Some Notes on Angoni by Alice Werner

From 'The Natives of British Central Africa', 1906.

The Angoni were originally a Zulu clan who came from the south, under Zwangendaba, about 1825, and incorporated with themselves large numbers of the tribes whom they conquered by the way, so that there are now few, if any, of unmixed descent remaining. The 'southern Angoni '—formerly known as 'Chekusi's people'—are mostly Anyanja ; but there were, in 1894, a few head-men and others, besides Chekusi's own family, who spoke Zulu, and some of the elders wore the headring, but of a different pattern from the Zulu isigcoco (which is a smooth, round ring), being more like a crown done in basket-work. The northern Angoni (Mombera's people) all speak Zulu, with considerable dialectic modifications, such as the gradual elimination of the clicks, and the substitution of r for l. But their speech is quite intelligible to Zulus from the south. As already stated, there is a great variety of types. The young warriors introduced to me under the name of 'Mandala's boys ' (Mandala was the brother of Chekusi or Chatantumba, at that time chief of the southern Angoni) were big, swaggering, long-limbed fellows, somewhat vacant of face, and, I think, somewhat lighter in colour than the sturdy little men who went to work on the Blantyre plantations. But whether the difference

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The History of The Angoni According to Alice Werner

Note: Alice Werner worked as a Blantyre Mission missionary in Nyasaland in 1890s and was more acquainted with the Maseko Ngoni having worked among some Maseko Ngoni as a teacher.

It is not known when the Zulus moved southward into the territory they now occupy, and where they must have been settled for some generations before thebeginning of the nineteenth century, as the graves of at least four kings (some say eight), of earlier date than that epoch, are still to be seen at Mahlabatini, in the valley of the White Umfolozi. In 1687 they, and tribes allied to them, seem to have been in peaceful occupation of Natal and Zululand, living so close together that migration on a large scale was impossible. Yet, about the same time, the Amaxosa, or 'Cape Kafirs,' who are very closely related to them, seem to have been pressing on to the south ; and they reached the Great Fish River soon after the beginning of the eighteenth century. However this may be, the Zulu king Senzagakona had, about 1800, risen to a position of some importance, though still subject to Dingiswayo, chief of the Umtetwas in Natal. His son, Tshaka, succeeded in 1810, and,

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A White Missionary's Take On The British War on Maseko Ngoni and Killing of Gomani I

By Miss A Werner, British Central Africa.

The Angoni, also called Mazitu, or Mavitu, are an offshoot of the great Zulu nation. It appears that their ancestors revolted from Tshaka at the turn of this century, and gradually fought their way northward, probably incorporating with themselves a great part of the conquered tribes. The name Angoni is applied to a great number of people who are pure Mang’anja, as being vassals of the red Angoni. They have adopted a few Zulu words into their language, and learnt to use the shield and assagai, which, in the wars of the quite superseded the Mang’anja bow, and almost equally so the rubbishy firearms imported by traders I do not propose to trace thewanderings of the Angoni,or the history of their raids. Constant references to them, under the name Mazitu (or Mavitu),¹ may be found in Livingstone’s “Last Journals ” and in Youngs “ Search for Livingstone,” and "Mission to Nyasa.”

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Some Interesting Observation By a Sympathetic Missionary Observer on the Language and Manners of the Maseko Ngoni in 1894

By Miss A Werner, British Central Africa.

The Angoni Zulu are like their congeners in the south, a fine, manly, warlike race. Dr. Elmslie says of Chekusi’s people, “There are now no Ngoni among them, and their language is Nyanja” (ie Mang'anja), but I think this is too sweeping. Certainly, in 1894, I saw and talked with an old woman from Chekusi’s kraal,who knew Zulu; and I was given to understand that the language was still spoken by some of the older headmen.

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