QUEEN NYAMAZANA DLAMINI

Leader of the Swazi group that broke away from her uncle, King Zwangendaba Jele!

She killed the last Mambo and conquered the Mighty Rozvi State!

Women have been doing the most for the longest!

[Pictures are NOT of her ]

NAME MEANING

Nyamazana - The Animal

Although I prefer saying "The Beast!" because she was a fierce warrior and a graceful queen.

Someone wrote that it meant "an antelope"

Remember the Rozvi/Lozwi in the last story? Yes! They were ruling present-day Zimbabwe

The Mambo’s palace was in Manyanga Hills/Intaba zikaMambo near Inyathi Mission

They were no longer the MIGHTY Rozvi. They were weakened by internal disputes, wars and most had migrated East

One day, a small group of Swazi people led by Queen Nyamazana Dlamini arrived at the Mambo’s Hill

Warriors led by a Woman! [Just to highlight that]

They were ready to fight

Back then it was survival of the strongest

Two Kings couldn't exist at the same time so one had to go

So the Swazis stood at the foot of the hill and called out, “Mambo! Are you there? Come down let’s fight!”

But Mambo being the King he was, wasn’t about to leave his throne to go and address peasants throwing stones!

So he said “Ndiyani anodana Ishe?(Who is calling the king?)"

The Swazi’s kept calling him but he kept ignoring them

I personally don't think he was ignoring them. I think his subjects were preparing for the last minute battle

Or maybe he was ignoring them.
If a stranger comes to your house and says come out let's fight. Will you go?

The Swazi’s got tired of calling and decided that since he wasn’t coming down to them, they would go up to him. So up the hill, they went

The Swazi soldiers found him, held him by his arms and pulled in different directions until one of his arms came off

After the Mambo was torn apart, literally, the Swazi made themselves at home in the palace

OTHER VERSIONS OF THE DEATH OF THE LAST MAMBO

1. He was ordered by Nyamazana to jump down from the hill and he died in the process

2. Queen Nyamazana skinned him alive

3. He escaped. The Swazi soldiers caught up andkilled him at Mavangwe Hill, in Buhera. His grave is a protected national monument today

[Anyone from Buhera to confirm?]

4. He escaped and either lived in exile or joined his people who had migrated East

Long live the King!

The San (AbaThwa) lived in the area

To avoid problems with ancestors, Nyamazana asked a San woman to be her right hand woman

The lady was light in complexion and very beautiful—hence the reference to her as UMTHWAKAZI OMHLE. Ring a bell?

Mthwakazi [(The Ndebele Nation (Now)]

Years later, King Mzilikazi arrived in present day Matabeleland

The Ndebele had arrived without their King and after a long time of him MIA they believed he was dead

So his son Nkulumane became King of the Ndebele

Then Mzilikazi showed up very much alive

Heads rolled!

It’s taboo to have more than one King

[This is a long story that needs its own thread. NB: Nkulumane was innocent bakithi!
Emotions aside - this story will be told separately]

Ok so King Mzilikazi sat the throne and his priority was to unite every group and form one nation

Mzilikazi’s medicine man Mphubane Mzizi had skills!

He proved Nkulumane was 'guilty' by making him lift up an enchanted animal skin that only a King could lift

He used Mzilikazi & Queen Nyamazana's blood to forge an unbreakable bond meant to unite the nations (Swazi + Ndebele)

What's bad is that Nyamazana didn't know that her blood was being used for rituals

She was there because King Mzilikazi had invited her over, to ask her out

Mzilikazi: "Nyamazana, will you marry me so our Empires can unite?"

She said YES!
[Was she under a spell? ]

Then was a Smallpox(Impunza) outbreak in the Swazi

The King's nyanga made a vaccine, tried it on a few people and sent them to go and live with the Swazi to see if the vaccine would work (It worked!)

They got there saying they were there to escort the Queen to her royal wedding

Anyways, Queen Nyamazana married King Mzilikazi. They had a very beautiful wedding & later a son
It was a marriage of convenience but still!

Mzilikazi now had power over the Swazi, which was now commonly known as uMthwakazi

King Mzilikazi left the name unchanged

Queen Nyamazana had smallpox on her wedding day shame

Hence the Ndebele saying “Inhlanhla yaMaSwazi, wona aqonywa yinkosi elempunza" meaning "The luck of the Swazi people, who are married by Kings even though they have smallpox"

So on their wedding day, the King addressed everyone saying “Lina Mahlabezulu (The Ndebele) lani bakaMthwakazi (The Swazi)”

It was the first time the king said the name Mthwakazi in public and people loved the sound of it

From then, it became a reference to the Ndebele Nation

King Mzilikazi died in 1868 and was buried eNtumbane in Matopo

Queen Nyamazana died in the 1900s...

[1900s? Does this mean she was there during the Matabele war? So she knew Queen Lozikeyi? What was her role after the death of her husband? Royal mother? I have questions ]

So the Swazi Queendom merged with the Ndebele Kingdom and became THE Ndebele Kingdom

Queen Nyamazana was now a royal wife so she was part of AbeZansi
[You know the Ndebele classification system, right? ]

THE END

Long live the Queen!

Long live the King!

SOURCES
1. Oral
2. Zimbabwe's Cultural Heritage by Pathisa Nyathi
3. The Rebirth of Bukalanga by @Ndzimuunami1982
4. Zimbabwe African People's Union by Eliakim M. Sibanda
5. Women Rulers Throughout the Ages by Guida M. Jackson
6. The Ndebele Nation by Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni

PS: The History of The Ndebele Kingdom is quite long and complex. I didn't focus much on it here.

This was about Queen Nyamazana

I'd love to write about the fate of Nkulumane and the "Disappearance" of King Lobengula

Thank you for reading and kindly forgive thy English