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Godless Shrine (Used)
Chinese Foil : $30.99 September 2010 ~ NGONI PEOPLE
By Margaret Read.
Excerpt from 'Songs of The Ngoni People'.
Praise songs of chiefs and great men are so well known in South Africa that it is unnecessary to explain them at length here. In Nyasaland the Ngoni are unique in possessing praise songs, some of which go back seven or eight generations. These praise songs are today " chanted " on state occasions before the chiefs, and the tradition persists of handing them on. The izibongo, or praise songs proper, belong to a group of songs which have no music but which are " chanted " in a kind of recitative, which only a few people know how to do. Other songs in this group are the izithokozo or thanking names, and the izigiyo which the warrior shouts when coming forward in his own solo dance during the umgubo dance. All people who have any claim to distinction possess izithokozo and izigiyo, but the izibongo appear to be only for chiefs of the royal house and a few other distinguished nobles whose houses in the past were near to, if not actually, royalty.
There are certain features in these praise songs to which it is worth calling attention in order to make comparisons with the similar group of songs in the south. In the first place, the phrasing and the words of the praise songs of the line of Paramount Chiefs vary in different districts. In Mwambera's country for example, one "pattern" of praise song is heard in Ekwendeni, another in Elangeni, in each the pattern being standardised unless a very brilliant umbongi or praiser added a phrase from his own isifua. In the second place sarcastic or even insulting remarks are sometimes found in praise songs. I am told they were permitted because no one could possibly believe them, "that is, it was, a form of high praise to say ludicrous things about a chief which could not be true. In the third place, some of the praise songs were " telescoped," praises of an earlier chief being included in those of a later one. As however this is the first time any of these praises have been recorded in writing, this " telescoping " may be a fault of the recorder.
I am including here four sets of praise songs, in three of which there are alternative forms. It is interesting to see what a degree of variation was reached, and it may be possible in comparison with praise songs in the south to find out some principles of composition of these praise songs with their variations. It may be on the other hand that, "the spirit bloweth where it listeth," and isifua must have its way, and eloquence its own poetic licence.
The arrangement of the sentences will be familiar to anyone who has listened to praise songs. The beginning of each sentence (marked with a capital letter) is on a high note, generally rallentando, and the notes descend to the end of the sentence, and are held again on the last note.
(I) Ngoni : " Izibongo zikaNgwana1 kaGoqweni "
Bayethe baba !
Bayethe Nkosi !
Bayethe Gumethe !
Inkosi yelizwe lonke
Wena umzukhulu kaNgwana, kaGoqweni
Wena kaSongobe zamakhanda, kuyâmbatha amashoba ezinyamazana.
Wena wadabuka kwaShaka ebenkundla zitha, amachamani ngesidaba soluthuli.2
Wena wakwaMdladla uBanjwa, oBanjwa ngaMasokani.
Wena okwenda okumnyama.
Wena osilo sabantu.
Wena ingudlangudla4inkunzi yamalanga.
Owaphuza ubende lwezinkomo.
Owabekwa ndawonye nezintaba.
Liyasha, liyasha ungenampendulo.
English : " Praise of Ngwana son of Goqweni."
Hail father !
Hail Chief !
Hail Gumethe !
Chief of the whole country.
You the grandchild of Ngwana son of Goqweni
You the son of Songobe of the military villages, clothed with armlets of wild animals.
You who came from among Shaka's people. Shaka who was the milking place of his enemies, the calf skin for the kilt of Lutuli.
You of the Mdladla who was captured, who was captured of Masokana.
The grandchild of Na-Nqongwane daughter of Goqweni. You whose marriage had sad omens.
You the wild beast of the people.
You the biggest of all other bulls.
You who drink the blood of cattle.
You who wast placed together with the mountains.
The sun is blazing, is blazing, and you do not answer.
(2) Ngoni : " Izibongo kaNgwana, kaGoqweni noGoqweni."
Wena owajub' imithi wajub' imiyomo5
Wena ontethe vuyana wahlom' izinsiba zezintethe.
Owaya phansi wakhwela phezulu, wayokuthabath' inkwenkwezi yokusa.
Hamba wena lokhu bakwalakho, uyokuthabatha amashoba ezinyamazana: ezinkomo anombeyebeye.6
Wena ukumbuyana umyandana wakadeni.
Kuyehla wayehla ndawonye nezintaba.
Wena wasel' ubende7bezinkomo.
Wena waqhamukana naboShaka, uShaka kaMbelebele.
Wena waghamukana naboNyathi ekaMashaane : eladuma lasibekela.
