The Thembu () are a Xhosa Nation who inhabited the Kingdom of Thembuland. They were established around the 16th century as one of the Xhosa federations in the Transkeian territories. The federation was later annexed by

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

shortly after the death of King Sarhili. According to Xhosa oral tradition, the Hala clan migrated along the east coast of southern Africa before settling in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

. The earliest known Thembu ancestor is Chief Mbulali Ka-Nanzinzaba, whose grandson (named uMthembu KaNtongakazi), 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 a single political entity during the reign of Nxeko, who settled in Dedesi and was awarded chieftainship by King Togu, who later also handed him independence to form a new Xhosa state. Famous descendants of Nxeko include members of the royal line of the Xhosa Kingdom and politicians like

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

, whose father was a reigning

nobleman Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

from a junior branch of the AmaMadiba clan of kings, and

Walter Sisulu Walter Max Ulyate Sisulu (18 May 1912 – 5 May 2003) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC). Between terms as ANC Secretary-General (1949–1954) and ANC ...

Name

In Xhosa, the name is ''abaThembu'' (''aba-'' is a common

prefix A prefix is an affix which is placed before the stem of a word. Particularly in the study of languages, a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the word to which it is affixed. Prefixes, like other affixes, can b ...

implying "people"). The territory of the Thembu state was historically known as

Thembuland Thembuland, , is a natural region in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Its territory is the traditional region of the abaThembu. It was formerly also known as "Tamboekieland" or "Tambookieland". The area of Thembuland proper includes pre ...

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

Origin

The Thembu people were known as '/Xam bu !e' , '/Xam', and 'the Embo people'. In Xhosa, /Xam bu !e translates to 'Thembu'. AbaThembu is derived from '/Xam ka !ue'. /Xam means an 'Oryx' or an 'Antelope'. The original name of AbaThembu was '/Xam ka !eten' (Antelope water people). In khoemana the word exists as '/ehem'. AbaThembu at large spoke /Xam or /Xam ke (an extinct language). The Basotho's used to call the Eastern Cape as "Bathebu ke ing ke ma /Xam", coz it was known as a /Xam area. There's no historical evidence of AbaThembu descending from Central Africa, but there is proof of a minority of them ascending to Central Africa due to Shaka's expansion known as 'Imfecane' (The Crushing).

/Xam and Thembu history

The town of ǂKhomani, now known as Queenstown, used to be called /Xam land, then /Xam land later became

. ǂkhomani people still exist in the Kalahari (!kung ra ma ba), which is

Upington Upington () is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees i ...

, Eastern Cape used to be a Cape Colony Queenstown (now called komani) is named after AmaQoma, Qoma means (A tree were a lion would rest). The Ntsundu people are Nǀuu people they exist in

Northern Cape The Northern Cape ( ; ; ) is the largest and most sparsely populated Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley, South Africa, Kimberley. It includes ...

, Free State and

Kalahari The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African Namib coastal d ...

. The name 'Thembu' directly translates to /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 a

Xhosa language Xhosa ( , ), formerly spelled ''Xosa'' and also known by its local name ''isiXhosa'', is a Bantu language, indigenous to Southern Africa and one of the official languages of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Xhosa is spoken as a first language ...

it's not a Indigenous language in

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River, he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

they 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 Thembus spoke five to six-click dialects. Thembus always praises a phrase called Sopitso or Yem-Yem which means (/Xam - /Xam) it connects all the Madiba, Dlomo, Nxongo, and Qwithi people.

History

AbaThembu is a nation independent of AmaXhosa, from the eMbo/Aba-Mbo Empire. Zwide (''not of Ndwandwe'') was the first man to leave eMbo, and he begot Malandela (''not of AmaZulu years before''), who settled in Mozambique, who begot Mbulali, who begot Njanye, who begot Mthembu. Mthembu settled with his people in a place known as

Mbabane Mbabane () is the most populous city in Eswatini (previously called Swaziland), and is one of the two Capital (political), capitals (along with Lobamba), serving as the Executive (government), executive capital. It has an estimated population of ...

