Nkupo II

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Nkupo II
King of the Tembe
Reign1764
PredecessorKing Mangobe Tembe (father)
Successor
Born Tembe Kingdom (present-day Maputaland-Lubombo region)
Died Tembe Kingdom
Dynasty Tembe (Mangobe house)
FatherKing Mangobe Tembe
Religion African traditional religion

Nkupo II (also spelt Nkupho) was an 18th-century king of the Tembe people who briefly ruled the Tembe Kingdom in 1764 following the death of his father King Mangobe Tembe. [1] He was King Mabudu Tembe's elder brother. [2]

Contents

Background

Nkupo II was the eldest son of King Mangobe Tembe and the heir to the Tembe throne. [3]

During his father's reign, Nkupo II governed the territory near Maputo Bay while his other brother Prince Mbhanyele was responsible for the Matutwini region, Prince Mabudu (territories east of the Maputo River) and Prince Ndumo, looked after the region near the confluence of the Pongola River and Usuthu River. [4]

When King Mangobe died, Nkupo II took over the reigns of the Tembe Kingdom but was a weak and indecisive ruler, lacking the political authority and military leadership that had characterised Mangobe’s reign. [5]

His brother, Prince Mabudu, a third son of King Mangobe, was seen as the one who had his father's leadership qualities and took power from Nkupo II, establishing himself as the prominent military ruler of the Tembe polity. [6]

Challenges

Nkupo II's short period in power was marked by a lot of internal squabbles and which led to the erosion of the central authority left by his father. [2] He established his capital in a forested region south of Maputo Bay, within the northern province of the Tembe kingdom rather than ruling from the southern heartlands associated with his father’s authority. [4]

Nkupo II also failed to prevent his brothers from asserting autonomy over their respective territories, leading to one of them, Mabudu, overthrowing him and consolidating Tembe power. [4]

Nkupo II’s authority was further challenged by ongoing rivalry from members of the house of King Mwayi I (Nkupo II's uncle), a rival branch formed after Mangobe declared himself King of the Tembe instead of the heir Prince Madomadoma (his nephew) after King Mwayi's death. [4]

References

  1. ↑ Junod, Henri Alexandre: The life of a South African tribe, London: MacMillan & Co., 1927. pp. 25
  2. 1 2 Mathebula, M. Some notes on the early history of the Tembe, 1280 AD–1800 AD (2017). pp.47 -56.
  3. ↑ HA Junod (1927), p. 329
  4. 1 2 3 4 Hedges, David W. (1978). Trade and Politics in Southern Mozambique and Zululand in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (PhD thesis). University of London.
  5. ↑ DW Hedges (1978), p. 137
  6. ↑ Mthethwa, Dingani. 2002. The Mobilization of History and the Tembe Chieftaincy in Maputaland: 1896-1997. MA thesis, University of Natal, Durban. Available at: Here (PDF (accessed 14 November 2025).p.p.49
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