Izinkomo ezapheya ngamaganyazana.
Wena wadabukana8 naboMzilikazi
Wena wadafiukana naboMpakana kaLidonga
Wena wadaBukana naBoNdwandwa.
English: "Praises of Ngwana son of Goqweni and of Goqweni."
You who cut the trees and who cut the mouths,
You the locust, who fixed in your hair the feathers of the locust.
Who went below, and climbed up, and went to bring the morning star of the dawn.
You go, since you are rejected ; you go and bring the armlets of wild animals ; those of cattle will be much disputed.
You who remember the fault of long ago.
In descending, you descend together with the mountains. You who drank the blood of cattle.
You who separated from the people of Shaka, Shaka of Mbelebele kraal.
You who separated from the people of Nyathi the son of Mashobane ; it thundered, it was cloudy.
Thou resemblest cattle which were finished by wolves.
You who originated with the people of Mzilikazi.
You who originated with the people of Mpakana son of Lidonga.
You who originated with the people of Ndwandwa.
(3) Ngoni : " Izibongo zikaGomani kaTshikusi."
Wena umzukulana kaGwaya
Wena umzukulana kaNgwana
Umabanda tshembuzi tshenkomo tshinombalo
Wena owadla muntu lapha kuboNgala.
English : " Praises of Gomani9 son of Tshikusi."
You the grandchild of Gwaya
You the grandchild of Ngwana
One who carries a goatskin shield, because he knows a shield of cow skin brings envy10
You who ate a man there among the Ngala people.
(3) Ngoni: "Izibongo zikaZwangendaba11 kaHlatshwayo."
UZwangendaba omnyama ngabomu ophik' eziyakhanya
Obej' amehlo wabej' imiyumo
Ophuz' ingazi zamanye madoda
Indima azilingani nabakwazi kulima
Ivila elidl' amabele okulinyelwa
UMcethuli wezigodo nasekhaya uyacethula nakubafo uyacethula
Owel' UZembezi ngezinyawo
Bath' UZembezi aluwelwa luwelwa ngezinkonjane zimadada
Ohlangane ngengwe emahlabeyeni
Wathi ingwe izongiyamuyeya kanti ingwe izith' ezinye
Nango, nango, umbonaphi?
Umbon' emagumeni abonina.
English : Praises of Zwangendaba son of Hlatshwayo.
Zwangendaba whose intention it is to be black, whose wings are shining
Red as to the eyes12 and red as to the lips.
Who drinks the blood of the other men.
The plots (which he hoes) are not equal to those of the people who know how to hoe.
An idle man who eats grain which is hoed for him.
Clearer of the stumps (which are in his way) ; at home he is clearing them13, and in the enemy country.
Who crossed the Zambezi by foot.
They say the Zambezi is not crossed, it is crossed by swallows like ducks.
Who has encountered a leopard on his left side14.
He said : the leopard will help me whereas the leopard is some enemies15.
There he is, there he is, where do you see him ?
You see him in the fences of his mothers.
(4) Ngoni: "Izibongo zikaZwangendaba kaHlatshwayo."
UZwangendaba omnyama ngabomu ophike kwakhanya.
Muka simuke wena owaliwayo
SingaNtungwa siyishashazi lapha abantu bafa ngokhulaphaya.
Ngqaba dlan' abantu shiy' izinkomo.
Ngqaba kuLushwana kwaba uluthuli.
Nango, nango Bambonaphi ? Bambon' emagumeni abonina.
Mathukuthela zaluke namathole.
Iqili elikhulu elega amaseko ezinyanga.
Ngenyuko ngaza ngazazu ulubombo.
Siyenzwa ngenkani inkulu yaManqumayo.
Uyabona amalembe akuhlalele amalembe angalembel' ukulinywa.
Wakubon' inkotha wadladlama.
Wakubon' udonga wafaka unyawo.
Yena owashaya amanzi ngomshiza kuZembezi.
Owakhumhul' inkomo zabalunjana.
English : "Praises of Zwangendaba son of Hlatshwayo."
Zwangendaba whose intention it is to be black16 who denies it to be light.
Go away, let us go, you the rejected one.
We are like a man of the Ntungwa17, a fat one; there the people die as fat ones.
Ngqaba you must eat people. Leave the cattle.
Ngqaba son of Lushwana there was confusion.
There he is, there he is, where do they see him ? They see him in the fences of his mothers.
One who is angry because the cattle have gone with the calves.
His great cunning overcomes the magic stones of the doctors.
