SA HERITAGE: Tsonga & Shangaan, Why they both don't have kings in SA, what's the difference?

[@mthokozisilanga4497]

Kingdom is the ancient way of ruling people, there is nothing royal blood anywhere. That is why I do not agree with MKP wanting to returned us to the ancient dictatorship of one family and their relatives. Kingship/chieftaincy or monarchy, is not something unique to Africans, it is was used world wide, even emperors themselves are part of this ancient method of governing. We cannot really return to it, we are all equals under the law(theoretically). I am the descendants of Soshangange, Nxumalo, Zwide ka Langa.

[@gabrielletsoalo8738]

I like them,the sashangini and the zonga ,you can't buy them.they are not like these Zimbabwens who changed their name to need king sheep's.

[@blessingmkasi4448]

The is no thing called tsonga ntsangwisi just named it from the word tonga. We are all shagaans. They even copied the the word gaza from Mozambique

[@hlenganihobyani4864]

The Soshangani was the only king of Vatsonga Machangani the other ones were Chiefs and headmen

[@mthokozisilanga4497]

Not all Vhatsonga were conquered by the Nxumalos. Soshangana Nxumalo, was the Founder and the Monarch of the Gaza Empire, which at the height of its power stretched from the Limpopo river in southern Mozambique up to the Zambezi river in the north. Soshangana ruled over the Gaza state from 1825 until his death in 1858. Soshangane then began to carve out a Nguni empire of conquest known as the Gaza Empire (or Gasa), named after his grandfather Gasa KaLanga, which would later significantly expand to cover areas over present day southern Mozambique, and parts of the Limpopo River around Mandlakazi. The rise of the Gaza Kingdom was based primarily on military conquests, particularly of the Vahlengwe, Vadjonga, Vahlave and Ndau peoples, who would be absorbed into the Nguni Gaza Kingdom. Soshangane then began a campaign to create a new language and culture named after himself. The conquered Ndau, Vakhosa, and Vahlave peoples were regimented under the Mavulandlela regiment and taught Nguni/Ndwandwe battle tactics. Many of the subjugated peoples (including the Ndau, Shona, Nguni, and Tsonga) were incorporated into the Gaza empire. This created a conflict between the Shangaan tribe and the long-existing Tsonga people, where the Gaza Shangaan empire was seen as an invading force and a threat to the cultural institutions of the Tsonga people and other nearby tribes. The Gaza settled in Ndau country, east of the Sabi, and the Ndau language, a Shona dialect, contains a wealth of Zulu words inherited from the Gaza Ngunis. The conquered peoples who were not Shona included the Chopi, Thonga/Tsonga the Hlengwe and the Ronga however many separate tribes among these remained unconquered and many fled to other parts where they re-established their independence. Another book by Gerhard Liesegang (1986) delves deeper into the activities of the Gaza Empire during Nghunghunyane's time and it points out the cruel nature of the Ngunis against the Shona, Kalanga, and Tsonga people. The book, titled "Nghunghunyani Nqumayo: Rei de Gaza 1884-1895 e o desaparecimento do seu estado" details how the Gaza Kingdom raided for slaves to sell to the Portuguese and various plantations, and how the local people came to hate the presence of the Gaza Empire in their land. The book also features descriptive interviews from people about those times, and it gives a clear overview of how the Gaza Kingdom was used as a vassal (or proxy) by foreign European governments in order to destabilize the region and to control it for its resources and slaves. With the oppression that the enslaved and exploited people suffered, it was this cause that led to the rebellion and war that finally led to a collaboration to destroy the hegemony of the Gaza Empire. A very sad history that most of my Nxumalo relatives ignores that our ancestors under Hosi Ngungunyane were slave dealers. The king was not selling the people under his kingdom, it was those independent Vhatsonga tribes that resisted to be incorporated into the Gaza kingdom. It is a fact that Inkosi uSoshangane ka Zikode ka Nxumalo ka Langa ka Ndwandwe dId not defeat all the tribes around him.

[@wisanimakhubela4766]

How was he the king of Vatsonga when he didn’t conquer all Tsonga tribes?

[@mthokozisilanga4497]

@@wisanimakhubela4766 The Batsonga in and around the Gaza area did not have kings, they had chiefs. Tonga, Vandzawu, VaTshwa, Vakalanga, Valoyi, and Thonga were semi-autonomous, like the Batswana, such as Bakwena, Bafurutshe, Barolong etc, but would work together especially in defending each other.

[@wisanimakhubela4766]

@@mthokozisilanga4497 this particular arrangement is still present till this day, Hence the rebellion against the Gaza Empire by the Tsonga’s of Mozambique and South Africa. As the saying goes “Vukosi a byi peli nambu”

[@mthokozisilanga4497]

@@hlenganihobyani4864 It is because the Tonga, Vandzawu, VaTshwa, Vakalanga, Valoyi, and Thonga were semi-autonomous groups lead by chiefs. But could work together in defending each other. Their system of chiefs worked very well for them because in 200 to 500 C.E they moved guided by their chiefs, from Central and East Africa, where they were amongst the first ethnic group to start as traders who negotiated the trade of textiles and beads for commodities like salt, ivory, and copper.

[@hlenganihobyani4864]

We aren't Xhosas