Eswatini is an absolute monarchy with constitutional provisions and Swazi law and Custom. The head of state is the king or Ngwenyama, currently King Mswati III, who ascended to the throne in 1986 after the death of his father King Sobhuza II in 1982 and a period of regency. According to the constitution of Eswatini, the king and Ingwenyama is a symbol of unity and the eternity of the Swazi nation. By tradition, the king reigns along with his mother or a ritual substitute, the Ndlovukati. The former was viewed as the administrative head of state and the latter as a spiritual and national head of state, with real power counterbalancing that of the king, but during the long reign of Sobhuza II the role of the Ndlovukati became more symbolic. The king appoints the prime minister from the legislature and also appoints a minority of legislators to both chambers of Libandla (parliament), with help from an advisory council. The king is allowed by the constitution to appoint some members to parliament for special interests. These special interests are citizens who might have been left out by the electorate during the course of elections or did not enter as candidates. This is done to balance views in parliament. Special interests could be people of gender, race, disability, business community, civic society, scholars, chiefs and so on. The Senate consists of 30 members, of which some are appointed by the king on recommendation of the advisory council and others elected by the lower house. The House of Assembly has 65 seats, of which 55 are occupied by elected representatives from the 55 constituencies around the country, and 10 are appointed by the king on recommendation of the advisory council. The attorney general is the ex-officio member. Elections are held every five years.
Agonglo was a King of the Kingdom of Dahomey, in present-day Benin, from 1789 until 1797. Agonglo took over from his father King Kpengla in 1789 and inherited many of the economic problems that developed during Kpengla's reign. Because of the poor economy, Agonglo was often constrained by domestic opposition. As a response, he reformed many of the economic policies and did military expeditions to try to increase the supply for the Atlantic slave trade. Many of these efforts were unsuccessful and European traders became less active in the ports of the kingdom. As a final effort, Agonglo accepted two Portuguese Catholic missionaries which resulted in a large outcry in royal circles and resulted in his assassination on May 1, 1797. Adandozan, his second oldest son, was named the new king.
The Kingdom of Mutapa – sometimes referred to as the Mutapa Empire, Mwenemutapa, – was an African kingdom in Zimbabwe, which expanded to what is now modern-day Mozambique.
King Mswati II (Born:1820–Died:1868), also known as Mswati and Mavuso III, was the king of Eswatini between 1850 and 1868. He was also the eponym of Eswatini. Mswati is considered to be one of the greatest fighting kings of Eswatini.
The Rozvi Empire (1684–1866) was a Shona state established on the Zimbabwean Plateau by Changamire Dombo. The term "Rozvi" refers to their legacy as a warrior nation, taken from the Shona term kurozva, "to plunder". They became the most powerful fighting force in the whole of Zimbabwe.
The Ndwandwe are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa.
The Tsonga people are a Bantu ethnic group primarily native to Southern Mozambique and South Africa. They speak Xitsonga, a Southern Bantu language. A very small number of Tsonga people are also found in Zimbabwe and Northern Eswatini. The Tsonga people of South Africa share some history with the Tsonga people of Southern Mozambique, and have similar cultural practices, but differ in the dialects spoken.
Zwide kaLanga (1758–1825) was the king of the Ndwandwe (Nxumalo) nation from about 1805 to around 1820. He was the son of Langa KaXaba, a Nxumalo king. Legend has it that Zwide's mother, Queen Ntombazi, was a sangoma. And she infamously collected skulls of kings conquered by Zwide because it made her feel powerful.
The Ndau are an ethnic group which inhabits the areas in south-eastern Zimbabwe in the districts of Chipinge and Chimanimani in which they are natives. They are also found in parts of Bikita, in the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique all the way to the coast and in central Malawi. The name "Ndau" is a derivation from the people's traditional salutation "Ndau wee!" in greetings and other social settings. When the Ngoni observed this, they called them the Ndau people, the name itself meaning the land, the place or the country in their language. Some suggestions are that the name is derived from the Nguni words "Amading'indawo" which means "those looking for a place" as this is what the Gaza Nguni called them and the name then evolved to Ndau. This is erroneous as the natives are described in detail to have already been occupying parts of Zimbabwe and Mozambique in 1500s by Joao dos Santos. The five largest Ndau groups are the Magova; the Mashanga; the Vatomboti, the Madanda and the Teve. Ancient Ndau People met with the Khoi/San during the first trade with the Arabs at Mapungumbwe and its attributed to the Kalanga people not Ndau. They traded with Arabs with “Mpalu” “Njeti” and “Vukotlo’’ these are the red, white and blue coloured cloths together with golden beads. Ndau people traded traditional herbs, spiritual powers, animal skins and bones.
