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Mdukiswa Tyabashe ALL THE LAND OF THE MPONDOMISE (XHOSA) Mdukiswa Tyabashe, seventy-four years old, was a respected Mpondomise historian. This history was related on the evening of August 10, 1967, before an audience of six Mpondomise elders. It took place in a home in Ngcolosi, Tsolo District, in the Transkei. (119; tape A-1, side 2) FROM THE BLUE REGION THE EMERGENCE OF THE MPONDOMISE NAT/ON On the origin of the Mpondomise.... A nation emerged from above, from the lakes in the blue region. It was known as the Mbo nation, it came out of the blue region. It is not clear exactly what lakes these were, whether Lake Nyasa or Lake Tanganyika; it is only said that the nation appeared from the lake area.1 That Mbo nation came down and eventually arrived at the Zambezi River. It remained a long time at the Zambezi, then it crossed that river. We are not told by the histories who the king of the Mbo people was at that time, that leader who had come as far as the Zambezi. Nor are we told the name of the king who crossed the river. It is simply said that, when the Mbo people had crossed the Zambezi, they travelled on, building as they went; they journeyed, constructing, and eventually came to the country now known as Zululand, in what is now called Zululand and Swaziland. It is said that the Mbo people reached that area, that when they had arrived there they conquered the people of that country. It is not clear to me which nation they vanquished, which people it was. But those Mbo arrived and subjugated that nation, overcoming those who inhabited the lands now known as Swaziland and Zululand. We are told that, during the period that they were in this region, there was a great king whose name was Sibiside, the ruler of the Mbo people. This king had many wives and many children, children who are now Mbo nations. It is said that in the royal house of that king was a son, Nyombose. The progeny of this son are still living in the country of the Zulu, to this day, and are known as the Thethwa. Yes, it is those Thethwa who settled in that country of the Zulu where Shaka would one day appear. 227 228 Part Three: The Threatened Dream Shaka was one of those who served at the court in this nation of the Thethwa, during the time when Dingiswayo was king. Shaka subdued the Thethwa nation, and so it was that the practice of calling the land of the Mbo people in the north "Mboland" came to an end. In the distant past, it was Mboland, but it came then to be known as Zululand. It had properly been called Mboland, because the Mbo people had come there and conquered. Then, because Shaka was of Zululand, all of that land became known as Zululand. There is a question about this Shaka's lineage, a question as to whether he himself had his genealogical roots in Mbo history and tradition. But in fact he was never a member of that nation, he had nothing to do with the nation of Mbo. That king was Sibiside, and, as I said, he had many sons. Among them was this son whose kingship was overthrown by Shaka. That son was a ruler in Sibiside's line, but he was not necessary a direct son of his, this one who was overwhelmed by Shaka. And among these "sons" of this king were twins, Mpondomise and Mpondo. They emerged as leaders in the country of the Swati. The site of the homestead was on the Mhlathuze River, that is where Sibiside's homestead was. An intsomi2 of the Mpondomise people says this about the emergence of the twins: When they moved out of the royal residence, one of the twins, Mpondo, travelled at first with the Mbo people. His followers were not yet called "Mpondo"; they were still referred to as "Mbo," and Mpondo was a king of the Mbo people. He moved out then, and Mpondomise also emerged. When Mpondomise went out, he kept close to the Drakensberg Mountains, and when Mpondo went out, he hugged the coast. 50 it happened, then, that those Mbo who travelled with Mpondo were ruled by him; and those Mbo who travelled with Mpondomise were ruled by him. Now, when those who were ruled by Mpondo had gone out...

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