What we can say
Very little is published about the Inqua in the sources we could read, and this page says only what they say. Wikipedia’s article on the Khoekhoe lists the Inqua, “also called Humcumqua”, among the Central Cape Khoe, with the Houtunqua, Gamtobaqua (a “possible historical subgroup of the Houtunqua”), Attaqua, Gouriqua and Chamaqua. It gives the groups no locations, chiefs or dates; its only date near them is an image caption of a Khoekhoe kraal in 1727. Its list of southern Khoekhoe subgroups is cited to R. Raven-Hart (1971), and the article carries many “citation needed” and dispute tags.
Absorbed into the Gqunukhwebe?
Wikipedia’s article on the Gqunukhwebe says that chiefdom was created, under King Tshiwo (1670 to 1702), mostly from Khoi chiefdoms displaced by colonists, naming the Gonaqua, Hoengeniqua and Inqua. The Camissa Museum, a community museum, lists the Inqua as one of about ten independent Khoe clans of the Eastern Cape (with the Gonaqua, Gamtoos, Hoengiqua, Ntinde, Thathu, Sukwini, Gqwashu, Cete and Nqarwane) that it says were absorbed into the Xhosa, largely under the Gqunukhwebe, in the mid-18th century under King Phalo. The two sources give different periods, and neither tells us anything about the Inqua themselves. See Gonaqua and Gqunukhwebe.
What we have not found
We have not found a published account of where the Inqua lived, who led them, or what became of them, and we have not found anything written by descendants. Wikipedia’s Inqua article does not exist at the address we tried, and the Dictionary of South African English entry we tried did not define the word. We have not read Raven-Hart (1971) or the colonial records the lists rest on. If you trace your family to the Inqua or know where the history is kept, we would like to hear from you.
Izithakazelo and totem
We have found no recorded praises or totem for the Inqua, so we are printing none.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Khoekhoe (its Central Cape Khoe list; many tags)
- Wikipedia: Gqunukhwebe
- Camissa Museum: Cape indigenous Africans (no named author)
Do you trace your family to the Inqua? Tell us the history you know and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.