Swaziland 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 Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where ...

and then went to kwaMsinga in Natal where 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 in

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

Ndilo'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 to

Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...

to a place known as Qacha's Nek he got into a battle with the Basothos and 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 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 from

Mpondo The Mpondo People, or simply Ama-Mpondo, is a kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape.Mpondo people
Encycl ...

royal family and who begot Ntoyi in the right-hand house whose mother was a commoner. Khazeka is one of the two woman names 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 of AmaXesibe had to pass by the land of AbaThembu to reach AmaGcaleka. 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 arrived, they presented a tribute of cattle to Mnguti in exchange for land, which they got eNgcobo. Mguti then told his son Mngxongo to confiscate their land, and when he had done so, amaQwathi gave him cattle that were all black, which is preserved in iziduko zamaNgxongo Ntsundu (these were the cattle's colors). 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 Ngxeko, Maya, and the twins Qithi and Cube. During the 16th century, Ngxeko led the migration from Dedesi to Msana in the Mthatha district. Ngxeko was the first legitimate king of abaThembu because he was the one who assimilated various fragments from tribes such as amaBomvana, amaVundle, amaMpondomise, and amaMfengu to build his kingdom. Nxekwa begot Hlanga by a

Mpondo The Mpondo People, or simply Ama-Mpondo, is a kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape.Mpondo people
Encycl ...

woman 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, AmaMfene came 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. Before the British conquest in the 19th century, the Thembu had an independent kingdom. The Xhosa clan name of the Thembu kings is Ntlazi aNkosiyane. Recent kings, Buyelekhaya Zwelibanzi Dalindyebo including Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, took the surname Dalindyebo, after a 19th-century king. After the conquest, the Thembu came under the government of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

as part of

. Except for a few missionaries and traders, Transkei was a

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

. The

remained a Bantustan under

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

and was regarded, along with

Ciskei Ciskei ( , meaning ''on this side of Great Kei River, he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Ciskei (), was a Bantustan for the Xhosa people, located in the southeast of South Africa. It covered an area of , almost entirely surrounded b ...

, as the homeland of the Xhosa people.

Great House

The great house of AbaThembu is called Eastern Thembu at Bumbane Great Palace and is situated in Mthata, Eastern Cape. The right-hand house is called Western Thembu at Qamata Great Palace and is situated in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape. The Western Thembus' house enjoyed autonomy for decades and was often referred to as the right-hand house, while the Eastern Thembus' house was referred to as the great house. King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, son of King Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, became the King of AbaThembu Nation in May 1989; his praise name is Aa! Zwelibanzi!.

The invasion of Thembuland

When King

Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor Tribal chief, chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena tribe, Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his fat ...

of Basotho invaded

in search of more cattle, he went along with his younger brother Magabane and Morosi, his great friend and the king of BaPhuthi. Moshoeshoe then instructed Magabane to go and raid for cattle at Ngubengcuka’s royal estate, while he and Morosi relaxed on a mountain near Ngcobo. When Magabane was returning with some cattle, Ngubengcuka's regiments gave him a tough time, but they failed to stop him. The AbaThembu gradually built their regiments as more and more warriors responding to the war drum kept on joining them. They attacked Basotho repeatedly but were repulsed every time. Just as Magabane was about to ascend eLuhewini mountain with the cattle, a joint army of AmaHala and AmaQwathi arrived and Basotho with their small axes and reaped havoc on the limbs of the enemy, but they were thrown into confusion as AbaThembu attacked from behind. After some time

Basotho The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...

gave in and sought refuge in a forest. Ngubengcuka instructed his army to completely expel Basotho from his Kingdom, but one of the men informed him that they had run out of weapons. Ngubengcuka then told them to get wood from the forest and make clubs. At once the orders of the King were carried out, Basotho were driven out of the forest with sticks and clubs and Magabane was critically injured and later died as a result of his wounds.. When the fight reached Moshoeshoe, he put up no resistance and joined the flight into a nearby forest, which Ngubengcuka ordered his men to surround at once. Evening soon approached and because of the darkness, the AbaThembu could not drive the Basotho out of the forest. By the following morning there was not a single Mosotho in the forest, as they had all escaped in that way. Moshoeshoe was defeated by King Ngubengcuka. The forest was renamed Nduku, meaning (stick to commemorate how they were used to drive out Basotho who very nearly perished in Thembuland). At the time when everything was under control in King Ngubengcuka’s country, there was no nation that dared to touch him, and his power was accepted and recognized by all.

