The Kalanga or BaKalanga are a southern Bantu ethnic group mainly inhabiting Matebeleland in

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, northern Botswana, and parts of the

Limpopo Province Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. The BaKalanga of Botswana are the second largest ethnic group in the country, and their Bakalanga

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

being the second most spoken in the country (most prevalent in the North). The TjiKalanga language of Zimbabwe is the third most spoken language in the country, however, being recognized as a Western Shona branch of the Shona group of languages. It is likewise used in mass media.

Clans

The most notable Kalanga clans are the boSungwasha, boMndambeli, boNeswimbo, boNtombo, boKumbudzi, boKadzasha, and boPhizha na boNebukhwa. * Bo-Sungwasha: The largest of these clans are the Sungwasha clan as they are found in each Kalanga village, district and town in both Botswana and Zimbabwe. They are also known as BaWumbe/Tjibelu. BaWumbe tribe are found as far as Zambia and Zimbabwe, known to be living and staying among the BaTonga tribe. * Bo-Mndambeli: The following clan would be the Mndambeli people as they are found dominantly in the Boteti District using the Shoko as well as Zhou and Tshuma as their totems as well as the

North-East District (Botswana) The North-East District is one of the administrative districts of Botswana. Its capital is Francistown. In 2011, North-East had a population of 60,264 people. The district is predominantly occupied by Kalanga-speaking people, the BaKalanga. The ...

and Tutume districts venerating the Ghudo or Tembo. The Mndambeli are also found among the Shona people of Zimbabwe, often referred to as Mwendamberi and they are also found among VhaVenda, where they are called VhoMudabeli. * Bo-Ntombo/Baperi: The Ntombo (otherwise referred to as Baperi) would then follow suit as the third largest clan being found scattered in a number of villages however, often under the leadership of either the Sungwasha or Mndambeli people. They are also found in the area around

Plumtree, Zimbabwe Plumtree is a town in Zimbabwe. Marula trees, wild plum trees (Ntungulu in tjiKalanga) grow abundantly in the area. The town was once called ''Getjenge'' by baKalanga. It is also often called ''Titji,'' meaning station, and referring to the ...

town. History goes to state that BoNtombo are believed to be descendants of the Balobedu people found in South Africa who are today a section of the Bapedi tribe. * BoKumbudzi: This clan is found in fewer numbers as they are mostly the ones with the spiritual gifts to communicate with Mwali at Njelele Shrine. They believe that it is a gift for a select few. They are sometimes referred to as boNebukhwa.

Language

The native language of the Kalanga people is referred to as Ikalanga or TjiKalanga. The language has a number of tribal dialects depending on which part of the tribal territory you are situated. There are among others the Talaunda dialect, the Lilima dialect, Jawunda dialect, the Nanzwa dialect, Tjigwizi dialect as well as Tjindodondo dialect (dominant in

). Together with the Nambya language, these varieties form the western branch of the shona group (Guthrie S.10) that also includes Central Shona. Kalanga-speakers once numbered over 1,900,000, though they are now reduced, often speaking Ndebele or Central Shona languages in Zimbabwe, Tswana in Botswana, and other local languages of the surrounding peoples of

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

. The BaKalanga are one of the largest ethnolinguistic groups in

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. The 1946

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

indicated that there were 39,773 (49% of the numerically largest district) BaKalanga in the Bamangwato (Central) District.

History

According to Huffman (2008), the original Bakalanga people descended from the late

Leopard's Kopje Leopard's Kopje is an archaeological site, the type site of the associated region or culture that marked the Middle Iron Age in Zimbabwe. The ceramics from the Leopard's Kopje type site have been classified as part of phase II of the Leopard's K ...

farmers in 1050. These people occupied areas covering parts of north eastern

, western and southern

, adjacent parts of

by around AD 1100. They traded in

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and Tooth, teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mamm ...

, furs and feathers with the Indian Ocean coast for goods such as glass beads and cotton clothes. The majority of these prehistoric Bakalanga villages have been discovered in Botswana and Zimbabwe in areas close to major rivers and were usually built on terraced hilltops with stone walls built around them. The Kalanga are linked to such early African States as Mapungubgwe, Khami, and

. The early Bakalanga people living in the Shashe-Limpopo basin monopolised trade due to their access to the Indian Ocean coast with the help of the Shona and Venda who were already trading and developed in Gumanye and Zhizo-Leokwe cultures for 30 years before being annexed by the Mapungubwe Kingdom. By around AD 1220 a new and more powerful kingdom developed around Mapungubwe Hill, near the tripoint of

and

. Some of the early Bakalanga people living in the lower Shashe-Limpopo valley probably moved towards or became part of this newly formed kingdom. But studies of climatic data from the area suggest that a disastrous

drought A drought is a period of drier-than-normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, ...

soon struck Mapungubgwe, and the Shashe-

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

region was uninhabited between A.D 1300 and 1420, forcing the ordinary population to scatter. Mapungubgwe had become a ghost town by AD 1290. Its golden era lasted no more than 48 years culminating in the rise of

Great Zimbabwe Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. It was settled from 1000 AD, and served as the capital of the Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe from the 13th century. It is the largest stone struc ...

