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In examining Faku’s career as king of the Mpondo, there are a number of recurring themes that merit further discussion. Most of these concern his reaction to the various forms of European contact that continued throughout his reign. Since Wesleyan missionaries featured prominently in many aspects of Faku’s life after 1830, they will be mentioned in several of the following thematic sections. Additionally, in order to better understand Faku’s place in history, it is necessary to compare him briefly with some other southern African leaders from the early to mid-nineteenth century. Faku and Christianity As Faku was nearly fifty when he first met European missionaries, his spirituality must have been already well developed. There is no doubt that he shared the same religious beliefs as his subjects, which involved the intervention of ancestors in worldly affairs and the malevolent supernatural power of witches. Of course, this conception of reality often clashed with the beliefs and doctrines of Christianity as interpreted by Victorian British missionaries, who were convinced that they were bringing “civilization” to a “savage” people. Many common practices within Mpondo society, such as polygamy and even dancing, were seen by the Wesleyans as sinful, if not satanic. When Faku initially accepted the Wesleyans into his kingdom, it was not because he was interested in their spiritual message. Typical of many pre-colonial African rulers, the Mpondo king allowed missionaries to live and work in his territory in order to open a channel of diplomatic communication with the powerful Cape Colony, to encourage trade in luxury Western goods and to prevent raiding from other groups (including Europeans) who knew that missions enjoyed special colonial protecConclusion 123 124 / Faku: Rulership and Colonialism in the Mpondo Kingdom tion. Once a mission was established near his capital, Faku came to understand that there were some significant differences between the Wesleyans and other Europeans he had met, such as traders and hunters. Placing the missionaries within the context of his own worldview, Faku, at first, thought that they were powerful rainmakers who could enhance his people’s agricultural activities. While he was soon disappointed in their supernatural abilities, the Mpondo king relied on the Wesleyans as diplomatic agents for the rest of his life. As the missionaries mastered the Xhosa language and began to spread their spiritual message throughout the Mpondo Kingdom, some of Faku’s family became interested in this new set of beliefs. The king’s mother, Mamgcambe, seems to have been the first member of the royal household to publicly admit to being moved by the missionaries’ words. Although she never formally converted, Mamgcambe participated in Christian services and education for the rest of her days and made a deathbed request that no witch-hunting was to take place because of her demise. At least one of Faku’s wives, whose name is not recorded, had a similar experience. However, it must be remembered that these women showed interest in Christianity at the same time that the Mpondo Kingdom was trying to cultivate good relations with the Cape Colony, and their openness to these new beliefs may have been, at least partially, a diplomatic manoeuvre. It is interesting that female members of the royal family were the first ones to partially convert. In other parts of the Eastern Cape, such as among the Rharhabe who were closer to the Cape Colony, the mothers , wives and daughters of chiefs established intimate contacts with the local white missionaries and their families. Was this because women saw Christianity as a vehicle to escape some of the gender-based restrictions of Mpondo society? Or was it that they were actually less constrained by traditionalist structures of authority than male chiefs? This might be a fruitful topic for future research. Despite a thirty-year association with the Reverend Thomas Jenkins, Faku himself never showed any ardent inclination towards conversion. Faku tried to placate the Wesleyans when they objected to the “smelling out” of supposed witches, but this practice continued throughout his rule. Towards the end of his life, Faku could joke that he knew Jenkins so well that he did not have to be a Christian to be allowed into heaven. Some writers have suggested that African rulers of this era could not openly become Christians because they did not want to jeopardize their authority by offending conservative elements within their societies. This may have been correct with regard to Moshoeshoe of the Sotho, who first encountered missionaries at the same point...

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