This paper is a continuation of the discussions I began 3 weeks ago on the settlement history of Bukalanga. It does not serve as an answer to bogus and unwarranted claims of one misled Nhlanhla Simon. The views shared in his carelessly scribbled article in the Sunday Standard of March 24 ÔÇô 30, 2013. The appalling level of reasoning, research capacity, presentation of evidence and even comprehension of historical facts by the author does not warrant a response from anyone who stayed long at school. From now and onwards, I shall treat Nhlanhla Simon’s story of the Amandebele kingdom in Botswana as nothing short of mantlwane or child’s play. How does one wake up and have the audacity to tell the President of the Republic of Botswana, dignified chiefs and their respective ethnic groups that he has been crowned on facebook to be sovereign ruler of a kingdom that does not exist? Such delusional claims require divine intervention and cannot derail me.
The central tenet of my argument for the establishment of a comprehensive chronology of events in Bukalanga revolves around one major issue. Prehistoric kingdom of Mapungubwe, subsequent states of Great Zimbabwe, Butua and that of Munumutapa have more to do with Bakalanga than any other people in Southern Africa. Archaeological evidence helps support this view (Huffman 2007; van Waarden 1998). In previous papers, I offered limitless examples of prominent prehistoric settlements that were developed by Bakalanga people in Southern Africa. Three of these settlements; Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe and Khami have now been declared as World Heritage Sites to celebrate the role played by people of Bukalanga in the development of civilisation in Southern Africa between AD 1200 ÔÇô AD 1800. We should not fail to acknowledge this noble development. In Botswana, Domboshaba is an important National Monument that is attached to Bakalanga people.
Over the last three weeks, many readers have sent me comments on various issues raised in the two articles I wrote. Many congratulated me for the bold step I took in providing a chronology of the settlement history of Bukalanga. This information has helped many young people identify their cultural background and therefore know their place in the nation of Botswana. Nonetheless, some people have however lambasted me for being biased towards Balilima. Despite these condemnations, I believe that we all need to accept that Balilima are the basis of our understanding of Bukalanga civilisation. First of all, their ancestry which spans the last 1000 years in Bukalanga means that they have existed much longer than any Ikalanga speaking people in Southern Africa today. Secondly and most importantly, they account for the development of Ikalanga language. Early immigrating groups into Bukalanga adopted the language from Balilima. An amalgamation of different groups in Bukalanga over long periods of time resulted in Ikalanga culture as we see it today. Nonetheless, this fact does not justify failure to mention other Bakalanga groups in our attempt to understand the settlement history of Bukalanga. These valid comments demand provision of a holistic discussion of several groups that made up the nation of Bukalanga during prehistoric times. The term ‘nation’ is used in this paper to refer to an amalgamation of Balilima, Banyayi and assimilated Sotho Tswana groups that form the people of Bukalanga today.
In the last paper, I mentioned that the Bakalanga state of Butua developed before the collapse of Great Zimbabwe. To help distinguish the identity of Bakalanga from people that we now call the Shona, I provide a synopsis of events leading to the collapse of Great Zimbabwe and the fate of its citizens. Needless to point out, the Ndebele people who are late arrivals in the Zimbabwean plateau were not part of Bukalanga until fairly recent times.
Great Zimbabwe collapsed as two competing states emerged in the Zimbabwe Plateau, that of Bakalanga known as Butua and the other one of Mutapa. To elaborate this argument, I turn to renowned archaeologist of prehistoric farming societies of Southern Africa, Professor Tom Huffman. He argues that, “archaeologists need to ponder the role of political factors in the fall of Great Zimbabwe… (as opposed to conventional thinking that a major drought forced people to move out). One possibility is the rise of Khami. At one point it seemed that Khami (the capital of Bakalanga state of Butua) developed after the decline of Great Zimbabwe and that the ruling dynasty of Great Zimbabwe moved to Khami. Our better understanding of Khami, however, makes these two points unlikely. As radiocarbon show, Khami probably began to grow before the decline of Great Zimbabwe, and there is little evidence of massive influx of Great Zimbabwe pottery. Ordinary pottery of Great Zimbabwe and Khami is difficult to distinguish, however, but even if the Karanga people came to Khami, they would have Kalangalised’ (Huffman 2007: 423).
