Mahwanqa
Mahwanqa (spelled Marhwanqa in one passage of Wikipedia’s article on Mthimkhulu II) was a brother of Mthimkhulu II. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims, in its determination on the amaHlubi kingship claim, says that after the Mfecane wars the amaHlubi returned to their land “led by Mthimkhulu’s brother Mahwanqa”, and that disputes over the kingship then began. Wikipedia’s article on Mthimkhulu II calls him the full brother who became regent for the young heir Dlomo. Wikipedia’s list of Hlubi kings gives him the regency in 1825 to 1839, after Mpangazitha (regent 1818 to 1825).
The dispute with Dlomo II
The Commission says that when Mthimkhulu’s successor-in-title, Dlomo II, was due to take over the kingship, Mahwanqa was reluctant to hand it over; that Dlomo II sought advice from their neighbour Dingane, king of the amaZulu, and subsequently killed Mahwanqa; that on his visit to Dingane to report the news Dingane killed Dlomo II and his bodyguards; and that after Dlomo’s death a dispute arose between his younger brother Langalibalele I and Mini, one of Mahwanqa’s sons, in which Dingane sent his army to assist Langalibalele after Mini’s defeat. We report this as the Hlubi royal house’s account, as recorded. Wikipedia’s article on Langalibalele tells it differently: it says Mahwanqa fled north with the two boys to the Wakkerstroom area, sought sanctuary among the amaNgwane, returned after Shaka’s death in 1828 and rebuilt his army, and that when Dlomo came of age Mahwanqa was reluctant to give up the regency and wanted to pass the kingship to Langalibalele, but his troops revolted and he was killed in the battle that followed. In that version Dlomo then took the kingship, visited Dingane, and was murdered on Dingane’s orders in 1839. The two accounts disagree on who killed Mahwanqa and why, and on whether Mahwanqa favoured Dlomo or Langalibalele. See also Mini.
What we have not read
We have not found an independent source for Mahwanqa, and Wikipedia has no article on him that we could open (404). We have not read Wright and Manson’s The Hlubi Chiefdom (1983), Colenso (1875) or Ndawo’s histories, nor any account from a descendant of Mahwanqa or Mini. The Commission’s text spells the name Mahwanqa; other spellings may exist.
Izithakazelo and totem
We found no recorded praises or totem for Mahwanqa, so we are printing none. If you descend from him and want your history recorded here, with your permission and credited to you, we would like to hear from you.
Sources and further reading
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the amaHlubi kingship claim (pp. 503 to 533 of the PDF)
- Wikipedia: Mthimkhulu II
- Wikipedia: Hlubi Kings
- Wikipedia: Langalibalele (cites R. O. Pearse, Brian Kaighin and T. V. Bulpin)
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