Did King Lobengula have children before ascending the royal throne?

11 Feb, 2018 - 00:02 0 Views
Did King Lobengula have children before ascending the royal throne?

The Sunday News

king lobs

Pathisa Nyathi
CORONATION of a kind was a drawn out process that embraced cultural, social, military, administrative and indeed, economic aspects. The nation which had been in bereavement was wiping off tears as the ruling house regenerated/extended itself. A few years ago we saw how a certain Nyathi man, whose progeny is now resident at Bhekeni Line in Ntabazinduna, was named Zibomvu (izinhliziyo), literally meaning red or sore harts.

Here we shall focus on the last coronation that took place within the Ndebele nation. The coronation was that of King Lobengula kaMzilikazi. The propitious event took place on 22 January 1870 at Mhlahlandlela the last capital town of the fallen King. If the tradition had been maintained, the coronation would have taken place at the last King’s last capital town, namely KoBulawayo (Emahlabathini or Esagogwaneni). But arch imperialist and racist Cecil John Rhodes decided that the site would be the site where he was going to build his State House. Things being equal, ritual procedures would be performed as a way of circumventing the hurdle. We can only hope that the Khumalos will look into it and make amends.

Before we deal with the aspects and processes of coronation and the relevant underpinnings, let’s complete the enumeration of King Mzilikazi’s non- royal children. In the last article we gave names of King Mzilikazi kaMatshobana’s children born before his coronation. In other words, sons by his wives married before he ascended the royal throne. This consideration was borne out of the idea that a King is born of a King, and not a man. If we should be Afro-centric in our approach, we should not make this pronouncement and end there. The greater challenge is working out the ideological or cosmological bases for the practice. As we often say, cultural practices have cosmological underpinnings that inform and sometimes legitimate cultural practices.

All that we need mention regarding that subject is to add one more name in addition to the four that we gave. This is not to say these were the only children of the man who was later to become King. It is only because daughters were excluded from the royal line of succession. The society in question was patriarchal and patrilineal. The son who was omitted is Mabele who apparently is not as well known as Mangwana, Muntu (Tshukisa), Qalingana and Lopila. I found the name in one of my books, “Traditional Ceremonies of AmaNdebele,” published by Mambo Press in 2001. Further down, we shall find out more about King Lobengula kaMzilikazi’s children, not so much concerning who they were, but whether or not the King had sons born before his coronation. Once again, we shall resort to the written word, just in case oral accounts are challenged.

All that I need mention here is that when it comes to oral traditional was then nearer Source than I am today. Orally transmitted memories are better preserved by those nearer Source. This is to say the people we have today know much less about the Ndebele State, its history and related cultural practices than their ancestors. Those ahead, abaphambili, who are nearer Source, the beginning of humanity, possess more knowledge of the past than us. We are really back to the question that Reverend Paul Bayethe Damasane and I posed several years ago. Phambilili kungaphi? leading to us coining the expression, “Iphambili leNdebele lisemuva.” Oral sources 10 years ago, who included persons such as Msongelwayizizwe and his brother Gideon Msindo Joyi Khumalo had a larger store of knowledge than us. Of course, we know more about Geometry and Trigonometry than they did, but that is not the knowledge we are referring to here.

Our relational position to Source is important when it comes to the conduct of royal coronation. We are less equipped now than our ancestors when the last king underwent his investiture. Here and there we may rely on the written record. Fortunately, there were London Missionary Society (LMS) missionaries who attended the coronation. One such LMS missionary was Reverend Morgan Thomas Morgan, a Welsh man. Also present were adventurers such as William Hartley whose name was immortalised in the name of a Southern Rhodesian town — Hartley which had its name changed to Chegutu. John Lee was also present. This was the man who lived beyond Mangwe Pass (Nkalange) and served as some kind of immigration officer.

The Reverend Thomas Morgan Thomas captured his experiences in a book that he wrote.

