Pictures and Artist Impressions of Life among the Ngoni and other Ngunis in the early 19th Century

The following are pictures and artist impressions of life among the Ngoni and fellow Nguni (i.e. the Zulus, Swazis, Xhosa, Ndebeles and ngoni) that I have collected and continue to collect. This will help the study of the similarities and differences between us the Ngoni and our brothers and sisters down south.

Artist Impression of the headrings (isicoco) of the Nguni family based on Keith Montagu explorations in 1880s. Isicoco used to be a badge for married Nguni men.

From Some of the Earliest Pictures Of The Ngoni

Zulu men in the 1880s mending the isicoco (headring made with wax) of his fellow. Isicoco was a badge for a matured, married man.

From Zulu Photos

Read more...

NGONI IDEAS ABOUT THE SEX INSTINCT

By Margaret Read

It is notably difficult to get people in so-called primitive communities to discuss concepts and ideas of an abstract nature, partly I think due to our peculiar patterns of thinking and the form in which we put our questions, partly to the fact that in African society there is a wide common field of philosophy and ethics which is so much taken for granted that it is rarely referred to.¹ Generally the key to their ideas on abstract subjects is just the right word which suggests to them a train of thought, and that preciseterm one may stumble on by pure chance, especially if a great many synonyms and euphemisms are used, as among the Ngoni, in describing sexual behaviour.

Read more...

THE INSTALLATION OF INKOSI YA MAKOSI GOMANI III IN 1966

Below is an eye witness account of the installation of Inkosi yamakhosi Gomani III in 1966. Another important piece of history that we dare not forget. Enjoy

Author(s): G.T NURSE

Only two persons in Malawi are entitled to be saluted, Bayete! On cold geographical grounds it is surprising that there should be so many. The eldest traditions of the Bantu speak of slow movements of people from north to south, west to east, less commonly east to west; only in comparatively recent and rare instances, from south to north. The sudden northward irruption in the second quarter of the last century, of Kalolo into the headwaters of the Zambesi, and that subsequent and lesser extension of theirs in the company of David Livingstone which ended in the assumption of a handful of minor chieftaincies in the Shire valley, were remarkable enough; but the convulsion which sent whole brave regiments of Zulu and Swazi warriors to extinguish what remained of the empire of Monomotapa, to establish a hegemony over the Tumbuka, to halt the Yao, to cleave the Marabvi in two and to set up outposts as far from their starting point as central Tanganyika, may not unworthily be compared with certain of the volkerwanderungen, so pregnant with consequences, of the dark ages of Europe.

Read more...

MZIMBA NGONI LADIES IN THE OLDEN DAYS

From Some of the Earliest Pictures Of The Ngoni

NGONI LADIES FROM ONE OF THE ROYAL FAMILIES IN THE EARLY 1900S AS PHOTOGRAPHED BY THE FIRST SCOTTISH CHRISTIAN MISSIONARIES.

From Some of the Earliest Pictures Of The Ngoni

Read more...

A Ntcheu Tax Collector's Account of Life In Ngoni Areas of Ntcheu, Dedza and Ntchisi in 1890s

The Central Angoniland District of the British Central Africa Protectorate

Author(s): Robert Codrington, May, 1898, Collector of Central Angoniland, B.C. Africa Protectorate.

THE Central Angoniland District of the British Central Africa Protectorate * comprises an area of about 6500 square miles, and is bounded on the east by Lake Nyasa; on the south by the Portuguese territory north of the Zambezi; on the west by the country of the Angoni-Zulu people, owing allegiance to Mpeseni and falling under the influence of the British South Africa Company; on the north by a line forming an ethnographical boundary with the Marimbe district of the Protectorate. The boundaries to the south and west are determined by the watershed of Lake Nyasa, all of which falls within the Protectorate. The part of the coast of Lake Nyasa which forms the eastern boundary of Central Angoniland is well provided with roadsteads, of which Domira bay is the safest and most convenient; very serviceable.

Read more...

AN ENCOUNTER BETWEEN DR ROBERT LAWS AND FELLOW MISSIONARIES WITH THE MASEKO NGONI AND CHIKUSE, PARAMOUNT CHIEF OF MASEKO NGONI IN 1878/79

Below is a scottish missionary record of their meeting with Ngoni elders and eventually with the Paramount Chief of the Maseko Ngoni then, Chikuse. Apparently the missionaries had been trying to meet Chikuse but to no avail. They believed that he had a superstitous fear of the white man. I however think that there could have been other reasons why Chikuse did not want to meet them. In any case he might have seen them as opponents in the battle for control in his sphere of influence.