King

Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, son of Sabata Jonguhlanga Dalindyebo, became the Thembu king in May 1989; his praise name is ''Zwelibanzi''. Sabata deposed

Kaiser Matanzima Chief Kaiser Daliwonga Matanzima, often misspelled as Mathanzima (15 June 1915 – 15 June 2003), was the long-term leader of Transkei. In 1950, when South Africa was offered to establish the Bantu Authorities Act, Matanzima convinced the Bhun ...

, whom the government had installed and who advocated against South African liberation movements. In December 2009, King Buyelekhaya was convicted of offenses including

culpable homicide Culpable homicide is a categorisation of certain offences in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the homicide (illegal killing of a person) either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a pa ...

kidnapping Kidnapping or abduction is the unlawful abduction and confinement of a person against their will, and is a crime in many jurisdictions. Kidnapping may be accomplished by use of force or fear, or a victim may be enticed into confinement by frau ...

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

and

assault In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...

. In response, he proposed secession from South Africa, and later demanded that the government pay Dalindyebo R900 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. Compare: Prince Azenathi Dalindyebo, Buyelekhaya's heir, has served as the acting king of the tribe since 2016. On 23 December 2019, following president

Cyril Ramaphosa Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa (born 17 November 1952) is a South African businessman and politician serving as the 5th and current President of South Africa since 2018. A former Anti-Apartheid Movement, anti-apartheid activist and trade union leade ...

's Day of reconciliation speech, the abaThembu king was released from prison after serving one-third of his sentence.

Thembu Kingship line

{{{chart, , , , , , , , !, , , , , , , ,, -, ^, -, ., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , !} {{chart, , , , , , , Sabata Dalindyebo, , , , , Kaiser Matanzima, , George Matanzima, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Mandla Mandela, , Sabata Dalindyebo= Sabata Dalindyebo Aa! Jonguhlanga!, , Kaiser Matanzima=

Aa! Daliwonga!, , George Matanzima= George Matanzima Aa! Mzimvubu!, , Mandla Mandela=

Mandla Mandela Zwelivelile "Mandla" Mandela, National Assembly of South Africa, MP (born 21 June 1974) is the tribal chief of the Mvezo Traditional Council and the grandson of Nelson Mandela. He graduated from Rhodes University with a degree in Politics in 20 ...

Aa! Zwelivelile! {{chart, , , , , , , , !, , , , , , ,, ^, -, -, -, ., , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , } {{chart, , , , , , , Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, , , , , Mthethuvumile Matanzima, , Siyambonga Dalimvula Matanzima, , Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo=May 1989 - Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo Aa! Zwelibanzi!, , Mthethuvumile Matanzima=Mthethuvumile Matanzima!, , Siyambonga Dalimvula Matanzima=Siyambonga Dalimvula Matanzima
Aa! Dalimvula! {{chart, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ! , , , , , , } {{chart, , , , , , , , , , , , , , Lwandile Zwelenkosi Matanzima, , , , Lwandile Zwelenkosi Matanzima= Lwandile Zwelenkosi Matanzima Aa! Zwelenkosi! {{chart/end

References

{{reflist

External links

{{commons category *{{Citation , type=manuscript , title=Who are abaThembu and Where Do They Come From? , last=Sihele , first=E. G. , translator-last=Tisani , translator-first=N. C. , url=https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/corylibrary/documents/MS18534.pdf , access-date=2023-09-12 , via=Rhodes University
Royal lineage
at worldstatesmen.org {{Ethnic groups in South Africa {{authority control Nguni languages Xhosa