Before turning to the King’s visit to Hope Fountain more or less soon after his coronation, let us briefly narrate what happened and next week we shall continue with narrating more aspects of his coronation. We need not belabour the point here. King Lobengula kaMzilikazi’s choice as king was not without contestations. Most of them were based on limited knowledge of relevant cultural practices relating to succession where usomthanyelwana was involved, the sheer power greed on the part of people like Princess Zinkabi kaMzilikazi. Further, there was the hidden hand, that of the British in Natal and the Cape, intent on political intrigue calculated to ensure a candidate friendly to them was installed. All they wanted was a strong foothold in Matabeleland, with economic interests uppermost in their calculating minds.

For now though, what matters is that Prince Lobengula ascended the throne despite spirited objections that led to a bloody civil war two years after his coronation — wabusa wadanisa. It was this rejection of his candidature that led to the birth of the name KoBulawayo — in reference to the fact that he was being ‘‘killed,’’ figuratively; actually meaning he was being rejected and opposed by his own people. Before the civil war his capital town at Enyokeni was called EGibixhegu. It was this contested ascendancy that led the new King to embark on a punitive campaign that witnessed the death of some of his brothers, namely Prince Hlangabeza and Prince Qalingana. It is not surprising perhaps that Prince Qalingana was involved considering that his mother, Lomagazi Masuku, was a brother of Chief Mbiko kaMadlenya Masuku, chief of Zwangendaba Village who led the opposition forces pitted against King Lobengula.

The question we wish to pose now is whether Prince Lobengula already had children at the time of his coronation on 22 January 1870? To answer that question we turn to yet another LMS missionary, one Reverend William A Elliott who, like Reverend Thomas Morgan Thomas, documented some royal diplomatic visits to Hope Fountain Mission in July 1871, just over one year and six months after the King’s coronation. We need to furnish some brief background. At the time of King Lobengula’s coronation there had been one missionary couple doing work at Inyathi Mission, Reverend and Mrs William Sykes. He was soon later joined by Reverend and Mrs Boden Thomson who set about seeking royal sanction to establish a new mission station closer to the new royal capital town. Both painter Thomas Baines and hunter Henry Hartley were consulted on a possible site.

“Where do you want to build? The country is before you, go and seek a place,” said the King. The news came when the King, speaking to Reverend Thomson said, “I give your Society that valley for a mission station as long as they like, under me as king, and no trader is to build there.” Almost immediately, work commenced on the new mission station that was appropriately name Hope Fountain, Mthombothemba — there was a perennial well on the site which has, however, since dried up. Then the King promised to pay Hope Fountain a visit and “. . . . in July 1871 he came on horseback, took a fancy on some of Mrs Thomson’s fowls, which she gave him; and was smitten by the satisfactory character of the bricks which were being made.”

The visit impressed the king so much that he decided to pay yet another visit a month later than is in August 1871. Note that the visit is coming a year and a half after his coronation. We turn to Reverend Elliott; a month later “. . . . he came again, this time in state. He was accompanied by his sister (not his wife, mark!), Umnce-nce, three wagons and about 150 attendants. It was a great occasion. He drew up to the house, and outspanned at the front door; and his beer pots and other paraphernalia nearly choked up the little mission house. The royalties took their food with the missionaries; and Umnce-nce with the king’s children and attendants slept in the house” (page 131).

Was this LMS missionary being prophetic? Did he know the issue regarding whether or not King Lobengula had children before ascending the throne would be raised more than one hundred and fifty years on? Why did he point out and even insert an exclamation mark that the King did not take with him a wife? At the time, we do know that what Reverend Elliott calls Mnce-nce, was actually Princess Mncengence, a sister to the King, was acting Indlovukazi till, eight years later, when Gasa Queen Xhwalile Nxumalo (not Sithole as one friend thinks) and a daughter of King Mzila was fetched to serve in that capacity.

The critical question is, “Does it make sense that the King was accompanied by his children (actually babies), mark, not child (my own emphasis) born after his coronation? Such babies, born after coronation, would not have accompanied their father. They belong to their mothers and it would not have been their business to be accompanying the monarch on state visits.

Hopefully, this puts paid to the question whether the likes of Princes Mhlambi and Nyamande were born before or after coronation. Their mothers were the first to be married by Prince Lobengula kaMzilikazi, the man and not King. The two, being the eldest from their mothers, daughters of Lodada Mkhwananzi, would have been born before coronation to be accompanying their father to Hope Fountain as recorded by Reverend Elliott. The LMS missionary has spoken!!

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