Sobhuza I (1788–1850) was king of Eswatini, from 1815 to 1850. Born around the year 1788, his father was King Ndvungunye, and his mother was Somnjalose Simelane. He was called Somhlolo, "the Wonder," upon his birth because his father, Ndvungunye, was struck by lightning. When Sobhuza was king, Lojiba Simelane, instead of his mother, Somnjalose was Queen Mother because Somnjalose was an inhlanti or support bride to Lojiba. Somhlolo is a greatly revered king of Eswatini. He had his first royal capital or kraal at Zombodze in the Shiselweni region, but moved it north to new Zombodze in central Eswatini. Swazis celebrate Somhlolo Day every September 6 as their Independence Day and the national stadium is named Somhlolo stadium. Sobhuza was succeeded by his son Mswati II and his wife Tsandzile Ndwandwe as Queen Mother after a short regency by Queen Lojiba Simelane. Sobhuza by the time of his death had conquered a country claimed to reach to modern day Barberton in the north, Carolina in the west, Pongola River in the south and Lubombo Mountains in the east.
Ngungunyane, also known as Mdungazwe Ngungunyane Nxumalo, N'gungunhana, or Gungunhana Reinaldo Frederico Gungunhana, was a tribal king and vassal of the Portuguese Empire, who rebelled, was defeated by General Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque and lived out the rest of his life in exile, first in Lisbon, but later on the island of Terceira, in the Azores.
Gazaland is the historical name for the region in southeast Africa, in modern-day Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which extends northward from the Komati River at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique's Maputo Province to the Pungwe River in central Mozambique.
Cashel is a village in Chimanimani District of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. It is located near the Mozambique border, just north of the Chimanimani Mountains. Forestry, bananas, wheat, and various cash crops are grown in the area. It was originally called Penkridge but was changed to Cashel in 1957. It was named after Lt. Col. E. Cashel, a former member of the British South Africa Police and the Rhodesian Volunteers, who retired to this area after World War I. The Cashel valley is well known for radio and television commercials, which sought to extol the quality of its peas, beans and other agricultural products.
Soshangana KaZikode, born 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. Soshangana was also known by the name of Manukosi.
The Gaza Empire (1824–1895) was an African empire established by general Soshangane and was located in southeastern Africa in the area of southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe. The Gaza Empire, at its height in the 1860s, covered all of Mozambique between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, known as Gazaland.
Godide, or Godide Nxumalo, also known as António da Silva Pratas Godide, was a son of Ngungunhane, the last ruler of the Gaza Empire, located in modern Mozambique. He was chosen by his father as putative heir to the throne.
Mawewe, or Maueva, was king of the Gaza Empire and son of king Soshangane Nxumalo. Mawewe was born to a Swati woman whom King Soshangane had married. Mawewe felt that since he was older than his half brother, Mzila of a Shangaan mother, that he should be king of Gaza. After the death of King Soshangane, Mawewe began to attack his brothers, including Mzila. Mzila fled and made his way to the Transvaal in 1859 to seek help to fight his brother. Mawewe was hostile to the Portuguese and wanted them out of Gaza territory. Mostly Vatsonga youths were used in his army, as his father King Soshangane did. Mawewe's reputation was that of expansionism. Most other clans and tribes were attacked or slaughtered, and people ran to Mzila. When Mzila returned, he had help from the Portuguese to fight Mawewe's army. Mzila managed to defeat his brother, despite Mawewe having a large and experienced army. Mawewe made his way to eSwatini to seek for new beginnings. He used the surname Mkhatshwa, which most of his descendants still use today.
King Madzikane was the founder and a King of the amaBhaca Nation.
Lubimbi people are scattered all over Africa, mostly found in Southern Africa. Notable countries being South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Uganda.
The House of Khumalo is the reigning Royal Family of the former Mthwakazi Kingdom. The Mthwakazi Kingdom was founded in 1823 by Mzilikazi kaMatshobana. While the Mthwakazi Kingdom ended in 1894 with the First Matabele War, The house has endured to the present day.