Professor Thomas Huffman furthermore points out that a possible change in trade relations demands that we consider the rise of the Mutapa (or Mwene ÔÇô mutapa, Monomotapa) state before the collapse of Great Zimbabwe. In fact, when the Portuguese established coastal trading stations in Mozambique at the beginning of the 16th century, the Mutapa state controlled the northeast of Zimbabwe. Mutapa traditions relate how their legendary leader, Mutota, left the Guruuswa region and moved up the northern Zimbabwean plateau. Later, they settled in the Zambezi Valley. In this interpretation, the last king at Great Zimbabwe became the first Mutapa. These traditions nonetheless, do not make that link but Mutota is remembered in the Great Zimbabwe area where he is better recalled as an evil king who disregarded sacred precepts. This is viewed as the reason why Great Zimbabwe came to an end. We also learn here that the majority of the Vakaraga people, who later on became the Shona during colonial times, formed Mutapa state. With this distinction clearly explained, I turn my attention to the citizens of Butua at around AD 1700. This appears to be the least understood period of Bukalanga.
During the 1700s; the western parts of Butua were not directly controlled by the Nichasike mambos (Mabuse 2012). The governor of this region, Bulilima Mangwe, was Mengwe. He was sent by mambo to this region to govern the Balilima and other people living in the western parts of Butua (Tlou and Campbell 2003). He lived at Domboshaba Ruins and controlled trade in copper obtained from Matsitama, animal furs from the Makgadikgadi Pans and to a lesser extent, gold from the Tati River basin. Van Waarden (1991) points out that during this era, gold mines had become unproductive in Butua due to overexploitation and flooding. However, the Nichasike mambos had no interest in ruling the state through trade as was the case during the Chibundule Mambos. The dynasty was interested in ruling through use of its military might (van Waarden 1991). The Banyayi armies had interest in conquest of neighbouring states such as Mutapa. The Banyayi army is known to have won many battles against opportunistic armies.
News of the fame, richness and military strength of Butua spread, reached far and attracted some Sotho-Tswana people living in the Transvaal region. This period is widely known to have caused a lot of unrest among the citizens of Butua including ordinary Banyayi people. Tlou and Campbell (2003) point this out as part of the reasons why many Bakalanga moved into the western parts of Butua. Below I trace the movement of these groups into western parts of what is now Botswana and show chieftainship lineages where possible. The movement of Balilima people into this region was addressed in the previous article. For this reason I shall begin with that of the Banyayi and cover early Sotho Tswana people.
The Banyayi found in Botswana are made up of Batalaunda (Batalaote), Bamengwe, Batjangate (Bachangate) and Bananzwa. Their totem is moyo, heart. Batalaote are the most senior among the Banyayi people found in Botswana. Oral traditions collected Kumile Masola in the 1920s suggest that their leader Dalaunde, was advised by his father Nyayi to lead his people away from the Zimbabwean plateau during one of the numerous attacks launched on neighbouring states during the rule of Mambo Nichasike. He (Nyayi) suggested that Dalaunde should call his people and move ahead (dana babo u ende’from which the name Dalaunde was born) so that the group is not massacred during the war. It is suggested that it from this event that their praise names Mdambeli and Nezwabungwe were derived. To this day, the Batalaunda are reffered to as mdambeli in Bukalanga. The Batalaunda initially settled in areas around Matsiloje. They moved from various places during the next 200 years and are today found in Botalaote, Nlapkhwani, Kgari, Mapoka and Siviya. The majority of present day Batalaote people have assimilated into Bangwato and lost Ikalanga language. They have retained their totems and burial practices. Mmadinare is the largest village where such Batalaote are found today.
Van Waarden (1991) however, suggests that some of the Batalaunda came with Mengwe and his elder brother, Ntalaote (Dalaunde) together with Bamengwe at around AD 1700. Mengwe was chosen over his elder brother, Dalaunde and sent by Mambo Nichasike to govern the western parts of Butua. The Batjangate people who are now living at Tjangate also arrived with this group. It is suggested that they initially settled at Domboshaba, the banks of the Nkange River and subsequently moved towards present day Maitengwe. Oral traditions also indicate that Mengwe, Dalaunde and Tjangate were sons of Nhale who was at one point a chief councillor of Mambo Nichasike.
