Ngqika

The Ngqika [ ŋǃʱiːkʼa ], also Gaika [ ɡɑːˈiːkə ], are a historical clan of the Xhosa in what is now South Africa . They belonged to the Rharhabe resident in the west of the traditional settlement area of the Xhosa in today's Amathole district , west of the Great Kei River .

history

The Ngqika are named after their first ruler, Ngqika.

The Xhosa ruler Phalo had two sons, Rharhabe (1722–1782) and Gcaleka (* 1730).Ngqika was a son of Rharhabe. After Rharhabe's death, his brother Ndlambe († 1828) led the Rharhabe as regent before Ngqika took over the rule under his name. As the most westerly settled Xhosa, the Ngqika were the first to be affected by the border wars with settlers of European descent from the Cape Colony . In 1817, during the Fifth Frontier War , soldiers from the Cape Colony under Lord Charles Somerset came to the aid of the Ngqika against the Gcaleka or Ndlambe in accordance with the treaty , so that the chief Ngqika gained control of the areas west of the Great Kei River. But he was forced to give up land to the settlers. In 1819 the other rulers of the western Xhosa had to recognize him as their head. In 1822 Somerset wanted to arrest Ngqika, but Ngqika escaped wearing women's clothes. He died in 1829. He was replaced by his son Maqoma, who was regent before Ngqika's younger son Sandile (also Sandili, 1820-1878) took office.

Mgolombane Sandile

In the Seventh Border War , the Ngqika lost control of this area under Sandile in 1846, which was henceforth administered by the British as British Kaffraria . Sandile, who was also head of all western Xhosa, participated in several border wars; At times he was, like Maqoma, imprisoned on Robben Island in the Cape Colony. He died in a gun battle with Mfengu soldiers. Sandile's daughter Emma, born in 1842, was raised in the western sense. She is believed to be the first black South African woman to write letters in English.

The descendants of the Ngqika were among those Xhosa who were assigned the Homeland Ciskei from 1961 to 1994 .

Ngqika ruler

until 1829: Ngqika (born 1779)
1829– around 1842: Maqoma (regent)
around 1842–1878: Mgolombane Sandile (born 1820)

literature

Jeffrey B. Peires: The house of Phalo: a history of the Xhosa people in the days of their independence. University of California Press, Berkeley 1982, ISBN 0-520-04663-3 . Excerpts from books.google.de

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Jeffrey B. Peires: The house of Phalo: a history of the Xhosa people in the days of their independence. University of California Press, Berkeley 1982, ISBN 0-520-04663-3 , p. 83. Excerpts from books.google.de
↑ Somerset concludes a treaty with Ngqika (aka as Gaika). sahistory.org.za, accessed September 17, 2017
^ The conquest of the Eastern Cape 1779–1878. sahistory.org.za, accessed September 18, 2017
↑ Kathleen Sheldon : Historical dictionary of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland 2016, ISBN 978-1-4422-6293-5 , p. 92. Excerpts from books.google.de

[peires-1] A ^b Jeffrey B. Peires: The house of Phalo: a history of the Xhosa people in the days of their independence. University of California Press, Berkeley 1982, ISBN 0-520-04663-3 , p. 83. Excerpts from books.google.de

[2] Somerset concludes a treaty with Ngqika (aka as Gaika). sahistory.org.za, accessed September 17, 2017

[3] The conquest of the Eastern Cape 1779–1878. sahistory.org.za, accessed September 18, 2017

[4] Kathleen Sheldon : Historical dictionary of women in sub-Saharan Africa. Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, Maryland 2016, ISBN 978-1-4422-6293-5 , p. 92. Excerpts from books.google.de