List of Xhosa chiefs

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The Xhosa nation has two independent kingships, with the Gcaleka Xhosa, being the senior branch as the Great House of King Phalo kaTshiwo and the Rharhabe Xhosa, the junior branch as the Right Hand House of King Phalo kaTshiwo.


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A paramount chief is the English-language designation for a King/Queen or the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and archaeological theory to refer to the rulers of multiple chiefdoms or the rulers of exceptionally powerful chiefdoms that have subordinated others. Paramount chiefs were identified by English-speakers as existing in Native American confederacies and regional chiefdoms, such as the Powhatan Confederacy and Piscataway Native Americans encountered by European colonists in the Chesapeake Bay region of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fengu people</span> Xhosa Tribe

The amaMfengu were a group of Xhosa clans whose ancestors were refugees that fled from the Mfecane in the early-mid 19th century to seek land and protection from the Xhosa. These refugees were assimilated into the Xhosa nation and were officially recognized by the then king, Hintsa.

Ngcobo, alternatively rendered Engcobo, is a town in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hintsa kaKhawuta</span> King of the Xhosa people

King Hintsa ka-Khawuta, also known as King Hintsa Zanzolo , was the king of the Xhosa Kingdom, founded by his ancestor, King Tshawe. He ruled from 1820 until his death in 1835. The kingdom at its peak, during his reign stretched from the Mbhashe River, south of Mthatha, to the Gamtoos River, in the Southern Cape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarili kaHintsa</span>

King Sarhili Ka-Hintsa was the King of Xhosa nation from 1835 until his death in 1892 at Sholora, Bomvanaland. He was also known as "Kreli", and led the Xhosa armies in a series of frontier wars.

King Zwelidumile Ka-Gwebinkumbi was the King of the AmaXhosa Kingdom of South Africa from 2 June 1933 to 9 April 1965. He took over the reins when his oldest brother Mpisekhaya Ngangomhlaba Sigcawu died. He was born near Willowvale in the Cape Colony to Salukaphathwa Gwebi'nkumbi Sigcawu.

King Xolilizwe Ka-Zwelidumile was the King of the Xhosa people from 10 April 1965 to 31 December 2005. King Xolilizwe was an active member of the National House of Traditional Leaders of South Africa. He was the oldest son of King Bungeni Zwelidumile Sigcawu.

King Zwelonke ka-Xolilizwe was a South African royal and King of the Xhosa people. He became king on 1 January 2006. Zwelonke was born at Nqadu Great Palace in Willowvale in the Eastern Cape to Xolilizwe Mzikayise Sigcawu and Nozamile.

Rharhabe ka Phalo was a Xhosa Prince and the founder of the Right Hand House of the Xhosa nation. Rarabe was the eldest son and right hand son of King Phalo ka Tshiwo.

The Rharhabe House is the second senior house of the Xhosa Kingdom. Its royal palace is in the former Ciskei and its counterpart in the former Transkei is the Gcaleka, which is the great house of Phalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gcaleka</span> Ruling House of the Xhosa Kingdom

The Gcaleka House is the Great house of the Xhosa Kingdom in what is now the Eastern Cape. Its royal palace is in the former Transkei and its counterpart in the former Ciskei is the Rharhabe, which is the right hand house of Phalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandile kaNgqika</span>

King Sandile kaNgqika 'Aa! Mgolombane!' was a ruler of the Right Hand House of the Xhosa Kingdom. A dynamic leader, he led the Xhosa armies in several of the Xhosa-British Wars.

Willowvale is a town in Amathole District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thembuland</span> Historical region in South Africa

Thembuland, Afrikaans: Temboeland, is a natural region in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Its territory is the traditional region of the abaThembu.

The Imidushane clan was founded by one of the greatest Xhosa warriors Prince Mdushane who was the eldest son of Prince Ndlambe, the son of King Rharhabe.

The Battle of Amalinda was an armed confrontation between two Xhosa chiefs of the Rharhabe House, which took place in October 1818 just outside of what is today King Williams Town, in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa. On the eve of the fifth Xhosa War Chief Ngqika had close ties with the British, while his uncle, Chief Ndlambe, had no such agreements and painted Ngqika as someone selling out his people in return for personal gain. Chief Ndlambe was assisted in the battle by the senior, King Hintsa and his Gcaleka warriors. When chief Ngqika was defeated in the battle, he retreated and appealed to the British for protection. A British-led force commanded by Colonel Thomas Brereton then seized 23,000 head of cattle from Ndlambe's people in retaliation, leading to the battle of Grahamstown.

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