I have gone away until I have seen Lubombo Mountains.18
We are suffering on account of the great dispute with the Nqumayo19 people.
You are seeing the hoes which are waiting for you, the hoes which cannot be used for hoeing.
He saw it, the short grass, he was biting it hastily.
He saw it, the ditch, his foot slipped into it.
He who divided the water with a stick at the Zambezi.
He who remembered the cattle of the Balunjana.
(5) " Ngoni : Izibongo zikaHlatshwayo20 kaMagangatha"
UGubazi ngokwambath' ingubo enzima
Umkhulana ngokubiz' ezizzweni
'Sandla saphath' inkomo zaphalala
EzikaNdlembe ngezikaNdlembe wakuboMfekane
Bathi ubuhlalu kabulingani entanyeni
Ingani kobodade babo buyalingana
English: " Praises of Hlatshwayo son of Magangata."
Gubazi by putting on a black robe
Who smells like the son of Longqola
Who is great by calling the tribes
The hand that touched cattle and they multiplied
Those (cattle) of Ndlembe, they belong to Ndlembe of Mfekane
They say the beads do not fit on his neck
Whereas on the necks of his sisters they are fitting.
(6) Ngoni: "Izibongo zikaHlatshwayo kaMagangatha."
UHlatshwayo omfishane anganyatheli ingubo
Ingani abade bayazinyathela
Inyama idliwa ngemikwa yamazembe
Ingadliwa ngezinsungulo ibolile
Hlatshwayo isihlahla esibenyana kulllatshwayo waMandulo
Utshani wentongoza awushi nokusha, usha nyasisitheka usha using' intonteya.
Hlatshwayo the dwarf one21 who cannot trail his cloth
Whereas the tall people trail their cloths
Meat eaten with knives of axes
If it is not eaten with forks it is rotten
Hlatshwayo whose bodily vigour is finished off compared with Hlatshwayo of former times22
Grass of deep red colour is not burned with burning ; it burns very slowly; it burns drop by drop.
Below is a video of Ngoni languages praises for Inkosi yamakhosi Gomani IV
1.uNgwana was leader of the Maseko group of Ngoni when they left the South. He is the great-great grandfather of the present Paramount Gomani.
2. The meaning of this phrase is very obscure and is just a guess.
3. Na is the honorific prefix for important women in Gomani's country, taken from Chewa.
4. This is obscure too but the meaning is said to be " grazing,"
5. Probably imiyonzo yempi = advance guard of the army.
6. Armlets of cattle would involve taking cattle, someone's property, and would cause dispute. Wild animals no one can lay claim to.
7. Ubende is really cooked blood, but I am told that it is used here poetically for uncooked blood igazi.
8. I am not sure whether ukudabuka is used here in its meaning of " to originate " or " to break away." Either is common usage.
9. This was the father of the present Paramount Gomani.
10. In dividing a cowskin for making shields a more honoured person receives the- right hand side. Hence disputes arose when chiefs gave skins for shields A goat skin is not divided
11. Leader of the Jere group when leaving the south. Great grandfather of the present Paramount Mwambera.
12. He was said to have blazing eyes like a man who smokes hemp.
13. Refers to his way of getting rid of rivals and those suspected of witchcraft.
14 The vulnerable side.
15. A possible reference to Basa who killed Zwangendaba's wives.
16. This may be a reference to the well-known black skin of the Jeris, sometimes jeered at by certain lighter skinned families.
17. Considered to be a superior people.
18. Meaning quite obscure uLubombo (= Lubombo Mts.) is said to be fontanel
19. Zwidi Nqumayo was Paramount Chief of the Ndwandwe; even the Jeres were under him.
20. Was father of Zwangendaba
21. He was known to have been a dwarf.
22. A reference to his alleged impotence.
Posted in achewa, angoni, chkuse gomani alumazana, Gomani, jele, jere, ngoni, ngoni praise poems, praises, uGwana, uZwangendaba, Zwangendaba
Sources: Songs of the Ngoni People
There are no real mourning songs of the Ngoni as singing and dancing were not part of the burial rites except at the death of a chief, though at subsequent funeral rites, some months later, it is customary to dance ingoma. The first one is sung to the igubu and is obviously a woman's mourning for her husband. The second I heard a woman sing at tl:e burial of her grandmother, and she said her grandmother had taught it to her. Many other igubu songs are in reality mourning songs.
Posted in angoni, igubu, ngagolozela, ngoni
POISON ORDEAL ON A ROYAL SCALE (CHIKUSE AND MWAVI) 1880s
A chapter from the book, 'After Livingstone: An African Trade Romance' by Fred L.M Moir, founder and director of The African Lakes Corporation Ltd (Now known as Mandala Group of Companies whose headquarters was and is still in Blantyre, Malawi.)
