Ndlambe and the amaNdlambe
Ndlambe was a son of Rharhabe, the founder of the amaRharhabe, and so an uncle of Ngqika; see our Rharhabe and Ngqika pages. The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims names Ndlambe, with Mlawu, among the Rharhabe leaders who recognised the house of Phalo as the Xhosa kings. We could not open a Wikipedia article on Ndlambe himself, so this page follows the articles on the people and battles around him.
Regent and rival of Ngqika
Wikipedia’s article on the Battle of Amalinde says Ndlambe became regent after Ngqika’s father Mlawu died and that Ngqika demanded his place in 1795, after which the two rivals lived in tension for about two decades. Wikipedia’s article on Ngqika, as we noted on that page, says Ndlambe was imprisoned by Ngqika about 1797 and escaped across the Great Fish River in 1799. The Mdushane article says that after a clash with Ngqika around 1806 Ndlambe founded the amaNdlambe. These dates do not line up, and we cannot say which is right. The Amalinde article gives the abduction of Thuthula, Ndlambe’s wife’s daughter, by Ngqika as a direct but lesser cause of the war, and says Ngqika’s 1817 meeting with Lord Charles Somerset, in which land along the Fish and Keiskamma was ceded, angered other Xhosa, who thought he had no authority to do so.
Amalinde and Grahamstown
Wikipedia dates the battle of Amalinde (Debe Hollows, west of King William’s Town) to October 1818. It says Ndlambe’s army was led by his son Mdushane, Ngqika’s by his eldest son Maqoma, and that Ndlambe was helped by King Hintsa, his cousin, and the prophet Makhanda. It reports more than 500 deaths and no clear victor. Ngqika appealed to the British; in December 1818 a force under Colonel Thomas Brereton raided Ndlambe’s people and, according to the article, took 23,000 cattle, and in April 1819 Ndlambe’s people attacked Grahamstown, an assault the British garrison repelled.
Death
The Mdushane article says Ndlambe died in February 1828, and that Mdushane died in May 1829 and was succeeded by his minor son Qasana, after which the Imidushane and amaNdlambe declined and split.
What we have not read
The Amalinde article carries “citation needed” and “by whom” tags, and the Mdushane article is flagged for unreliable sources and possible original research. We have not read Peires’s The House of Phalo, Stapleton’s Maqoma (1994), Mostert’s Frontiers or Brownlee (1896), which they cite. We found no amaNdlambe praise text, and nothing on how the amaNdlambe understand this history.
Izithakazelo and totem
We are printing no praises or totem because none has been confirmed. If you belong to the amaNdlambe and recite your izithakazelo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Battle of Amalinde (tagged)
- Wikipedia: Mdushane (tagged)
- Wikipedia: Ngqika
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the amaRharhabe
Do you belong to the amaNdlambe? 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.