The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal"
Tswana chieftaincies of
Botswana. They ruled over a majority
Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central District), with minorities including the
Basarwa,
Birwa
Al-Birwa ( ar, البروة, also spelled ''al-Birweh'') was a Palestinian Arab village, located east of Acre (Akka). In 1945, it had a population of 1,460, of whom the majority were Muslims and a significant minority, Christians. Its total l ...
and
Tswapong. The modern Bamangwato formed in the
Central District, with its main town and capital (after 1902) at
Serowe
Serowe (population approximately 60,000) is an urban village in Botswana's Central District. A trade and commercial centre, it is Botswana's third largest village. Serowe has played an important role in Botswana's history, as capital for the Bama ...
. The paramount chief, a hereditary position, occupies one of the fifteen places in
Ntlo ya Dikgosi, the national House of Chiefs.
The core population of the Bamangwato are an 18th-century offshoot of the
Bakwena
The Bakoena or Bakwena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large clan in Southern Africa. They form part of the Sotho-Tswana Bantu people and can be found in different countries such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini ...
people, but members in the Bamangwato kingdom came from many sources, as was the case with all of the major 19th-century African kingdoms.
Sir Seretse Khama's paternal forebears, the chiefs of the Bamangwato, had built several prior capitals including
Shoshong and Phalatswe, also known as
Old Palapye
Old Palapye is a heritage site located in Botswana, near a town called Palapye. Old Palapye and Palapye are two different places according to the residents there, Palapye is a modernised town. The site is located 20 km away from the Palapye ...
(Before the advent of colonial administration and fixed infrastructure, it was common for a town to move when the local environment degraded). Khama and the Protectorate administration created the modern borders of the Central District in Botswana.
The Sengwato language caused excitement in linguistic circles in 1998 when it was realized that it contained a unique f-s sound.
"African dialect uses unexpected sound"
(31 Oct 1998) ''Science News'', Retrieved 3 Jan 2006
Seretse Khama, Botswana's first president, was the ''Kgosi'' (king/chief) of the Bamangwato, and his son, Botswana's fourth President Ian Khama, is the tribe's de facto paramount chief.
See also
* Rulers of Bangwato (bamaNgwato)
* Tswana
References
External links
Botswana History Pages
By Neil Parsons of the University of Botswana
Ethnologue
Languages of Botswana
Ethnic groups in Botswana
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