Hlubi

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Hlubi in a kraal near Pietermaritzburg , 19th century

The Hlubi , also amaHlubi or AmaHlubi , are an ethnic group in South Africa . They originally spoke isiHlubi , a Nguni-Tekela language that is considered a dialect of Siswati . At times Hlubi also lived in pre-colonial Lesotho .

history

Like other Bantu, the Hlubi came as eMbo from the north to what is now South Africa. According to their tradition, their king Chibi ruled from 1300 to 1325. They later called themselves amaLala ; around 1650 they took on the name amaHlubi . This makes them older than, say, Zulu and Xhosa . Bhungane II, who ruled until 1800, united the people, from 1800 to 1818 King Mthimkulu II was in office. The beginning of the 19th century was marked by the beginning of the formation of the Hlubi states.

The Hlubi suffered around 1820 from the Mfecane triggered by the Zulu . Under Mpangazitha they moved over the Drakensberg in 1821 into the valley of the Caledon . There they were defeated by the Amangwanane. They then split into several groups. One group retreated across the Drakensberg and soon after formed a regiment of the Zulu King Shaka . A second group sought refuge with the head of the Ndebele , Mzilikazi , but were driven away after a few years. The third group was accepted into his Basotho people by Moshoeshoe .

In order to escape the Zulu king Mpande , Langalibalele I., born in 1814, moved with his people to Natal in 1848 , where the British colonial authorities made land on the Bushmen River available to him. The Hlubi were supposed to act as a buffer against the San . They gained influence through a clever trade policy. In 1864 they brought missionaries from the Hermannsburg Mission to their area and set up the Empangweni mission station. Mainly old and poor Hlubi settled there.

In 1873 Langalibalele allegedly rebelled against the British. According to other sources, the Hlubi had gained too much influence in the eyes of the British and had acquired arms against the colonial authorities' prohibition. Langalibalele was persecuted and fled with his people over the Drakensberg to Lesotho. There the Basotho handed him over to the British authorities. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Robben Island for high treason , but after the intercession of Bishop John William Colenso, among others, he was later released to the Cape Colony and in 1887 to Natal, where he died in 1889.

The Hlubi manor house has not been recognized as a royal house since 1873. The Hlubi bought the Draycott farm near Estcourt , where 8,000 Hlubi lived in a confined space. They were able to enlarge the area by purchasing land in 1926 and 1930. In 1972 they sued for the surrender of the former territory of the Hlubi between Ntabamhlophe and the Drakensberg. In the 1970s, the government tried to acquire farms claimed by Hlubi, but incorporated them into KwaZulu . No expansion of the Hlubi area was permitted in the 1980s, and in 1991 and 1992 the sale of several of the 38 farms claimed by Hlubi was stopped after protests by Hlubi. These farms had been run by Hlubi from 1849 to 1873.

Muziwenkosi Johannes Radebe, who sees himself as the heir to the throne of Langalibalele and bears the designation Langalibalele II, is striving for a re-establishment as king. This is to prevent the Hlubi from being represented by the royal family of the Zulu who dominate KwaZulu-Natal, as was most recently confirmed in 2010 by the Nhlapho Commission set up by South African President Thabo Mbeki in 2003. The commission based its decision on the weakening of the Hlubi by the Mfecane in pre-colonial times, which excluded the sole responsibility of the British for the deprivation of royal dignity. It was also pointed out that traditional leaders in different provinces, especially the Eastern Cape , would profess the Hlubi, but only a few in the province in question KwaZulu-Natal . This fragmentation was seen by the Commission as a unique case in South Africa.

The head of the Hlubi performs the Umkhosi Wokweshwana ceremony annually , during which fruits are tasted in a ritual manner. Another ceremony is the umgubho wa maHlubi , which is carried out at the grave of Langalibalele I in Ntabamhlophe and is accompanied by the ritual slaughter of a goat and an ox.

The businessman Bryce Mthimkulu also calls himself Mthimkulu III. or King of the amaHlubi. He is running in the 2019 elections with the African Renaissance Unity Party (ARU).

Others

Isaiah Shembe , born in 1867, was closely related to the Hlubi manor house. He founded the first independent church in what is now South Africa in the vicinity of Mahatma Gandhi .

The community Inkosi Langalibalele was formed in 2016 from two small communities. It is named after Langalibalele I.

Web links

Commons : Hlubi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Excerpts from books.google.de
  2. ↑ a b Report of the Nhlapho Commission, PDF page 479 (English; PDF)
  3. ↑ Report of the Nhlapho Commission, PDF page 480 (English, PDF)
  4. ↑ a b Hlubi Kingdom at hlubikingdom.co.za (English), accessed on October 15, 2018
  5. ↑ a b c d Andreas Heuser: Shembe, Gandhi and the soldiers of God. Roots of Nonviolence in South Africa. Waxmann, Münster 2003, ISBN 9783830962243 . Excerpts from books.google.de
  6. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 3.
  7. ↑ Langalibalele, chief of the AmaHlubi people, is tried by a British special court, found guilty of treason, and banished to Robben Island. sahistory.org.za, accessed October 25, 2018
  8. ↑ a b c d Some facts about the Amahlubi claim. AFRA News June 1993 (PDF), accessed on October 26, 2018
  9. ↑ Report of the Nhlapho Commission, PDF page 476 (English, PDF)
  10. ↑ PBM: Amahlubi rise up to shake the core of the Zulu kingdom. ujuh.co.za, June 24, 2016, accessed October 25, 2018
  11. ↑ Report of the Nhlapho Commission, PDF page 499 (English, PDF)
  12. ↑ Lucas Ledwaba: amaHlubi's battle against colonial legacy heads to High Court. Mail & Guardian, October 19, 2018, accessed on December 15, 2018
  13. ^ New political party registered. dailysun.co.za, March 9, 2018, accessed April 24, 2019