Thembu Kingdom

Thembu people
AbaThembu

Siyaɓalala, chief of the Ndungwana clan of the Thembu,c. 1930s
Total population
3.3 million
Regions with significant populations
South Africa Lesotho
Languages
IsiXhosa Sesotho,English
Religion
Christianity,uThixo
Related ethnic groups
Xhosa,Mpondo,Swati,Zulu,Khoisan

The Thembu/Tamboekie people
Person	UmThembu
People	AbaThembu
Language	IsiXhosa
Country	Thembuland region in the Xhosa Kingdom

Nelson Mandela from AbaThembu tribe

Brenda Fassie famous singer from Thembu tribe

TheThembu(Xhosa:AbaThembu) areXhosa peoplewho lived in the Thembu Kingdom.

According to the Xhosa oral tradition, the Thembu migrated along the east coast of southern Africa before settling inKwaZulu-Natal.The earliest known Thembu ancestor is Mbulali, whose grandson (named Thembu), led his people from what became the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal to Dedesi in the present-day Transkei region of South Africa. The Thembu emerged as unified people during the reign ofNgxeko/Nxekwa,who united clans living inThembulandinto a single political entity, owing allegiance to the Thembu royal family, or "Hala Mvelase." Famous Thembus includeNelson Mandela,whose father was a reigningnoblemanfrom a junior branch of the Madiba clan of kings, andWalter Sisulu.

Abathembu is originally fromThembulandand throughoutEastern Cape,Western Capeand South Africa, they are also located in LesothoQuthingandQacha's Nekand the Northern parts of Eastern Cape,Aliwal North,Sterkspruit,and up toMatatiele,Thembu's that are located in the North of Eastern Cape nearLesothospeak fluentSesotho.

Name

In Xhosa, the name isabaThembu(aba-is a commonprefiximplying "people" ).The territory of the Thembu state was historically known asThembuland.

In the 19th century, Thembu were frequently known as the "Tamboekie" or "Tambookie" people. This name was originally theKhoisan languageterm specifically for the followers of Chief Maphasa who moved into the area west of theGreat Kei Riverin the 1820s. However, Europeans used these terms as a synonym for "Thembu" for much of the 19th century.

Thembu

Origin

Thembu was known as /Xam bu!e, /Xam and Embo people which makes /Xam bu!e inXhosait's Thembu, the O became U for bu.

AbaThembu derives from /Xam ka!ue the meaning of/Xamis an Oryx or Antelope. The original name of AbaThembu was /Xam ka!eten (Antelope water people) inkhoemanathe word exists as /ehem it's the same.

Thembu's by a large portion spoke/Xamor /Xam ke an extinct language, The Basotho's used to call Eastern Cape (Bathebu ke ing ke ma /Xam), it was known as a /Xam area. AbaThembu never originated from Central Africa the Thembu history never descended they ascended.

uMtikrakra

Mtikrakra is a bitter bush it's not a Xhosa word it was corrupted by theXhosa language,it's written in Xhosa as Mtikrakra, in/Xamit's (/um ti na) or (/um ra ra) and even in!Orakobab,and /Xam ke the Ra Ra means something that is bitter (!kung ra ra) bitter bush or tree people inAfrikaans(bitter bos mense).

/Xam and Thembu history

The nameǂKhomaniis what we know now as Queenstown it was a /Xam land which is now known asThembuland,ǂkhomani people still exist in the Kalahari, (!kung ra ma ba) which isUpington,Eastern Cape used to be a Cape ColonyQueenstown (now called komani)is named after AmaQoma, Qoma means (A tree were a lion would rest). The Ntsundu people areNǀuupeople they exist inNorthern Cape,Free StateandKalahari.

The definition of Thembu is /Xam bu!e. /Xam intermarried with Abambo a minority, not the majority of Abambo they build a relationship with them, that's why today the /Xam bu!e,!e is a suffix when people say AbaThembu it is aXhosa languageit's not a Indigenous language inTranskeithey speak a different type of dialect which is not their own original dialect it's a diversified dialect that kept connection with Abambo people. The original Thembu's spoke five to six-click dialect.

Thembu's always praises a phrase called Sopitso or Yem-Yem which means (/Xam - /Xam) it connects all the Madiba, Dlomo, Nxongo, and Qwithi people.