TRIAL by ordeal is practised by many kinds of primitive peoples. The common form among East Africans in our time was mwavi, bark poison. If a man or woman were accused of any crime or misdemeanour, protestations of innocence were usually accompanied by an offer to drink mwavi. Among natives near our stations it was often resorted to, usually at night, lest the white man should interfere and insist on investigations and a proper trial, with examination of witnesses.
Posted in angoni, chikuse, chikusi, moir, mwavi, ngoni
Note on the Tribes in the Neighbourhood of Fort Manning, Nyasaland1
Author(s): CAPTAIN C. H. STIGAND, Royal West Kent Regiment
Source: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol.39 (Jan. - Jun., 1909), pp. 35-43
THE chief tribes in the neighbourhood are:-(a) Angoni, (b) Achewa, (c) Achipeta, (d) Achikunda, (e) Asenga; and more distant:-(f) Akunda, (g) Awemba, (h) Awisa, (i) Swahili, (j) Ayao, (k) Atonga.
There is one Swahili village, the chief being an ex-Askari,2 and some Swahili among the Askari from the lake shore at Kota Kota. Since the arrival of the Angoni and the consequent wars, the tribes have become rather mixed. The section of Angoni who settled here under Mpeseni have occupied chiefly Asenga and Achipeta country. For instance, Mponda, an Achewa chief, used to have his village under the west side of Mchenje, and held out in a fortified village against the Angonii for some time, but was finally worsted and had to run away. When things had quieted he built his village near the Rusa, about fifteen miles to the east of Mchenje.
Katungwe, another Chipeta chief, used to have his village near where the White Fathers now are. A tree, in the gap between Chilembbwi and Kalulu Hills, is called Kuvakutira by the Angoni (from Kuvakuta-Bellows), as, when attacked, Katungwe at that place made the points of his arrows red hot with a lnative skin bellows before shooting them. He afterwards built his village twenty-five miles to the east. When the Angoni began to beat everybody the Achipeta concentrated in several places, many joined Mwasi, the Achewa chief, at Kasungu to the north, whilst others collected near Dowa. When peace was restored the Achipeta who had been with Mwasi had got mixed with Achewa, and there are many who still don't know whether they were Achewa or Chipeta originally. The Angoni raided and made slaves in every direction, marrying the women captured, and keeping the men to help them fight. There are numbers of Asenga, Achewa, Achikunda and Chipeta among the Angoni, who now call themselves Angoni, also a few Atambuka, but the latter are chiefly the slaves of the Mombera sectioni of Angoni to the north. There are also Akunda among the Angoni.
Posted in achewa, angoni, boma., mgubo, ngoni, nthonga, prazo
Author(s): R. I. Money and S. Kellett Smith
Source: The Geographical Journal, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Aug., 1897), pp. 146-172 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
IN the spring of 1895, an expedition left England for the purpose examining and exploring certain territories of the British South Africa Company north of the Zambezi. Command was held by the late Dr. A. Moloney, formerly of the Stairs expedition to Katangaland, and there accompanied him nine white men, including in their number a surveyor, a geologist, a surgeon, and prospectors. Disembarking at Chinde, on the East African coast, and proceeding up the now well known Shire river route, the expedition landed at Bandawe, on the west shore of Lake Nyasa. Here preparations were at once commenced for the inland march.
Posted in achewa, angoni, Jingujani, Manota, Mombera, mpeseni, ngoni, Ngonomo, uZwangendaba, Zwangendaba
IN MEMORIAM : WILLIAM KOYI
From Among the Wild Angoni by W A Elmslie
William Koyi 1846-1886
FOR the following particulars of the early life of William Koyi I am indebted to Lovedale: Past and Present, and the account of a humble yet worthy convert from African heathenism will be read with interest. "William Koyi was born of heathen parents at Thomas River in the year 1846. His mother died a Christian. He left his home during the cattle killing mania in 1857, and went to seek employment among the Dutch farmers in the Colony, earning half-a-crown a week as a waggon-leader. About this time his father died, and five years later his mother and two sisters. He left his Dutch employer and worked for five years at one of the wool-washing establishments at Uitenhasfe, and was promoted to be overseer. From thence he went to work in the stores of Messrs A. C. Stewart &Co., Port Elizabeth, where he remained for about the same number of years. He had never attended school, but now felt the need of education, and therefore set about learning to read Kafir. He had about this time, 1869, been converted, and been admitted a member of the Wesleyan Church at Port Elizabeth.
