Sandile
Wikipedia’s article on Sandile kaNgqika, also called “Aa! Mgolombane!”, describes him as the right-hand paramount chief of the Xhosa kingdom, born at Burnshill about 1820 and dying on 29 May 1878. His father was Ngqika, who died in 1829; his brother was Maqoma; and his cousin was Sarili (Kreli) of the Gcaleka. The article says he was born with one leg shorter than the other. It says Maqoma acted as regent until 1872, when Sandile was installed; that cannot be right for a man born in 1820, so we do not repeat the date, and we have not found a correct one.
The wars
- Seventh War (1846 to 1847), “War of the Axe”. It says fighting began in March 1846 after a dispute over a stolen axe led to the killing of a manacled prisoner, that Sandile’s forces won early victories, was captured during negotiations and sent to Grahamstown, but later released, and that British Kaffraria was created on 23 December 1847.
- Eighth War (1850 to 1853), “Mlanjeni’s War”. It says Governor Sir Harry Smith deposed Sandile and declared him a fugitive after he refused to attend a meeting, that a British detachment was ambushed at the Boomah Pass in December 1850, and that Maqoma held out in the Waterkloof. See also Maqoma.
- Ninth War (1877 to 1879). It says Sandile was initially reluctant, and his councillors advised against fighting, but he joined Sarili against the Cape after younger warriors were persuaded.
Cattle-killing and death
The article links the movement of Nongqawuse, which it dates 1856 to 1858, to the destruction of the Xhosa’s own subsistence and says it brought famine and refugees among Sandile’s people. It says he was mortally wounded in a shootout with a Mfengu detachment and died a few days after 29 May 1878, received a full military funeral with Fingo pall-bearers carrying his body on eight rifles, and was buried near the graves of two British soldiers about 16 km from Stutterheim, where excavations overseen by the local Xhosa community confirmed the body’s identity and dispelled rumours that he was decapitated. It names his daughter Emma Sandile.
What we have not read
The article cites the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Peires’s The Dead Will Arise, de Kiewiet (1941), Spicer’s thesis on the War of Ngcayecibi (1978), Bundy (1979) and others; we have read none of them. The page we first tried at the plain title “Sandile” is a disambiguation page, so this summary comes from the biography article only. We found no account by the Ngqika royal house.
Izithakazelo and totem
The praise name above is all we have, taken from Wikipedia, and we have no confirmed totem. If you belong to the Rharhabe royal house and recite Sandile’s izibongo, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Sandile kaNgqika
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the amaRharhabe (for the Rharhabe house)
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