History

Main article:Thembuland

Prior to the British conquest in the 19th century, the Thembu had an independentkingdom.TheXhosa clan nameof the Thembu kings is Ntlazi aNkosiyane.Recent kings, Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo includingSabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo,took the surname Dalindyebo, after a 19th-century king.

After the conquest, the Thembu came under the government of theCape Colonyas part ofTranskei.Except for a few missionaries and traders, Transkei was aBantustan.TheTranskeiremained a Bantustan underapartheidand was along withCiskeiregarded as the homeland of the Xhosa people.

AbaThembu are a nation independent ofAmaXhosa,and they originate from the eMbo Empire. Zwide (Not of Ndwandwe) was the first man to leave eMbo, and he begot Mbulali in 1260, who begot Njanye, who begot Mthembu in the 1300s.

Mthembu settled with his people in a place known asMbabaneinSwazilandand then went to kwaMsinga inNatalwhere he got two sons, Ndilo and Mvelase also known as Qudeni. He founded the tribe known as Abathembu BakwaMvelase. Ndilo left and died in a place known as Msana inEastern CapeNdilo's sons were Ntongakazi (dumakazi), Bhomoyi, Mncotshe, Mdlane, Qoma, and Jali. The houses of Mdlane and Jali, Qoma, Mncotshe were unimportant because their mothers were commoners. The only houses that were respected were the houses of Bhomoyi and Ntongakazi also known as Dumakazi both their mothers came from Royal houses.

Bhomoyi left Msana toLesothoto a place known asQacha's Nekhe got into a battle with theBasotho'sand won his newfound land when Bhomoyi confiscated land Basotho came to ask him to leave so that they could continue to farm on their land Bhomoyi replied (Andizuhamba de ndizobe ndibhentselwa zintombi zabesotho) meaning I won't leave until I'm awarded with young Basotho women, The messenger went back to the Basotho King and returned with fifteen Basotho women this is where Isiduko Zabathembu got the phrase (VelaBembhentsele). Bhomoyi begot Ceduma who begot Mguti who begot Mngxongo and a daughter named Khazeka whose mother came fromMpondoroyal family and who begot Ntoyi in the right-hand house whose mother was a commoner.

Khazeka is one of the two woman names that are mentioned in the history of AbaThembu because of their fearlessness and victories in unifying and stabilizing the Kingdom. Amagorhakazi esizwe saBathembu.

One day, Mtshutshumbe's section ofAmaXesibehad to pass by the land of AbaThembu to reachAmaGcaleka.But because AbaThembu namaXesibe had some history, Mtshutshumbe decided to hide his Xesibe identity by calling his people AmaQwathi, named after a cow that was used at his graduation from initiation school.

After they had arrived, they presented a tribute of cattle to Mguti in exchange for land which they got eNgcobo. Mguti then told his son Mngxongo to go confiscate their land, and when he had done soo, amaQwathi gave him cattle that were all black and this is preserved in iziduko zamaNgxongo Ntsundu(these were the color of the cattle).

It then happened that Mngxongo didn't return and his father Mguti got lost searching for him to crown him as the next King and he drowned with his dogs in the Qethume River.

Mngxongo's heir was Mphosesebeni, who was refused his place on the throne by the royal family. And to this day when Mguti and Mngxongo names are mentioned, it gets awkward ebaThenjini because the rightful king was overlooked.

Mphosesebeni's uncle Ntoyi, who had usurped the royal throne begot Ntande and Zima. When Ntoyi passed on, Zima succeeded him as regent for the young Ntande. This is when amaTola arrived led by Mkhume and his brother. They are the ones who introduced the use of spears to abaThembu.

Ntande took over the reins after Zima's death, and he begot Nxeko, Maya, and the twins Qithi and Cube. During the 16th century, Nxeko led the migration from Dedesi to Msana in theMthatha district.

Nxeko was the first legitimate king of abaThembu because he was the one who assimilated various fragments from tribes such asamaBomvana,amaVundle,amaMpondomise,andamaMfenguto build his kingdom. Nxekwa begot Hlanga by aMpondowoman of the Mqiha clan, and Dlomo who is the eldest from another wife, as well as twins Balisa and Ndungwana, from a third wife.

