The Rharhabe House is the second senior house (Right Hand House) of the Xhosa Kingdom. The Rharhabe house was founded by Xhosa warrior Rharhabe, who was the older brother of

Gcaleka ka Phalo King Gcaleka KaPhalo (Born:1728-Died:1792) he was the King of AmaXhosa Nation from:1775 to 1792 and he was the third son of King Phalo kaTshiwo and King Gcaleka KaPhalo had 3 known sons, King Khawuta kaGcaleka ( 1761), Prince Velelo kaGcaleka a ...

History of the Rharhabe

The

Xhosa Xhosa may refer to: * Xhosa people, a nation, and ethnic group, who live in south-central and southeasterly region of South Africa * Xhosa language, one of the 11 official languages of South Africa, principally spoken by the Xhosa people See als ...

royal blood line stretches from King Xhosa, who fathered Malangana, who fathered Nkosiyamntu, who fathered Tshawe, who fathered Ngcwangu, who fathered Sikhomo, who fathered Togu, who fathered Ngconde, who fathered Tshiwo, who fathered Phalo. The reason the

nation is governed by two houses can be traced to the time of King Phalo, who had both his intended wives arriving on the same day for their wedding, as he had already paid

lobola Lobolo or lobola in Zulu, Swazi, Xhosa, Silozi, Shona and northern and southern Ndebele (''mahadi'' in Sesotho, ''magadi'' in Setswana, ''lovola'' in Xitsonga), and ''mamalo'' in Tshivenda language, sometimes referred to as "bride wealth" ...

for one from the

Mpondo The Mpondo People or simply AmaMpondo, is one of the kingdoms in what is now the Eastern Cape.Mpondo people
...

royal family, and for one from the

Thembu The Thembu Kingdom (''abaThembu ababhuzu-bhuzu, abanisi bemvula ilanga libalele'') was a Xhosa-state in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. According to Xhosa oral tradition, the AbaThembu migrated along the east coast of Southern Africa ...

royal family. In Xhosa tradition, the first wife, as declared on arrival, would be the one whose sons would be heirs to the throne. This situation caused a great dilemma and a great outcry – some called this the ancestors' punishment – because a first wife could not be declared. As the two young princesses were of equal status, by choosing one as the Great Wife, King Phalo stood to offend the father of the other. This dilemma was solved by an wise old man called Majeke, who said: "What is greater than the head of the king, and what is stronger than his right hand? Let the one be the head wife and the other the wife of the right hand". So a secondary yet autonomous house was then created, being the Right Hand House. The Mpondo princess was chosen as his Great Wife and the Thembu princess as his Right Hand Wife. So there was a Right Hand House and the Great House. Phalo had two sons,

Rharhabe The Rharhabe House is the second senior house (Right Hand House) of the Xhosa Kingdom. The Rharhabe house was founded by Xhosa warrior Rharhabe, who was the older brother of Gcaleka ka Phalo. History of the Rharhabe The Xhosa royal blood line st ...

, the eldest son born from his Right Hand House and

Gcaleka The Gcaleka House is the Great house of the Xhosa Kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape. Its royal palace is in the former Transkei and its counterpart in the former Ciskei is the Rharhabe, which is the right hand house of Phalo. The Gcaleka H ...

, born from the Great House. Rharhabe was by birth older than Gcaleka having been born around 1722, with Gcaleka born in 1730. Rharhabe displayed signs of bravery and wisdom from a very young age, traits which made him by far the superior of Phalo's sons. This caused great friction between the brothers, as Gcaleka feared that his brother with his popularity may one day seek to claim the throne for himself. After Gcaleka had reached manhood, conflict arose when Gcaleka tried to usurp the throne from his father but failed. Rharhabe who had assisted his father against his brother's designs for the throne, decided to leave Phalo's Great Place with a group of followers and crossed the

Kei River The Great Kei River is a river in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is formed by the confluence of the Black Kei River and White Kei River, northeast of Cathcart. It flows for and ends in the Great Kei Estuary at the Indian Ocean ...

and settled at Amabele, near present-day Stutterheim. This move had the blessing of Phalo, as he accompanied his son in his search for a new home. On arrival in these new lands, Rharhabe encountered the

KhoiKhoi Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...

