Queen Somnjalose Simelane ; was the main wife of King

Ndvungunye Ndvungunye (also known as Zikodze, Zwane, Mavuso II) was King of Swaziland from 1780 until his death in 1815 after succeeding his father, King Ngwane III following a very brief regency of Ndlovukati LaYaka Ndwandwe. Very little has been recorded o ...

and the mother of King

Sobhuza I King Sobhuza I (also known as Ngwane IV, Somhlolo) () was king of Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Af ...

. She was the younger sister of

Lojiba Simelane Queen Lojiba Simelane was one of the wives of King Ndvungunye and the sister of Ndvungunye's main wife Somnjalose Simelane, the mother of King Sobhuza I. Lojiba acted as the queen regent and Indlovukati of Swaziland from 1836 after the death o ...

, also a wife of King Ndvungunye, who acted as regent following Sobhuza's death in 1836. As the main wife of King Ndvungunye, Somnjalose held a prominent position within the royal household, including her son being the heir. Somnjalose and her sister Lojiba were given to King Ndvungunye to marry by the Simelane clan when they were seeking refuge. The father of the two sisters was Nsibandze Simelane, a chief of the Simelane clan.Matsebula, J.S.M (1980): ''A History of Swaziland''. Cape Town: Creda Press. Page 8, 15, ''Philip Bonner interview series. Philip Bonner, 197
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/ref> They were born into the Ndlangamandla people, a smaller sub-clan of the Simelane lineage. Originally, the Simelane people resided in

Empangeni Empangeni is a town in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is approximately 157 kilometres north of Durban, in hilly countryside, overlooking a flat coastal plain and the major harbour town of Richards Bay 16 kilometres away. The N2 freeway runs eas ...

, in the Zulu kingdom, but left due to ongoing conflicts in the region. They first settled south of the

Pongola River The Phongolo River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through oPhongolo, is dammed at Pongolapoort, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows nort ...

, where their leader, Chief Mabonya (her brother), an elder son of Nsibandze, was killed in battle. Following his death, the Simelane people, led by Mancala, moved north to kaNgwane (the Swazi heartland), where they sought refuge with King Ndvungunye. Somnjalose's son Sobhuza I or Somhlolo was installed as the king in 1815. During the early years of King Sobhuza I’s reign, the Simelane and Mamba clans acted as a buffer against attacks from the Ndwandwe and other groups along the areas of Mahamba,

Mkhondo Piet Retief, officially eMkhondo, is a town situated in a timber-growing region in Mpumalanga province, South Africa. It is the seat of the Mkhondo Local Municipality. It is located just west of the Eswatini border. History The town was founded b ...

, and Dumbe. Sobhuza I's regiments in the Shiselweni Region (Kontjingila) were led by a warrior named Mbiko Simelane. A granddaughter of Sobhuza I married Simelane chief, Ntshingila II. When Sobhuza died in 1836, Lojiba served as regent alongside Sobhuza's eldest son Prince Malambule until

Mswati II King Mswati II (c. 1820 – August 1868), also known as Mswati and Mavuso III, was the king of Eswatini between 1840 and 1868. He was also the eponym of Eswatini. Mswati is considered to be one of the greatest fighting kings of Eswatini. Unde ...

came of age in 1840. Her residence at Zombodze became an important center of power during the reign of her son (Somhlolo). According to oral narratives, when King Sobhuza faced threats from neighboring kingdoms, including the

Ndwandwe The Ndwandwe are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa. They owe their name to one of their early chiefs and are also known as the Nxumalo. Today, they can be found in South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabw ...

and Zulu forces, he moved from his Shiselweni residence to his mother's in Zombodze for protection.''The Simelanes''. Killie Campbell Collections. Killie Campbell Africana Library. The Zulu Tribal Essay Competition

References

{{Reflist Swazi monarchs 18th-century monarchs in Africa