A Rolong man
The earliest Nguni speakers probably lived in numerous small-scale autonomous communities. The coastal belt they occupied had better natural resources than the interior and provided for mixed pastoralism and agriculture. This allowed people to live in more scattered communities where the homestead head reigned supreme. As already noted, though, there were ties through marriage (to outside kinship groups) and through chiefly allegiances to a wider community.
How then did the Nguni speakers become the separate kingdoms of the Zulu, Swazi, Mpondo, Thembu and Xhosa of today? The first thing to understand is that the clearcut distinction made today between the Xhosa and the Zulu has no basis in culture or history, but arises out of the colonial distinction between the Cape and Natal colonies. Both speak essentially the same language and share essentially the same customs, but the historical experiences at the northern end of the Nguni culture area differed considerably from the historical experiences at the southern end. The majority of northerners became part of the Zulu kingdom, which abolished circumcision. The majority of southerners never became part of any strongly centralised kingdom, intermarried with Khoikhoi and retained circumcision. Later, Africans from the Cape Colony working in Johannesburg were labelled as Xhosa even though they were actually Mpondo or Thembu; Africans from Natal working in Johannesburg were labelled as Zulu, even if they were actually Hlubi or Bhele and their forefathers fought valiantly against Shaka.
A Xhosa woman
The political transformations associated with the name of Shaka, who ruled from 1818 to 1828, eventually saw the Zulu kingdom controlling the territory between the Phongolo and Thukela rivers. The different chiefdoms of that region and beyond were incorporated into the Zulu kingdom. However, developments among the southern Nguni took a different course. For unknown reasons, certain southern Nguni clans began to expand their power some time before 1600, subjecting and incorporating neighbouring clans. Tshawe founded the Xhosa kingdom by defeating the Cirha and Jwarha clans. His descendants expanded the kingdom by settling in new territory and bringing people living there under the control of the amaTshawe.
The Pondo, Somi
This process of expansion was still in progress when the Xhosa ran up against the Cape colonists in the 1770s. East of the Kei River, the Hala, Nyawuza and Majole clans carved out the Tyhembu, Mpondo and Mpondomise kingdoms respectively. These kingdoms may pre-date the Xhosa. Certainly all the southern Nguni kingdoms were in place 150 years before the rise of the Mthethwa or Ndwandwe in the 1810s, in present-day KwaZulu-Natal. But though extensive, they were weak. The heirs of the founders were not able to discipline junior chiefs or check rivalries within the royal lineage. Commoners could resist chiefly demands by easily changing allegiances.
| Before 1600 southern Nguni clans began to expand, incorporating neighbouring clans. The Thembu, Mpondo and Mpondomise and Xhosa kingdoms formed and were well established in the 1660s. The majority of southerners never became part of a centralised kingdom, intermarried Khoikhoi and retained circumcision.These kingdoms established themselves later than the southern Nguni in the 1810s. Most northerners became part of the Zulu kingdom between the Phongolo and Thukela rivers and abolished circumcision. Africans from the Cape Colony were labelled Xhosa even though they were Mpondo or Thembu and people from Natal labelled Zulu even if they were Hlubi or Bhele. |
