The Sunday News
KING Zwangendaba Jele and his Nguni followers did not tarry long in the land of the Tumbuka and the Chewa where he established settlement at Mawili. It was the allure of cattle said to be abundant in the land of the Sukuma that prompted him and the Ngoni to move on. When he departed he took with him members of the Tumbuka and Chewa ethnic groups. Among the incorporated were Lungu, Tembo, Sakala, Mumba, Mwanza and Ngoma, among several others.
The Ngoni settled in the land between Lakes Rukwa and Tanganyika. The Nyika, a matrilineal people, were the owners of the land. This was, in King Zwangendaba’s view, the land of his dreams. Accordingly, he named the place where he lived Amaphupho. In 1848 King Zwangendaba died at Nyinalusi and was buried according to Nguni tradition — in a sitting position. His body was positioned in such a way that it faces south-east where he and his followers had come from. This is a common practice among several African peoples. The corpses were made to face in the direction of people’s origin. This was a way to guide the departed souls in their journeys to link up with the living dead of the deceased persons.
The demise of King Zwangendaba marked the beginning of the disintegration of the hitherto united Ngoni people. It was the succession procedures and rules and King Zwangendaba and his brother’s behaviour that led to the discords. While the Ngoni were domiciled in southern Mozambique the senior queen was King Zwide’s sister Queen Lompethu who lived at Emveyeyeni. It turned out that Queen Lompethu was barren. It was time to turn to Nguni marriage custom in the face of such a situation. The king married Soseya who was to raise seed for Queen Lompethu. Soseya, who lived at Ekwendeni, was thus an inhlanzi (surrogate)and was destined to produce the heir to King Zwangendaba.
Meanwhile, King Zwangendaba had married another woman in Swaziland prior to their departure from that part of the world.
Beer was an important beverage among the Nguni. The various queens would brew beer which the maidens took in clay pots to the king’s residence. One day Queen Lompethu brewed some beer which was duly delivered at the royal place. While King Zwangendaba was consuming the beer he noticed some human hair floating in the beer. He immediately suspected witchcraft.
It was a common practice among African peoples to ensure beer being served was tested against possible poisoning and witchcraft. The person bringing the beer was expected to take a sip to ensure they had not laced it with some poisonous substance. In IsiNdebele the person was expected to “khupha ubuthakathi” and was the first to take a sip in full view of those waiting to partake of the intoxicating brew. The enraged King Zwangendaba dispatched a party under the leadership of one of his chiefs to go and get rid of the two queens.
When the chief got to Emveyeyeni he discovered that Queen Soseya was expecting. The chief imagined Queen Soseya could be carrying a future king of the Ngoni. He decided he would not carry the royal order to the full. He proceeded to kill Queen Lompethu but spared Queen Soseya who was hidden away to avoid the wrath of the king. Following the demise of Queen Lompethu, Queen Soseya’s status became questionable. As a result, Queen Mnene became the senior queen.
Queen Mnene’s first born child Lomagazi died at a tender age. Subsequent children too met the similar fate. That prompted the king to marry Quthu as surrogate wife for Queen Mnene. When the Ngoni left southern Mozambique they struck in a north-westerly direction into the lands of the Rozvi. It was then that the king was alerted to the presence of the heir apparent, the son who was spared by the chief. It is said when the Ngoni crossed the Zambezi River at Zumbo King Zwangendaba was among the last to cross. When he finally did cross he was carrying his son Ntutho on his shoulders. Ntutho was his son who would later be called Mpezeni, who according to Ngoni oral traditions, was to be the host of the fleeing Ndebele king, Lobengula.
Son Ntutho was so named because he was born at the time when the Ngoni were moving from southern Mozambique. The name, a noun is derived from the verb thutha. This is the son Ntutho who was to be renamed Mpezeni a Ngoni word meaning to discontinue.
We mentioned in the last article that once the Ngoni were across the Zambezi River they went into the land of the Nsenga. Once there Queen Quthu the inhlanzi for Queen Mnene gave birth to Mthwadlwana the son who was later named Mthwalo. As if to further confound the succession issue Queen Mnene gave birth to her own son at the time the Ngoni were domiciled at Mawili. The son was named M’mbelwa who then became the crown prince. Mthwalo’s case was lost as her mother Queen Quthu was inhlanzi for Queen Mnene the mother of M’mbelwa.
King Zwangendaba did not show any signs of recognition for Mpezeni as the heir. He seemed to favour M’mbelwa. That alarmed the residents of Emveyeyeni and Ekwendeni where queens Lompethu and Soseya lived. The situation was further confused by Ntabeni Jele the brother to the king. That happened following the demise of the king. Ntabeni’s son was appointed regent for the young Mpezeni. Apparently Ntabeni supported Mpezeni’s royal claims.
Ntabeni went further to appoint Prince Mpezeni king of the Ngoni. A section of the tribe was disaffected and alarmed. Queen Mnene, whom Ntabeni had a longstanding grudge with, was ordered out of Ekwendeni. Instead, Queen Quthu was installed senior queen. Ntabeni then appointed Queen Quthu’s son as the second in command after Mpezeni.
When Ntabeni died what had been a united Ngoni nation split. His followers, afraid of suffering the sins of Ntabeni, fled from Ufipa and went further north. They settled at a place between Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika. Next to hive off was Prince M’mbelwa who went along with some of King Zwangendaba’s sons, amongst them the following: Mthwalo, Ndabazakhe, Mhlantshana and Mabilabo.
Mpezeni on the other hand went towards the land of the Bemba whom he attacked with disastrous consequences. He decided he was not going to settle in the land of the Bemba. Instead, he went further south to settle in the land of the Nsenga where his late father King Zwangendaba had incorporated Chiwere Njobvu who became an illustrious fighter among the Ngoni. In 1865 he finally settled in the valley of the Matumbazi.
This was the place closer to the Zambezi River in comparison to Ufipa where King Lobengula was to arrive as a refugee, where he would live till his death twenty six years after his arrival.