The last group of Banyayi is made up of Bananzwa. These people originally had moyo as their totem. Their traditions suggest that their leader was Hwange. Bananzwa are part of several groups of Bakalanga that migrated from areas around Khami during the military rule of the Nichasike mambos. They are thought to have fled northwards and settled among the Barotsi on the Zambezi Valley. Some say while living with the Barotsi, they changed their totem to Shoko or monkey to conceal their identity. They later on attacked a group of Batonga and again changed their name from Bananzwa to Banambia. A century later, some of these people scattered due to Mfecane wars and went to live along the Boteti where they once more changed their name to Badheti. Some of the remaining Bananzwa can be found today in Matobo, Nswazwi, Nkange, in Tutume as Ba-Madikwe, Gambule and Shoshong (Van Waarden 1991)
Another group worth mentioning here are the Bayela. Their ancestry remains a subject of controversy due to their tradition’s failure to clarify whether they are Banyayi or Balilima by origin. They allege that they are the last Bakalanga ‘dumbu dumbu’ people in Botswana. They trace their origins to Tumbale, an influential prime minister in Butua who is best remembered by Balilima for being a political swindler who played a major role in ousting Mambo Chibundule at around AD 1683. An inscription of Tumbale’s name can still be found at Mapoka kgotla today alongside a slogan of ‘Bhoka Maano’. Bayela have zebra as their totem and their young women are praised as ‘Batjibili’.
This name comes from their chief, Tjibili (also known as Nyela) Habangana. Like Batalaunda, they wandered in most parts of Bulilima Mangwe. They are thought to have come from Ndadza along Maitengwe River in Zimbabwe and travelled along Ramokgwebana River until they settled at Madzilugwe (present day Matsiloje). They finally moved northwards and settled at Dalalegulu Hill in Mapoka. The present day village of Mapoka is led by She Habangana who is a descendant of Tjatipedza Habangana.
One of the first groups of Sotho-Tswana people to arrive in the Bulilima region is the Bakaa of Sebina. Their traditions show that they are an offshoot of the Barolong and that their original totem was tshipi or iron. Schapera (1945) shows that Bakaa of Sebina split from the Barolong during the reign of Motlhabane, the son of Mmopane. This happened at a place known as Tswaing. Sebina (1947) suggests that after the death of Motlhabane, his son, Motswaing, led the Bakaa towards the Shoshong Hills but unfortunately died before arriving there. After his death Bakaa changed their totem to Zhou (elephant) under the leadership of Mminatshipi or Motshiping. They moved northwards after hearing about a large and prosperous state of Bakalanga known as Butua. They arrived at Domboshaba sometimes around AD 1750 and found Bakalanga people of Mengwe a powerful nation. They immediately submitted to Mengwe’s rule and adopted Ikalanga language. They lived peacefully with the Bakalanga and continued their traditions, among them, initiation schools.
Bapedi are one of the earliest Sotho Tswana people to migrate northwards and become part of Butua state they originate in the Transvaal region and have khupe or hare as their totem. From Transvaal, they first settled in the Tswapong Hills growing crops and rearing domestic stock until a major drought forced them to move northwards to the Nyamambisi River near present day Sebina. They arrived in Butua in the late 1700s and not 1902 as some argue. My great grandmother, Sabata Chiwidi who married among Bawumbe of Chiwidi in Sebina was born in 1918 at Nswazwi. She is the daughter of Mbo Kuswani Nswazwi, the younger brother of the famous John Madawo Nswazwi. Her mother who was born at around 1890 in Bukalanga could not utter a single Sepedi word. This suggests that Bapedi stayed much longer in Bukalanga than some people think. Linguists will tell you that it takes several generations for a large group of people to acculturise and completely lose their language.
During their stay in the Tswapong Hills, Bapedi were led by Ramapulane who is buried near present day Moremi village. When they moved into Butua, they were under the leadership of Shabalume and Tjilagwane. Of these two, Tjilagwane is senior and appears to have been unhappy with the decision made by his father to have his younger brother tasked with dual responsibility to lead Bapedi.
Traditions of Bapedi suggest that Tjilagwane and Shabalume quarreled and broke up the tribe into two. Shabalume is remembered to have been a hardworking leader who managed to influence his people and ensure that they get good harvests. Sebina (1947) suggests that this angered Tjilagwane and resulted in him blaming his younger brother for bewitching ploughing fields of his people.
Shabalume and his people crossed the Shashe River heading towards Domboshaba and settled among his maternal uncles, the Bakhurutshe. Shabalume became known as Nswazwi and his people are today known as Baka Nswazwi to distinguish themselves from the people of Tjilagwane. Tjilagwane left Nyamambisi, moved northwards and settled near the Tutume River where he found the Bawumbe of Madandume. Like all other groups, he submitted to Mengwe’s rule and sought land to settle from Bawumbe.
This is the Bukalanga that was ruled by Mengwe on behalf of Mambo Nichasike from AD 1700 to around 1840 when Mambo Chirisamhuru was assassinated.
* Abel A. Mabuse is Head of Archaeological Research Laboratory at Botswana National Museum and writes in his personal capacity as an Archaeologist with Bukalanga roots.
