The Sunday News
“IN the middle of the plain there is an immense pyre: this pyre contains the bones of all the animals killed during the past year for the needs of the king and of the people of Gubulawayo. In front of the pyre is placed the royal seat, a primitive throne, consisting of a simple redwood chair: the king seats himself with his assegai; slave women are kept continually busy stoking and encouraging the flames (Fr Depelchin and Crooneneberg in Diaries of the Jesuit Missionaries at Bulawayo 1879-188:39).”
This is a description of a scene by the Jesuit missionaries who arrived at Old Bulawayo in September 1879. The occasion was the fourth day of the Inxwala Ceremony which was being held on the day of the first full moon following the summer solstice of 21st December. What is of interest to this article is the reference to “slave women” who were busy stoking the fire in which the bones were being burnt by the king (Lobengula) himself.
Who are these people “slave women” that recent arrivals to the Ndebele capital town describe as slave women? Did the Ndebele practise a special form of slavery? What the Jesuit fathers describe as “slave women” were indeed abantwana besihlangu, the captives that the Ndebele soldiers brought back from raids on neighbouring ethnic groups. We do know that the Ndebele used to undertake long haul raids for the sole purpose of acquiring two essential “commodities” — human captives and cattle.
Perhaps the classic story that is told is that of one child who after the slaughter of inhabitants and the fleeing of the rest remained in the granary. The Ndebele soldiers heard the whimpering of this particular child. One of them advanced closer to the granary and indeed below the roof, known as ithuli in the SiNdebele language, was left hidden there — now crying miserably. The child was allowed to live and taken to Matabeleland. The deserted and recued child was appropriately named Masalethulini, the one who remained below a granary roof. Do you remember Britta Masalethulini?
Raids were undertaken to various places such as Gutu (where Masalethulini was captured), Chivi, Chirumhanzu, Chiweshe, Chitungwiza, BaNgwato, BaTawana, BaTonga, BaNambya and tribes across the Zambezi River. Both the captives and cattle were taken to the royal capital where distribution took place. Some remained at the royal capital to undertake various chores one of which is being mentioned by the Jesuit missionaries. Some were shared among the royal queens in various outlying villages while others were retained by their captors.
The royal princesses were given some when they got married, invariably to the wealthy chiefs. These princesses were to become self-sufficient upon arriving at the home of their arranged husband. In addition to “slave women” and “slave men” they were given a large number of cattle. They were not expected by tradition to eat amasi akomkhwenyana.
We have recorded Princess Mfamona Khumalo, King Lobengula’s daughter who was married to Hole Masuku as keeping several “slave women and men”. One of these was Lokutheza a young girl who was captured during a raid on the BaNgwato of Botswana. At the time Hole lived at a place called eMthangaleni along the Damara Road that forks from the Bulawayo-Kezi Road (see Nyathi, The Story of a ZPRA Cadre: 2014). Princess Nedlana the daughter of King Mzilikazi who got married to Chief Faku Ndiweni of eZinaleni/eZisongweni had several “slave men and women”. Prior to arrival in the south western corner of present- day Zimbabwe, the “slave women and men” were provided by the Sotho and Tswana ethnic groups. Hence such a “slave man or woman” was referred to as “uMsutshwanyana kaNedlana”. During a raid each captor had his own brand mark that he inscribed on the hapless captive.
A spear was used for the purpose of branding. This was done so that each captor could identify his captives among the several that were driven back to the capital town, koMkhulu (see Nyathi, Zimawele). Prior to entering the royal capital word was sent ahead of the arriving party to announce its presence.
Accordingly, a cleansing specialist doctor Sobukhazi Masuku (of the Phenyane section of the Masukus) would go and cleanse the booty(intundu kaSobukhazi). Thereafter the returning party proceeded to enter the royal capital. The reason behind this cleansing was to avoid the fatal effects of ingwendela or uzimu that those who spilt blood could court upon themselves.
Was it not this mortal fear of ingwendela that led Chief Maqhekeni Sithole of eMagogweni to hatch a plan so that he would abandon royal-directed assignment to pierce the earlobes (ukuklekla) of the Chivi people? “My king and master, I have run out of (cattle) provisions.” Ngiphelelwe ngumphako, he said. Not amused by Maqhekeni’s excuse, the king said,” Ulenketh’ abeTshabi,” (a Ndebele reference to Chivi’s people). The incident has remained deeply etched in the annals of Bulawayo’s townships — the township that goes by the name of Nketa, an abridged version for the name Inketh’ abetshabi.
Before we specifically deal with the “slave women and men” in the service of Princess Sidambe Khumalo we need to say, in general terms what these “captive men and women” were doing within the household. When it came to the household chores there was gender differentiation, a differentiation that extended to all the other members of Ndebele society.
Male captives assisted with animal husbandry, tending the large herds, milking the cows and generally accompanying the cattle to grazing pastures and penning them in the evening. Inevitably, these male captives were conscripted into the army and would themselves later participate in raids and bring their own captives and those for their masters, the king, princesses, princes, queens and the royal elite.
Cooking for large numbers of people was done by males and not women. The abantwana besihlangu came in handy when it came to slaughtering beasts, dressing the carcasses and cutting them up and distributing them according to known Ndebele etiquette. They also assisted in the construction of houses within the homestead. Before they were grown up to participate in military raids the captives drove the cattle that provided food on the hoof for the soldiers. They also carried blankets and other items for the soldiers on a raiding errand.
Women captives on the other hand assisted with those chores traditionally designated as belonging to the womenfolk. They collected firewood, fetched water and worked the house floors. They also cultivated crops and participated in the various stages of food production and processing. Cooking fell within their purview. Some queens were very harsh on these captives. As a general rule, the captives were well looked after and never referred to as amahole. Only when the master was angered to the extreme would he in a rage refer to one as, “okulihodlana lokhu.”
The captives were clear about their social status and place. They were not expected to marry within the Nguni people. In order not to confuse them for the Nguni, the captives used surnames that would not leave it in doubt that they were not Nguni.
They married within their own class and the master received lobola. They were special to the master as these captives were looked upon as representing a man’s valour at war where he could easily have lost his life.
In the pre-colonial era there was hardly any Nguni household without several captive men and women. The difference though was that the royalty kept more than the rest of the people. Even non-Nguni households came to possess their own captives (see Nyathi, The History of the Bhebhe People of Zimbabwe).
There are many families in Matabeleland today who are descended from the historical captive families.
Usually, such families do not know their family histories beyond their ancestor who was captured. Their history is intricately intertwined with that of the master family. Indeed, in most cases the two families are still closely linked. Some master families have attempted to distance themselves from the captive families with disastrous consequences.
Next week we shall deal specifically with Princess Sidambe Khumalo’s own “slave men and women”. This introductory article will help us to better understand the unique socio-economic phenomenon practised by the Ndebele.