Posted in angoni, beka pansi, koyi, nawambi, ngoni, spezulu
MPONDA MISSION DIARY, 1889-1891: MASEKO NGONI DEFEAT BY CHIEF MPONDA'S YAO
MPONDA MISSION DIARY, 1889-1891. PART IV: THE NGONI DEFEAT AND MISSIONARY DEPARTURE1
Translated and edited by Ian Linden
1 January 1891. The king issues a general warning that the Mangoni are in the vicinity, so it is dangerous to work in the gardens. Prima and Pedro, who were put up to it by Dominique, come and say "Happy New Year, father." May the coming year enable us to instruct them fully in our holy religion. At 8 p.m. we hear three rifle shots outside the mission and run out to see what is happening. A leopard had been killed. Chungwarungwaru and Chikusi are supposed to be in the neighbor-hood. We wonder if this time it is really war.
3 January 1891. As far as the "war" is concerned, it is the usual story. Matavere has sent us three chickens and asked for a little sugar in exchange-dispatched. A nice roast of lamb comes from the king for us. He has some very good ideas.
Posted in angoni, chikuse, chikusi, Gomani, Lizulu, mponda chungwarungwaru, ngoni, Songea
Fetish worship among the Ngoni of Ntcheu and other Tribes
A letter from ALEXANDER HETHERWICK. The Blantyre Mission, British Central Africa. March 4th, 1903.
I have to hand the Editor's letter, per Mr. Lovett, with inquiries regarding my note on Fetish-Worship in Central Africa, which he read before the Folk-Lore Society [10th December, 1902]. I reply to these queries in their order.
1. [Are remote ancestors worshipped, or only the recently dead ?]
Worship is confined to recent ancestors almost entirely- generally to those of the generation immediately preceding. Among the Yaos and the Angoni, the chief or headman who has recently died, steps into the place occupied by his predecessor, and is worshipped in turn. The chief whose spirit hitherto was the object of worship is now for the most part neglected, and all homage is paid to the spirit of the man recently dead.
For example : there is on the top of Mount Soche, three miles from Blantyre, the grave of an old Mang'anja chief called Kankomba. He was the chief of the country when the Yaos came into it in Livingstone's time and drove out the original Mang'anja owners. He died in his old village and was buried on the top of the hill where he lived. The incoming Yaos worshipped his spirit as the previous chief of the district. This they did till their own chief Kapeni died, when his successor left off making offerings to the old Kankomba and paid his worship to the recently dead Kapeni. This he will continue to do till he himself dies and becomes to his successor the next object of worship.
Posted in alexander hetherwick, chikusi, ngoni
Posted in achewa, clans of the ngoni, Gomani, jere, maseko, Mtwalo, ngoni, uZwangendaba, Zwangendaba
A JOURNEY FROM BLANTYRE TO ANGONI-LAND AND BACK IN MAY 1886
A Journey from Blantyre to Angoni-Land and Back
Author(s): J. T. Last, Commander of the Society's Expedition to the Namuli Hills, East Central Africa
Source: Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography, New Monthly Series, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Mar., 1887), pp. 177-187 Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers)
Note: Except for the map all images and photos are from the moderator of the blog.
In May last (1886), being retained at Blantyre, waiting for the favourable season to start for the Namuli Hills, I made a journey, in company with Consul Hawes, to the Angoni country, on the highlands to the south-west of Lake Nyassa. I now submit to the Society the following account of this expedition :-
Posted in angoni, kujipori, liveleze, luisini, mangoni, ngoni, ziengea
The Ngoni inherited a very strong military tradition from their origins as a migrating army. In the words of their historian YM.Cibambo, ‘To the Ngoni war was like work and his heart rejoiced to think of it.' At least some groups seem to have retained the Zulu system of organizing their warriors into regiments based on age, although most units were based on territorial divisions, and warriors tended to live in their villages rather than in separate kraals as they did in the Zulu army. In Nyasaland, young men were often formed en masse into a new regiment known as a libandla, of which each large village or prominent chief might have several. Each libandla was divided into companies called libuto, which varied in strength up to 100 men or more, and would be allocated to one of the two maior divisions of the army - the younger men, or amajaha and the veteran amadoda. Each regiment and company was led by an officer known as an induna, who was responsible to the overall leader or 'war induna', appointed by the nkosi or chief.
Posted in Gomani, impi, libandla, libuto, mabema, mahora, ngoni, Songea, wiese