Gambu in the sources
Bryant mentions the aba-kwa-Gambu once, as a sub-clan of the Memela under a chief Msutu; the better-known historical name that looks similar, Gambushe of the amaBomvana, is a different person.
What the sources say
Bryant. He writes of “a certain Gambu chief yclept Msutu – these aba-kwa-Gambu were a sub-clan of the Memelas, though others affirm that they were Ntungwa-Ngunis merely subject to them”.
Do not confuse. Soga and Bryant both discuss Gambushe, chief of the amaTshezi or Bomvana, who bought land from Hintsa; he is not the Gambu clan.
Cautions
One sentence in Bryant is all we found on the Gambu, and he himself reports a disagreement about their origin. Bryant was a Catholic missionary who collected clan traditions in the early twentieth century; he writes in a jocular colonial style, dates early generations by a rule of eighteen years to a reign, and often says he is guessing. We give his statements as his.
Izithakazelo and totem
If you belong to the Gambu, we would like to record your family’s own account, credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- A. T. Bryant, Olden Times in Zululand and Natal (London: Longmans, 1929); read in the Internet Archive text, including its alphabetical table of clan names and address-names near the end (machine-read, with garbled columns)
- J. H. Soga, The South-Eastern Bantu (Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, 1930); Internet Archive text
Do you belong to the Gambu? Tell us your izithakazelo and what elders say about the family’s history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.