All these women had not been classified into different ranks from major to minor. But it was clear that Hlanga, whose mother was a princess, was most likely to be the royal successor.

Just at that time,amaMfenecame asking to be incorporated into the Thembu nation. They were duly received and Ndungwana was instructed to allocate sites to them.

Ndungwana never returned from his mission, instead, he remained with the strangers, enjoying all the respect that was accorded him, and he installed himself as their Nkosi.

Whenever Dlomo slaughtered a cow, he would send inxaxheba (the right hindquarter) to Ndungwana, his junior, and then Hlanga would also send his nxaxheba to his junior Balisa which was a popular costume that displayed royal authority.

One day cows were slaughtered in the homes of both Dlomo and Hlanga. Dlomo decided to share meat with Welangaye, a maiden from the Mpemvu clan, and she burst out in praise of how Dlomo had basically installed himself as King and left shedding tears of joy.

King

Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo,son ofSabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo,became the Thembu king in May 1989; hispraise nameisZwelibanzi.Sabata deposedKaiser Matanzima,whom the government had installed and who advocated against South African liberation movements. In December 2009, King Buyelekhaya was convicted of offenses includingculpable homicide,kidnapping,arsonandassault.In response, he proposed secession from South Africa,and later demanded that the government pay DalindyeboR900 million and the tribe a further R80 billion in compensation for the humiliation caused by his criminal trial.

Dalindyebo was imprisoned in December 2015. He was also dethroned and was expected to be administratively dethroned.

Prince Azenathi Dalindyebo, Buyelekhaya's heir, has served as theacting kingof the tribe since 2016.

On 23 December 2019, following presidentCyril Ramaphosa'sDay of reconciliationspeech, the abaThembu king was released from prison after serving one-third of his sentence.

Lineage

• Ndala
• 1800 - 10 Aug 1830 VusaniNgubengcukaAa! Ndaba!
• Mthikrakra
• Ngangelizwe
• Dalindyebo
• Sampu Dalindyebo Aa! Jongilizwe!
• Sabata DalindyeboAa! Jonguhlanga!
• May 1989 – presentBuyelekhaya DalindyeboAa! Zwelibanzi!

Thembu Kingship line

Thembu Born in 1300s

Ndilo

Qoma (AmaQoma) Qomukuyitya Mvand'inyama Nyoyela

Mdlane (AmaMdlane) Tutuse Nomdimba Qandashe

Jali (AmaJali)

Mncotshe (AmaMncotshe)Ndala Momamana Msunu Ngxunga Thole

Ntongakazi

Bhomoyi

Ceduma

Zima

Mnguti

Ngxongo

Ntoyi

Ntande

Ndungwane (AmaNdungwane)

Nxeko

Hlanga (AmaQhayi)

Dlomo

Hala

Madiba

Tato

Zondwa (he never became a King because he died before his father)

Ndala

1800 -10 August 1830 VusaniNgubengcukaAa! Ndaba!

Mthikrakra

Mandela(chief)

Ngangelizwe (Qheya)

Henry Gadla Mphakanyiswa Mandela Aa! Gadla!

Dalindyebo (Alava)

Matanzima

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela Aa! Dalibhunga!

Sampu Dalindyebo Aa! Jongilizwe!

Kaiser Matanzima Aa! Daliwonga!

George MatanzimaAa! Mzimvubu!

Madiba "Thembi" Thembekile Mandela[1945–1969]

Makgatho Mandela[1950–2005]

Sabata DalindyeboAa! Jonguhlanga!

Mthethuvumile Matanzima (he never became a King because he died before his father)

Mandla Mandela Aa! Zwelivelile!

May 1989 -Buyelekhaya DalindyeboAa! Zwelibanzi!

Lwandile Zwelenkosi MatanzimaAa! Zwelenkosi!

Siyambonga Dalimvula Matanzima Aa! Dalimvula!

See also

• Dalindyebo
• Matanzima
• Xhosa clan names

External links

• Sihele, E. G.,Who are abaThembu and Where Do They Come From?(PDF)(manuscript), translated by Tisani, N. C.,retrieved2023-09-12– via Rhodes University
• Royal lineageat worldstatesmen.org