I was particulary interested in the fact that the Ngoni elders spoke the ancient zulu or nguni language while most of the young warriors spoke nyanja. This is evidenced by william Koyi, the South African Xhosa missionary who conversed with some of the elders and Chikuse's mother NaMulangeni and acted as interpreter. Below is the record of the encounters:-

Into the slow, sullen movement of village existence came another agony, the swift, arrow-like Ngoni raid—a savage war-chant in the night, blazing huts, spear-thrusts, frenzied slaughter, and a rapid ebb of naked warriors laden with maize, cattle, and goats, and every boy and girl they could lay hands upon.

Read more...

Ntcheu In The 1890s And System Of Government of The Maseko Ngoni

Below is a very interesting and informative article on life,culture and eye witnesses testimonies on events sorrounding the killing of Inkosi yamakhosi Gomani Chikuse (Gomani I) by the British Colonial soilders in the 1890's. The article has largely been left intact, you may therefore note that names such as Chidyaonga were spellt differently by the author, who lived in Ntcheu in the 1930s. If you have any comment and clarifications on the names and events feel free to post your comments. We need those comments to gain more insights on these important events in the history and culture of our people.

M. E. LESLIE.

NEARLY 40 years ago I was Assistant D.C. at Ncheu under Mr. S. J. Pegler D.S.O. The Paramount Chief of the Angoni was then Philip Gomani. He, and his friend Bibole Chakumbera became, I like to think, my friends. We used to meet quite often because that was the period when the Portuguese Government was beginning to tighten its control after the Mocambique Company's Charter had run out, there was difficulty and high feeling all along the border over grazing rights, gardens and the precise boundary line.

Read more...

SIR ALFRED SHARPE AND THE IMPOSITION OF COLONIAL RULE ON THE NORTHERN NGONI

by R. B. Boeder, history lecturer, University of Zambia.

The Yao and the Southern Ngoni under Chief Gomani resisted the imposition of colonial rule in Nyasaland with considerable violence while other groups such as the Lakeside Tonga and the Chewa accepted their new rulers with relative ease. But of all the peoples who were brought under British control in the country the Northern Ngoni of Mzimba District were unique in that they remained independent of formal administrative strictures until 1904 and thereafter retained considerable freedom of action until 1915. This was due to their own strength as an ethnic group and to careful preparation and close cooperation between the two most important Europeans in the country, Nyasaland's senior missionary, Reverend Doctor Robert Laws of Livingstonia Mission, and the Protectorate's first governor, Sir Alfred Shame. The life of Laws has been well documented by both his fellow missionaries and modern academic authors.¹ But until now Alfred Sharpe has been ignored unjustly, overshadowed by his better known contemporaries, Sir Harry Johnston and Joseph Booth.²

Read more...

FUNERAL OF INKOSI YAMAKOSI GOMANI II IN MAY 1954

An Eye—Witness Account

By A. H. Mell

PHILIP Gomani was at one time Chief of the Maseko Ngoni of Ntcheu. His ancestors were of Nguni stock from Zululand in Natal, South Africa. They had been driven from their home there by the Chaka's Zulus, their former allies, and had subsequently trekked north to find a new area for settlement in what is now the Ntcheu District of Malawi.

Read more...

Inkosi Mtwalo of Northern Ngoniland in Nyasaland

By W. H. J. Rangeley

This article is based entirely on information given to the author by numerous Africans, with the following exceptions:

(1) The site of the battle between Zwide and Shaka is no longer remembered by the Ngoni and is quoted from "Olden Times in Zululand and Natal" by A. T. Bryant. Bryant says that Nxawa was one of the Mbekwane clan. The Ngoni say he was Nqumayo. Bryant is more likely to be correct. So also quoted is the route east of the Lubombo hills. The Ngoni merely record that they went north to the lower reaches of the Limpopo river. Bryant states (chapter 44) that Zwangendawa was "but a commonplace squire at home". The Ngoni agree that he was of humble birth but insist that he rose to be General of Zwide's army. The fact that Zwide gave him two daughters in marriage would indicate that Zwangendawa was a man of importance. Bryant states that Zwangendawa clashed in battle with Soshangane (chapter 44) With heavy losses on both sides. The Ngoni admit heavy losses in battle against Nxawa, and the names of many who died are remembered to this day, but they deny any clash with Soshangane. There is, however, evidence that there was a minor clash with Soshangane, according to Ngoni now dead.

Read more...