View source for Qwabe

{{Location map+|KwaZulu-Natal|right|width=240|caption=Locations of the [[Ndwandwe]], [[Mthethwa Paramountcy|Mthethwa]] and Qwabe kingdoms on a map of present-day [[KwaZulu-Natal]], South Africa|places={{Location map~|KwaZulu-Natal|
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lon_dir=E|lon_deg=31|lon_min=38|lon_sec=51|label=Ndwandwe|position=left}}
{{Location map~|KwaZulu-Natal|
lat_dir=S|lat_deg=28|lat_min=30|lat_sec=54|mark=Cercle rouge 50%.svg|marksize=30|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=31|lon_min=50|lon_sec=55|label=Mthethwa|position=left}}
{{Location map~|KwaZulu-Natal|
lat_dir=S|lat_deg=28|lat_min=56|lat_sec=59|mark=Cercle rouge 100%.svg|marksize=35|
lon_dir=E|lon_deg=31|lon_min=28|lon_sec=59|label='''Qwabe'''|position=left}}}}The '''Qwabe''' Kingdom ({{langx|zu|amaQwabe}}) is the senior branch of the House of Malandela, the royal pre-Zulu family, descendant from Qwabe (1575) the son of Malandela or [[Malandela kaLuzumana|Mayandeya]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Kingdoms and Chiefdom of Southeastern Africa|last=Eldredge|first=Elizabeth A|publisher=University of Rochester Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-58046-514-4|location=668 Mt. Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620, USA|pages=105–106, 192–193}}</ref>
== Origins ==
The amaQwabe are the senior and larger clan of the Makhanya and the [[Zulu people|Zulu]] clans all descending from one common ancestor, Malandela.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Houston|first=Gregory F|date=March 2011|title=KwaZulu-Natal History of Traditional Leadership Project|url=http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en|journal=Human Sciences Research Council|pages=97|access-date=2019-11-21|archive-date=2022-05-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220527162006/http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en|url-status=dead}}</ref> They are descendant from Qwabe (whose name means a Large '[[musical bow]]'<ref>{{Cite book|title=English - isiZulu / isiZulu - English Dictionary: Fourth Edition|last=Doke|first=CM|publisher=Wits University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-86814-738-0|location=1 Jan Smuts Ave, Johannesburg, 2000|pages=1080}}</ref>) the eldest son of Malandela and his wife Nozidiya/Nozinja of the Zungu clan.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Other Zulus: The Spread of Zulu Ethnicity in Colonial South Africa|last=Mahoney|first=Michael R.|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0822353096|location=Durham, North Carolina, United States|pages=22}}</ref> Following the death of Malandela, Qwabe became the king.<ref name=":0" /> In accordance with Nguni customary practices when Qwabe inherited the kingship, he went and built a new homestead to serve as the center of the kingdom, leaving his younger brother Zulu to rule over a few people who remained at their father Malandela's estate.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=The James Stuart Archive Vol 3|last=Webb|first=C De B|publisher=Killie Campbell Africana Library Reprint Manuscript|year=1982|isbn=978-0869802878|location=220 Gladys Mazibuko Rd, Berea, Durban, 4001|pages=212, 35, 41}}</ref>
The kingdom thrived sometime in the 18th century as "one of the most ancient and famous tribes in [[Natal (province)|Natal]] and [[KwaZulu-Natal|Zululand]]".<ref name=":1" /> At its peak the amaQwabe occupied central [[KwaZulu-Natal]], they were found beneath the Amandawe and [[ONgoye Forest|Ngoye]] Hills, south of the [[Mhlathuze River]] until it reached the [[Mthethwa Paramountcy|Mthethwa]] and Dube areas, up the Mhlathuze River almost as far as [[Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal|Nkandla]] forest, winding up between the Mhlathuze and [[Tugela River]]s and finally overflowing into Natal.<ref name=":1" />
== Expansion and political structure ==
After separating from his brethren with the majority of Malandela's people, Qwabe and his followers settled beneath the Ngoye hills. This is where Qwabe built the kingdoms new center, eMthandeni. Before amaQwabe occupation the area between the Mhlathuze and Tugela rivers was occupied by the Cele clan a sub-branch of the [[Mthethwa Paramountcy|Mthethwa]] kingdom. The Qwabe drove out the Thuli and Cele clans as well as the amaMbili, amaKwela and amaKomo tribes, from between the Mhlathuze and the Tugela rivers into the coast district of Natal.<ref name=":2" /> Before the Shaka era the amaQwabe kingdom had already expanded control over parts of Natal south of the Thukela River. The expansion of this kingdom over territory and smaller chiefdom's was enough to regard it as one of the few larger kingdoms of the region.
The kingdom under Phakatwayo kaKhondlo and generally was characterized by seven large villages, each headed by an important member from the ruling lineage. Regiments were round up by village rather than age, this included women regiments also. Evidence suggest that the authority to form women regiments (isigodlo) was only given to senior powerful kings such as Phakatwayo of The Qwabe, Dingiswayo of the Mthetwa and
Zwide of the Ndwandwe for instance.<ref name=":0" />{{Royal house|name=Qwabe Royal House|other_names=Gumede|country=[[South Africa]]|founder=[[Qwabe kaMalandela]]|current head=[[Makhosini Wellington Qwabe]]|other_families=*[[Khuzwayo]]
*[[Makhanya]]
*[[Mbedu]]
*[[Gcabashe]]
*[[Sabela]]
*[[Duze]]
*[[Mgobhozi]]
*[[Chili (clan)|Chili]]
*[[Njapha]]
*[[Dlamuka]]
*[[Maphanga]]
*[[Sishi]]
*[[Mzukwase (Myeza)]]|cadet branches=*[[Zulu people|Zulu]]
*[[Zethembe & Zingelwayo (Sibiya)]]
*[[Ngema (Mngadi)]]
*[[Mcineka]]
*[[Khanyile]]|parent_family=Nguni}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:KwaZulu-Natal]]
[[Category:Monarchs in Africa]]