbelwa’s mother. Queen Mnene lived at the royal town of Ekwendeni. Chief Zwangendaba was related to the Nhlane of Hoho and the Nkosi of the Dlamini clan. When Chief Zwangendaba finally decided to flee from King Tshaka he struck in the direction that Chief Sotshangane had taken ahead of him.
For a while Chief Zwangendaba and his people served under King Sotshangane in present day Mozambique. There he incorporated the Thonga people such as Baloyi. In 1831 he decided to quit King Sotshangane’s lands on his brother Somfula’s advice. It was while King Zwangendaba’s people lived among the Thonga that they came to be known as the Ngoni. It was a name that would stick to the present day.
From Mozambique King Zwangendaba went westwards into the land of the Rozvi where he incorporated several Shona groups such as Soko (captured near Great Zimbabwe), Shumba, Matimba, Nhari, Gumbo(Madlira pazhe/Madyira panze), Shonga (Nyati) and Chibambo. Already in present day Zimbabwe were the followers of Nxaba and Magadlela. King Zwangendaba clashed with these two groups.
After several military campaigns in Zimbabwe, King Zwangendaba and his people got to the confluence of the Zambezi River and its tributary the Luangwa River. They arrived at a place called Zumbo which was an old fording place. Fording took place on 20 November 1835. It is possible to date the crossing because Ngoni accounts make mention of the fact that the sun disappeared (a solar eclipse) at the time they were crossing the river.
Magical stories are told of how the Ngoni crossed the menacing Zambezi River. King Zwangendaba is said to have taken a medicinal bath in the river and the waters subsided. Another version says King Zwangendaba used a stick to beat the waters, which parted as happened to the Red Sea waters when Moses performed a similar feat. The more practical account says the Ngoni were supplied with canoes by one Kanyimbwi. Once the Ngoni were across they asked Kanyimbwi to come along with them. Kanyimbwi declined and was killed. The Ngoni were keen to cover their tracks and if Kanyimbwi lived he would tell the secret to enemies pursuing the Ngoni and further, he would assist them cross the treacherous river.
Just when the Ngoni were across the river there appeared on the scene the Swazi under Queen Nyamazana Nkosi of the Dlamini clan. She and her people were keen to join the Ngoni of King Zwangendaba. Their request was declined and they turned back. This was the Queen Nyamazana who later got married to King Mzilikazi and she and her people became part of the Ndebele nation.
The Ngoni of King Zwangendaba, once across the river, decided to settle among the Nsenga people who lived in the area. Initially, they settled down at Chibandakazi and later at Mkoko. There they fought the people of Chief Kalindawalo who used bows and arrows. The chief’s fighters actually went up tree from where they hurled arrows at their adversaries. King Zwangendaba’s praise captures this episode when the poet says, “Guculani izihlangu, abafo basemthini.”
A Nsenga man who would rise to prominence within Ngoni society was incorporated at this point in time. His name was Chiwere Njobvu. The Ngoni got to know that Njobvu was the equivalent of Ndlovu in their own language. Chiwere thus became Ndlovu the distinguished fighter. However, King Zwangendaba was not impressed with the land he was settled in. His interest was in cattle. He responded by moving on to the land of the Tumbuka and the Chewa. As fate would have it, Mphezeni would finally settle in the land of the Nsenga where Ndlovu had earlier been incorporated. Here the fleeing Ndebele monarch would find the Ngoni now under King Mphezeni I.
In the meantime, the Ngoni were still united under King Zwangendaba who did not stay long among the Tumbuka and Chewa who were ivory traders. King Zwangendaba wanted land that would provide him with cattle. He settled at Mawili where several villages were established: Elangeni, Ekwendeni, Hoho, Emtenguleni, Engwenyameni and Emcingweni. He was told that land, teeming with cattle, was the land of the Sukuma in present day Tanzania.
