Mamochisane ( fl. 1851) was a

Makololo The Kololo or Makololo are a subgroup of the Sotho-Tswana people native to Southern Africa. In the early 19th century, they were displaced by the Zulu, migrating north to Barotseland, Zambia. They conquered the territory of the Luyana people and ...

Queen who ruled over many people, but especially the Lozi in

Barotseland Barotseland ( Lozi: Mubuso Bulozi) is a region between Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe including half of eastern and northern provinces of Zambia and the whole of Democratic Republic of Congo's Katanga Province. It is the homeland of the ...

, today's Western

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

, in 1851. She was later a wife of King

Sipopa Lutangu Sipopa Lutangu was the leader of the Lozi revolution and later a ''Litunga'' (king) of the Lozi people. He ruled from 1864 to 1876. Biography Sipopa (also known as Lutangu) was the son of the former Lozi King, Mubukwanu. He was a successor of Mbo ...

Biography

Mamochisane was a daughter of the King

Sebetwane Sebetwane (between about 1790 and 1800 – July 7, 1851) was chief of the Patsa branch of the Bafokeng clan. He established the large and powerful Makololo nation in what is now southwestern Zambia after an arduous migration of over 1200 ki ...

, half-sister of Prince

Sekeletu Sekeletu (c. 1835–1863) was the Makololo King of Barotseland in western Zambia from about 1851 to his death in 1863. Biography Sekeletu was a son of the King Sebetwane and Queen Setlutlu. He succeeded his half-sister Mamochisane, who h ...

and sister or half-sister of Prince Mpepe. She was the niece of king Mbololo. She succeeded her father on his death in 1851, as he had intended long before his death, even if she had brothers. She maintained the friendship with the traveller

David Livingstone David Livingstone (; 19 March 1813 – 1 May 1873) was a Scottish physician, Congregationalist, and pioneer Christian missionary with the London Missionary Society, an explorer in Africa, and one of the most popular British heroes of t ...

, which had been initiated by her father, giving him permission to visit all her kingdom. When Livingstone returned in 1853 to the Makololo's capital, Linyati, he found out that only shortly after her father's death she had stepped down in favour of her brother Sekeletu, who became a new king. In Livingstone's account the reason was her desire to have a stable husband and a family that was firmly hers, while as a ruler she was forced to alternate many husbands so that none got too much power. Mamochisane had a nephew called Litali; he was a Sekeletu's son. She married

Literature

*''

Encyclopædia Britannica The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...

'', ''Sebetwane''

External links

Makololo interregnum and the legacy of David Livingstone
(PDF) {{Authority control Women rulers in Africa Litungas 19th-century Zambian people Year of birth missing Year of death missing 19th-century monarchs in Africa Zambian women Queens regnant in Africa 19th-century women rulers