The Ngqika
Wikipedia describes the Ngqika (called Gaika by Europeans) as a Xhosa group west of the Great Kei River, in what is now the Eastern Cape. In colonial times their lands were British Kaffraria, and under apartheid they became the nominal homeland of the Ciskei. They are a branch of the Rharhabe. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims calls them a subsection of the amaRharhabe.
Ngqika and Ndlambe
Ngqika (Ngqika kaMlawu) was the son of Mlawu and grandson of Rharhabe, and first chief of the Ngqika, with nine wives according to Wikipedia. When he was a child, Rharhabe’s other son Ndlambe, Ngqika’s uncle, became regent, expanded the territory and absorbed or expelled smaller clans such as the imiDange. In 1796, when Ngqika was 18, Ndlambe was reluctant to give up power. About a year later Ngqika imprisoned him. Ndlambe escaped across the Great Fish River in 1799 and tried to work with the Cape Colony’s government to overthrow Ngqika, but the colony continued to recognise Ngqika as paramount chief of the Rharhabe. The commission says that the Rharhabe leaders Mlawu and Ndlambe recognised Phalo’s house as the senior Xhosa kings, but that Ngqika, who succeeded Mlawu, tried unsuccessfully to assert his independence. It found that with the exception of Ngqika the successors of Rharhabe continued to respect the Gcaleka house as their seniors.
The article says Ngqika died in November 1829. Wikipedia’s article gives Rharhabe and Mlawu as both dying in 1782, and its list of Rharhabe chiefs has internally inconsistent dates, so these early dates should be read as approximate.
Maqoma and Sandile
Wikipedia says Ngqika’s eldest son, Maqoma, was born to Nomvakalisa Nothontho of the Ngqosini, but that Sandile (1820 to 1878, ruling from 1841) was considered the “Great Son” because his mother was a descendant of the Thembu royal lineage. Maqoma served as regent until Sandile was ready to rule. Our Ndlambe listing has what we know of the rival house.
The 1961 paramountcy
The commission records that in 1961 Archie Velile Sandile, previously chief of the amaNgqika, was appointed paramount chief of the amaRharhabe in the Ciskei and made equal in status to the Gcaleka paramount chief. It found this irregular, because it created a dual kingship among the Xhosa. It also found that the position of the amaRharhabe paramount chief, Bangilizwe Maxhobayakhawuleza Sandile, who inherited the post, is that of senior traditional leader. See the Rharhabe page.
Izithakazelo (iziduko) and totem
We have not found a published Ngqika praise text or a confirmed totem, so we are not printing either. If you belong to the amaNgqika and recite the praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Ngqika (cites Geni, News24 and South African History Online; the article’s description of the Battle of Amalinde is limited to a link)
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the position of the paramount chief of amaRharhabe (pp. 117 to 137 of the PDF)
The Wikipedia article is thinly sourced. Peires’s The House of Phalo and later work on the frontier wars are the standard references, and we have not read them first-hand.
Do you belong to the amaNgqika? Tell us your iziduko, your praises and what elders say about the history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.