Hlubi People - History

History

In the early nineteenth century, the amaHlubi were a powerful nation in Southern central Natal, and many other nations, including Shaka's amaZulu, kept peace treaties with them. Around 1818 the Ngwane chief Matiwane, during his campaign against Dingiswayo and Shaka, petitioned Mthimkhulu, King of the Hlubi group nearest his own kingdom, to protect his herds of cattle. Mthimkhulu agreed, but later refused to return them, as he was a Zulu subject as Shaka had a permanent Hlubi battalion called iziYendane because of their long hair. Many Zulu groups were originally independent, much like the Hlubi, but it cannot be doubted that during Shaka's reign at least those who did not tow the line fled or left the area of Shaka's territorial sphere of influence. For example, the Khumalos and Mthethwas were once the most powerful nations in Southern Africa.

When the Mfecane wars started some of King Bhungane's brothers like those who were also chiefs in the Hlubiland now, in Natal took a section of people under them and fled. Chief Sondezi, who was Bhungane's brother relocated to the Vaal River (eGwa/Lekoa/liGwa). Chief Ngalonkulu, who was a brother to King Mthimkhulu also fled to the Vaal to live near his brother where they could form a strong ally against the people that were already occupying that land. Luzipho was Mthimkhulu's son went to settle in Standerton. Other Hlubi chiefs went to settle in the east of Drakensberg Mountains where Shaka was the prime ruler. Names of those chiefs are as follows: Mananga, Mndebele and Ntambama. Others fled to the East Griqualand (now incorporated to the Eastern Cape province ). Chief Mhlambiso, Magadla and Ludidi went to the transkei homeland and built a very strong Hlubi nation that was never bothered by the Basotho, Xhosa, Mpondomise, Mpondo, and Bhaca peoples that were living in that land prior their arrival. The latter group resided in the Northern part of the Eastern Cape and is the one that is still the area together with the Basotho people they live cohesively and in harmony. This may have been caused because Moshoeshoe I (the founder of the Basotho nation) had a Hlubi great-grandfather.The Mfecane origins of the "Ndebele" people of modern day Zimbabwe is said to be inextricable from the dispersion of Zimbabwe's "Mthimkhulu" (or Donga-Mthimkhulu) clan/family from the Hlubi under King Bhungane.

Although this dispersion explains why there are so many Hlubi chiefs spread disparately throughout Southern Africa, all paying allegiance to King Langalibalele II, who is headquartered in Estcourt, Natal, it is worth noting that the "Mthimkhulu" clan of Zimbabwe does not command a chieftaincy in Matabeleland, although they stand out as a proud, influential and cohesive group with immediate links to their origins in South Africa (and Swaziland).

In the early 1820s the Hlubis (under Mpangazita) and Batlokwa conducted a campaign that ravaged land now in the Free State, mostly fighting Basotho. Over the course of the next few decades, however, Hlubi land was conquered by the British and mostly incorporated into the Colony of Natal.

In the early 1870s the Hlubi King Langalibalele was arrested by the British after his subjects failed to register arms that they got as a form of payment from owners of diamond mines. He did this because those who registered their arms found that they had been tampered with or they were not working at all when they collected them. There was a rumour in Natal that Langalibalele and his men were preparing for a civil war against the British. All this happened because the Hlubi's were prospering as small farmers and their wealth was multiplying at an unprecedented rate and the white farmers in the area felt amaHlubi were being a threat on their income. After a skirmish with British soldiers and some African men who helped the British, King Langalibalele was arrested in 1873 while fleeing to Lesotho and his successors were never officially returned to throne. King Cetshwayo of the allied Zulus visited and pleaded with the Natal government to release King Langalibalele. The British did not comply. Langalibalele died under house arrest in 1879 and received a king's burial at the foothills of the Drankensberg.

Norman Herd wrote that: “History records are inescapably dominated by the dramatic exploits of the Zulu. Yet the amaHlubi, one of the largest perhaps the largest of the eMbo had had their hour of greatness...at the beginning of the Nineteenth century the Zulus were a tiny insignificant clan and from their social pinnacle the amaHlubi could look down upon them as despised tobacco-sellers.”

King Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa confederation fled to King Bhungane to seek shelter when running away from his father's spear. King Bhungane as a well-known rain-maker and traditionalist passed his skills to Dingiswayo, who later used these skills to reclaim the throne when he returned to his people. This must have been the reason why Shaka, who grew under Dingiswayo's mentorship, never dared to attack amaHlubi though they were just a stone's throw away from his Zulu people. He always kept peace with amaHlubi and sought their advice on several military issues and is known to have asked for the help of their rain-making and traditional war medicine skills when going for a war. It is for this knowledge of traditional medicines and rain-making skills that amaHlubi were renowned as the "Mthimkhulu" clan. The name Mthimkhulu, is a conjugation of two Zulu words: "Umuthi" and "Omkhulu", which when taken collectively, translate to "Profound Medicine Portion(s)".

The British government has returned the royal garments and chairs that it took from the Hlubi upon arresting their king in a big traditional gathering that was held in Ntabamhlophe in Natal.

Along with several other groups, the amaHlubi have lodged a request with the Nhlapho Commission (now known as the Moleketi Commission) to make a claim about the recognition of their king on a national level. They have also been involved on a massive drive to revive their heritage including the revival of their language. Their culture has been largely neglected by national heritage drives, in part because they are often seen as a subgroup of the Xhosa, Sotho and Zulu nations.