. Later, in the 15th century, the centre of power moved back west, from Great Zimbabwe to Khami/Nkami. The moves were accompanied by changes of the dominance from one clan to another. In the 17th century, the Rozvi established southern BaKalanga became a powerful competitor, but when they were finally annexed, they controlled most of the mining areas. The Rozvi even repelled Portuguese colonists from some of their inland posts. In south-western Zimbabwe (now

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi ...

) and adjacent parts of present-day Botswana, Kalanga states survived for more than another century. The fall of the Kingdom of Butua came as a result of a series of invasions. Changamire Dombo who was actually part Kalanga led his army to march on their cpital which crumbled the state in the late spring of 1683. The area of the BaKalanga were invaded many times taking the lives of hundreds of thousands maybe millions, beginning with the Bangwato Kgosi Kgari's ill-fated incursion of around 1828 and culminating in the onslaught of

Mzilikazi Mzilikazi Moselekatse, Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Ndebele Kingdom now called Matebeleland which is now part of Zimbabwe. His name means "the great river of blood". He was born the son of M ...

's Amandebele.

Rain-making

The Kalanga people are known for their rain-making abilities through their Supreme Being Mwali/Ngwali. These abilities have always been a part of the BaKalanga people history as well as all those other related groups. The rain-making has always been the duty of the Hosanna's or Wosana (the high priests in Mwali/Ngwali's church). The traditional attire of the Kalanga/BaKalanga people clearly shows the importance of rain to BaKalanga. They put on black skirts which represent dark clouds heavy with rain, and the white shirts to represent rain droplets. This is the attire worn when they go and plead for rain at Njelele shrine in Zimbabwe, which is the headquarters for the Hosanna's of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

Bakalanga villages and towns

Serowe Serowe (population approximately 60,000) is an urban village in Botswana's Botswana Central District, Central District. A trade and commercial centre, it is Botswana's third largest village. Serowe has played an important role in Botswana's histor ...

* Shashe-Mooke * Mbambanyika * Mopipi * Nata-Gweta * Letlhakane * Orapa * Rakops * Changate * Xhumo * Makalamabedi * Tonota * Kandana * Gombalume * Magalanyeza * Tjangula * Gwambe * Mbila * Mabungwe * Bambadzi * Masukwane * Mulambakwena * Tutume * Maitengwe * Nswazwi * Nshakashongwe * Matenge * Makaleng * Tjizwina * Hulela * Mpatane * Mathangwane * Masunga * Gambule * Sekakangwe * Vhukwi * Zwenshambe * Kalakamati * Sinotsi * Matobo * Semitwe * Marapong * Sebina * Butale * Ramokgwebana * Mapoka * Tokwana * Masendu * Nhopemano * Mafule * Makumbi * Mbimba * Tjolotjo * Masingwaneng * Tsamaya * Mosetse * Dagwi * Nkange * Senete *Matjinge * Gulubane * Themashanga * Ntoli * Nlapkhwane * Gampo * Khame ancient city of a Kalanga kingdom * Tsholotsho * Plumtree * Gwaai * Ndolwane * Hwange * Dete * Lupane * Pandamatenga *

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

* Kgari * Moroka * Sechele *

Letsholathebe Letsholathebe may refer to: * Douglas Letsholathebe, Botswana politician * Ndiapo Letsholathebe (born 1983), Botswana footballer * Letsholathebe II Memorial Hospital, in Maun, Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a ...

* Kalakamati * Goshwe * Madlambudzi * Francistown * Masendu * Bhagani * Makhekhe * Bilingoma *Malebegwa * Sihore * Malalume * Malopa * Bambadzi * Hingwe * Jutjume * Makhulela * Tjehanga * Mbalambi * Lemu * Ngwana * Butshe * Nswazwi * Gutu * Dombodema * Hikwa *

Male Male (Planet symbols, symbol: ♂) is the sex of an organism that produces the gamete (sex cell) known as sperm, which fuses with the larger female gamete, or Egg cell, ovum, in the process of fertilisation. A male organism cannot sexual repro ...

*Tjompani * Sevaka * mafeha * mabhongani * Mathangwane * Makorokoro * Hhobodo * Madabe * Tjingababili * Mafule

References

External links

Kalanga Language and Cultural Development Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalanga people