The Mthethwa paramountcy
Wikipedia describes the Mthethwa Paramountcy as a confederation of roughly 30 Nguni chiefdoms, lineages and clans in northern Natal, established around 1780. It says the Mthethwa descend from Nguni groups of northern Natal and the Lubombo mountains and moved in the seventeenth century to the Nkandla region. Unlike the Zulu kingdom that replaced it, it was a confederation, not a centralised state. The article is flagged as needing more citations.
Dingiswayo
South African History Online gives Dingiswayo (born Godongwana, in 1770 on its record) a dramatic early life. It says he plotted against his father and rivalled his brother Mawewe, escaped wounded, and lived as a fugitive for years. Tradition holds that around 1806 he met an armed European, possibly Dr Cowan, and later returned. The Mthethwa, the page says, believed him a wizard and ousted their chief, and he took the name Dingiswayo, which it glosses as “one in distress”. Wikipedia dates his rule to about 1806 to 1817, after Jobe kaKhayi.
He sought trade with the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay, sending cattle and ivory, and with their muskets he fought the “Qabe”, as the page spells the name. He is often credited with introducing age regiments (amabutho), though the page notes that the Ndwandwe and Sobhuza’s people reportedly adopted them at about the same time. Wikipedia says around 1811 the Buthelezi and other Nguni groups, including Senzangakhona’s then-marginal Zulu clan, were integrated into the confederacy, with the Mthethwa predominating.
Shaka and Zwide
Dingiswayo backed Shaka, a son of Senzangakhona, against his half-brother Sigujana. In 1816 he lent Shaka a regiment, and Shaka killed Sigujana. South African History Online says that in about June 1817 the two jointly forced Matiwane of the Ngwane into submission. It records that the Ndwandwe chief Zwide had been subjugated twice by Dingiswayo but was not cowed, and that a clash with the Ndwandwe followed in late 1817 or early 1818. Dingiswayo was captured in that fighting and executed at Zwide’s homestead. Some accounts say Shaka betrayed him at the battle, while others say his regiments simply did not arrive in time. After his death many Mthethwa warriors joined Shaka, who defeated Zwide toward the end of 1818, according to this account.
The dates for these events differ between sources. Wikipedia’s article on the Zulu kingdom puts Dingiswayo’s death around 1816 and Zwide’s defeat by 1820, while South African History Online has 1817 to 1818 for the death. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims says Shaka defeated Zwide in 1819.
After 1817
Wikipedia says the paramountcy was disestablished in 1817, the year Dingiswayo died, and superseded by Shaka’s Zulu kingdom, which kept many Mthethwa military and administrative institutions, including the age regiments. It adds that the Mthethwa were among the first Nguni chiefdoms to use guns.
Izithakazelo and totem
We have not found a published Mthethwa praise text or a confirmed totem, so we are not printing either. If you belong to a Mthethwa family and recite the praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- South African History Online: Dingiswayo (no author named; cites only tradition and a paper by Shepstone, 1875)
- Wikipedia: Mthethwa Paramountcy (cites Muzi Mthethwa, 1995, University of Zululand; Morris, The Washing of the Spears, 1965)
These sources rest heavily on tradition. Before relying on a date, check it against the cited works.
Do you belong to a Mthethwa family? Tell us 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.