Ngubengcuka Aa! Ndaba!, also known as Vusani, (c. 1790 – 10 August 1830) was the king of the

abaThembu The AbaThembu (''abaThembu ababhuzu-bhuzu, abanisi bemvula ilanga libalele'') are a Xhosa-speaking Bantu people who were under the Thembu Kingdom. According to Bantu oral tradition, the AbaThembu migrated along the east coast of Southern Africa ...

, in the eastern-southern part of Xhosaland (

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

). Ngubengcuka succeeded his father, Ndaba, as king in 1810. Known as ''Inkosi Enkhulu'' (Great Chief), Ngubengcuka united the Thembu kingdom before it was subjected to

British colonial rule The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts est ...

. He was the proverbial author and finisher of the modern kingdom that it eventually became. Ngubengcuka had wives from the Great House or Right Hand House, and the Ixhiba, the lesser or Left Hand House. Among his many descendants is

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist who served as the President of South Africa, first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1 ...

, a great-grandson via the ''Ixhiba'' or left-hand house. The name

Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (; ; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist who served as the first president of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the ...

was first given to a younger brother of Simakade, the oldest son of the Ixhiba house.

External links

Royal lineage
at worldstatesmen.org

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ngubengcuka 1790 births 1830 deaths Year of birth uncertain History of South Africa Mandela family Xhosa people 19th-century monarchs in Africa Monarchies of South Africa Mfecane