Zwangendaba Gwaza kaZiguda Jele Gumbi, commonly known as Zwangendaba (1785–1848) was the first king of the Ngoni and Tumbuka people of

Malawi Malawi (; or aláwi Tumbuka: ''Malaŵi''), officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa that was formerly known as Nyasaland. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast ...

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 ...

and

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

of the Jere Ngoni Clan from 1815 to 1857.https://wap.org.ng/read/notable-wives-and-royal-sons-of-nguni-king-mmbelwa-i/ He passed away in July 1848 and his son,

Gwaza Jele Prince Gwaza Jele (c. 1791–1857) was a Jele Prince and young brother of King Zwangendaba of the Ngoni people, Ngoni and Tumbuka people, Tumbuka of the Jere Ngoni Clan. He was the first born son of King Zwangendaba Hlatshwayo Jele. He passed awa ...

, inherited his position soon after his death.JNPC, interview, M Jere, (incumbent chief Mzukuzuku, Mzimba district), 1 May 2021; E Mgomezulu, 16 July 2021.JNPC, interview, B Jere, 5 March 2021. He was the older brother of Somkhanda kaZiguda Jele who was also known as Gumbi and founded the Gumbi clan in

Kwazulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

in areas of Pongola. Zwangendaba was a King of a clan of the Nguni or Mungoni people who broke away from the Ndwandwe Kingdom alliance under King Zwide. After defeat of the Ndwandwe forces under his command, Zwangendaba gathered his clan and fled the area. This dispersal of the northern Nguni clans was called the

Mfecane The Mfecane (isiZulu, Zulu pronunciation: ̩fɛˈkǀaːne, also known by the Sesotho names Difaqane or Lifaqane (all meaning "crushing, scattering, forced dispersal, forced migration") is a historical period of heightened military conflict a ...

. Zwangendaba led his people, then called the "Jele", on a wandering migration of more than lasting more than twenty years. Their journey took them through the areas of what is now northern South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe,

and

to the western part of

, where Zwangendaba set up a base at Mapupo. The Ngoni, originally a small royal clan that left Kwa-Zulu Natal, extended their dominion even further through present-day Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia when they fragmented into three separate groups following his death. Using many of Shaka's warfare methods of rule such as rigid discipline in military and social organisation, he knitted his nation and the people conquered along the way into a cohesive unit. With his people he migrated north into tropical Africa. The migration proceeded across the Zambezi in 1835 on a day when there was a total eclipse of the sun. King Zwangendaba was alleged to have used some mythical Nguni esoteric knowledge and occult science, and thus on reaching the Zambezi, the waters of the river were reputed to have parted and opened to make way for him and his people (this has been likened to the parting of The Red Sea). Advancing north, ravaging the countries they crossed, they eventually arrived in the south west of what is now Tanzania. On the death of Zwangendaba in 1848, the Ngoni split into three groups, one main group settling in Malawi, one in Songea (Tanzania) and a third group migrated north to Mbogwe in Usumbwa where they fought with the famous Mirambo of Unyamwezi. The current king of the Ngoni is his great-great-grandson, M'Mbelwa V.

References

{{Ngoni Monarchs 1848 deaths Ngoni kings 19th-century monarchs in Africa 18th-century monarchs in Africa Monarchies of Malawi Monarchies of Zambia Monarchies of Tanzania 18th-century births

See also

References