(whom the Dutch named the Hottentots) and against whom fierce battles were fought over cattle and land. In the end and after killing the KhoiKhoi leader Hinsati, Rharhabe reached an amicable arrangement and negotiated with Hinsati's widow, Queen Hoho, for sale of land between the

Keiskamma The Keiskamma River ( af, Keiskammarivier) is a river in the Eastern Cape Province in South Africa. The river flows into the Indian Ocean in the Keiskamma Estuary, located by Hamburg Nature Reserve, near Hamburg, midway between East London and Po ...

and Buffalo rivers. The Amathole Forests and Hoho Hills between Middledrift and

King William's Town Qonce, formerly known as King William's Town, is a city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa along the banks of the Buffalo River (Eastern Cape), Buffalo River. The city is about northwest of the Indian Ocean port of East London, South ...

were also sold to Rharhabe. Thus, the Xhosa monarchy was, and still is, divided into the amaGcaleka and the amaRharhabe kingdoms. Rharhabe's children from his great wife Nojoli kaNdungwana of the Thembu were Ntsusa kaRharhabe (daughter), Mlawu kaRharhabe (his great son), Ndlambe kaRharhabe, Nukwa kaRharhabe and Khinzela kaRharhabe (daughter). In the Right Hand House, he fathered Cebo kaRharhabe who died without male heirs, but whose house was placed under Mdushane, Ndlambe's eldest son, to be the successor of Cebo. Rharhabe's other sons were Mnyaluza kaRharhabe, Siko kaRharhabe, Sigcawu kaRarabe, Nzwane kaRharhabe and Hlahla kaRharhabe. In 1782, his great son Mlawu kaRharhabe died, but he had fathered two boys, Ngqika and Ntimbo, who were infants at their father's death. Mlawu's councillors (amaphakathi) were then placed under Ndlambe who became regent for the young Ngqika. Rharhabe's daughter Ntsusa married the Qwathi chief Mdandala, who as dowry (lobola) sent a miserable hundred head of cattle to Rharhabe. This was seen by Rharhabe as a great insult for someone of his stature, so that he sent his Right Hand son Cebo to Thembuland to demand more cattle. When Cebo arrived at Mdandala's homestead to demand the cattle as instructed by Rharhabe, the Qwathis fell upon this prince and killed him. These events enraged Rharhabe so that he at once entered Thembuland to remedy the affront at the tip of an assegai (spear). War broke out where Rharhabe scattered the Thembus and seized many of their cattle. But at the skirmish near the Xuka River, Rharhabe was fatally wounded and died. This battle is estimated to have occurred around 1787. Rharhabe's grave is near present-day Dohne in the

Eastern Cape Province 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 199 ...

Ciskei

The Xhosa people had held out against colonial invaders for more than a century, longer than any other Southern African anti-colonial resistance. With the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

government's policy of re-tribalisation, and the creation of the Ciskei

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (n ...

, a political rivalry between the Rharhabe and the

Fengu The ''amaMfengu'' (in the Xhosa language ''Mfengu'', plural ''amafengu'') was a reference of Xhosa clans whose ancestors were refugees that fled from the Mfecane in the early 19th century to seek land and protection from the Xhosa and have sinc ...

-who had traditionally been better educated and tended to hold salaried positions-arose. This culminated in the election of Rharhabe Lennox Sebe as leader of the territory in 1973, although Sebe subsequently abandoned his anti-Fengu rhetoric.

The Rharhabe today

The Rharhabe royalty was under the leadership of their regent Queen

Noloyiso Sandile Queen (iKumkanikazi) Noloyiso Sandile (born: Nomusa kaBhekuzulu Zulu; 24 July 1963 – 8 July 2020) was a South African Royal. Biography Early life Princess Nomusa kaBhekuzulu was the daughter of the then Zulu King Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolo ...

Aah! Noloyiso, daughter of King Cyprian Bhekuzulu Nyangayezizwe kaSolomon and sister to the Zulu monarch King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu. She was married to King Maxhob'ayakhawuleza Sandile Aah! Zanesizwe who died in July 2011. She was regent for her son Prince Jonguxolo Sandile and had 40 Traditional Councils under her jurisdiction, stretching out from King Williamstown, Peddie, Whittlesea and the

Great Fish River The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) ( af, Groot-Visrivier) is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish ...

areas, including

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

. The Queen Regent died on 8 July 2020 of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...

, at the age of 56. The son of King Maxhob'ayakhawuleza Sandile, King Jonguxolo Sandile Aa! Vululwandle! succeeded as the king following his mother's death.

Notes

References

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External links