Dingiswayo, Rides Again

bibliographic database
Line

Periodical article

Title:	Dingiswayo, Rides Again
Author:	Koopman, Adrian
Year:	1979
Periodical:	Journal of Natal and Zulu History
Volume:	2
Pages:	1-12
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	Zululand South Africa
Subjects:	traditional rulers history 1810-1819 Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) History and Exploration
Abstract:	About the year 1805, Jobe, chief of the Mthethwa clan living in what is now Zululand, was advised by one of his courcillors that two of his sons, Tana and Ngodongwana, were plotting his overthrow. Jobe arranged for their demise, and Tana was accorddingly killed. Ngodongwana, however, escaped and went into hiding in foreign parts. After some years has passed, and Jobe had died a natural death, Ngodongwana, now known as Dingiswayo, returned to Mthethwaland, and claimed the Methethwa throne from his younger brother Mawewe. This brief summary gives the early history of Dingiswayo as represented by the oral traditions of the Mthethwa clan, and is generally accepted as accurate. What is not certain is where Dingiswayo went during his years of exile. The present paper examines the various accounts of his exile which have been propounded over the years (by H. Fynn, T. Shepstone, J. Stuart, W.J. Argyle), and suggests an alternative. Notes.