Batalaote is an
ethnic group in
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...
, part of a larger group called Bakalanga-Banyai.
They speak
dialect
The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena:
One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
s such as:
* Badhalaunda/batalaote (they lived in Madzilogwe, Mazhoubgwe, up to Zhozhobgwe.)
* BaNambya can be found in
Hwange
Hwange (formerly Wankie) is a town in Zimbabwe, located in Hwange District, in Matabeleland North Province, in northwestern Zimbabwe, close to the international borders with Botswana and Zambia. It lies approximately , by road, southeast of ...
up to
Gweta.
* BaLilima (BaWombe; Bayela. Are in the central district with Baperi)
* Baperi (live together with BaLilima as mentioned above)
Dhalaunda was the leader of one of these Kalanga sub-tribes and the clan was named after him, originally Badhalaunda, but then Bangwato changed it to Batalaote, as they changed Bakalanga to Bakalaka, maybe because of difficulty pronouncing the Kalanga words. They are found in the central district of Botswana and south-western parts of
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...
. Over the years the Talaunda dialect was levelled to other Ikalanga dialects, just as the north-eastern Tjikalanga dialect is shifting to Tjililma. Some of them live in
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 ...
; former President of Botswana,
Festus Mogae
Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Botswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004; after ten y ...
, is a member. These have completely lost their Ikalanga identity, and now just identify themselves as
Talaote or
Ngwato, with little knowledge of what Talaote really means.
References
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Ethnic groups in Botswana