Tembe Kingdom

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Tembe Kingdom
Tembe Kingdom
c. 1554 [1] –late 1800s
StatusChiefdom
Capital Manguzi / Tembe area
Common languagesSwazi, Nguni dialects
Religion
Traditional African religion
GovernmentMonarchy
Historical eraPrecolonial Africa
• Established
c. 1554 [1]
• Colonial incorporation
late 1800s
CurrencyCattle and trade goods
Today part of South Africa, Mozambique

The Tembe Kingdom was a precolonial chiefly domain centred on Delagoa Bay (now Maputo Bay) on the southeast African coast, occupying coastal areas of southern Mozambique and parts of northeastern KwaZulu Natal in South Africa, particularly within the region today known as Maputaland, and lying to the east of the inland territory of present-day Eswatini.

Contents

Its territory included the Kosi Bay and Manguzi areas and also extended inland towards the lower reaches of the Lubombo Mountains. [2] The territory formed part of a broader landscape of interacting Nguni-speaking chiefdoms before colonial boundary formation.The legacy of the Tembe Kingdom persists today through the Tembe Tribal Authority, which represents the continuation of the kingdom’s chiefly lineage within South Africa’s modern traditional leadership system. The history of the Tembe shows that they existed from the 16th century, with Tembe serving as the founding leader in 1554. [1]

Origin

The Tembe people trace their origins to the Kalanga communities of the present-day Zimbabwe region, migrating southwards beginning in the 13th century. The Kingdom's founder was Tembe. By the 17th and 18th centuries, they had established a recognised kingdom in the coastal lowlands, adapting to local conditions and gradually incorporating influences from the Tsonga (Rhonga) linguistic and cultural groups. [3] They were one of the earliest documented chiefdoms to control and participate in long-distance trade networks with European merchants along the Indian Ocean coast during the 17th and 18th centuries. [4]

The Tembe chieftaincy is historically linked with the wider Embo-Nguni and Emalangeni communities of the eastern Maputaland-Lubombo region. [5]

Portuguese, Dutch and British ships anchored at Delagoa Bay to acquire ivory and slaves from the Tembe. [4] Tembe chiefs exchanged ivory for glass beads, brass and cloth. [6] Control of ivory hunting grounds increased royal wealth and patronage, enabling the Tembe rulers to recruit warriors for control of the area.The kingdom was ruled by a succession of chiefs, although historical records of leadership are sometimes unclear due to the repetition of names across generations and distortions in oral histories.Their society combined traditional governance, coastal trade, and cattle-based wealth, forming a stable and recognisable political unit prior to European colonial incursions. [2]

Internal division and colonial era

The Tembe royal house was fractured because of internal succession disputes. Following the death of King Silamboya in 1746, the Tembe-Thonga lineage was divided into two branches: one, the Matutwen-Tembe, settled west of the Maputo River, while the other, under King Mangobe and later his younger son King Mabudu, settled east of the Maputo River. King Mabudu established himself as the stronger leader, taking over power from his older brother Prince Nkupo, and his lineage became known as the Mabudu branch or the Mabudu Tembe Kingdom, considered one of the strongest political and economic units in south-eastern Africa during the mid-18th century. [7]

The Mabudu Tembe Kingdom's territory reportedly extended from the Maputo River in the west to the Indian Ocean in the east, and from Delagoa (Maputo) Bay in the north to as far south as Lake St. Lucia by the early 1800s. [7]

The Mabudu lineage emerges within the broader Tembe-Thonga political landscape, itself the result of success disagreements. [7]

During the late 19th and early 20th century, another division amongst the Tembes emerged, which further fractured the Kingdom: a succession dispute between the son of King Noziyingile Tembe - Chief Ngwanase Tembe and his nephew Makhuza Tembe over the chieftaincy. Ngwanase’s line established itself along the coastal zone around what is today KwaNgwanase ("at Ngwanase's area"; also known as Manguzi), and this lineage would become the dominant chiefly authority in the twentieth century and today forms the basis of the present-day Tembe Tribal Authority, recognised in South Africa’s post-apartheid traditional leadership framework. The Makhuza branch retained influence among inland Tembe communities, particularly those situated closer to the Lubombo mountains, reflecting the continuation of parallel houses within the historical Tembe Kingdom. According to Mthethwa (2002), the inland region of the Tembe Kingdom was initially governed by Prince Madingi Tembe (Makhuza's father) during the reign of his father King Mwayi and (later) his brother King Makasana. Upon Prince Madingi's death, Makhuza took over as leader of the inland Tembe territories and refused to recognise Prince Ngwanase (son of King Noziyingile) as the legitimate Chief of Tembe. Colonial officials in Maputaland formally recognised Prince Ngwanase as the legitimate ruler of the Tembe polity. This decision resulted in “the land and people which was originally ruled by Makhuza now [falling] under the authority of Ngwanase.” [7]

The succession conflict occurred during a period when colonial powers were extending administrative control over the broader region of Maputaland. Both Portuguese authorities in southern Mozambique and British officials in northern KwaZulu Natal attempted to define borders and appoint compliant chiefs, which disrupted longstanding Tembe political structures. [8]

Tembe chiefs participated in negotiations with colonial authorities and maintained control over key coastal trade areas, particularly for ivory, which remained a valuable commodity for exchange with European merchants. [8]

The period also saw the integration of Tembe society into broader colonial labour networks. Some Tembe individuals became migrant labourers in South African mines, while the ruling elite leveraged European trade connections to maintain royal patronage and consolidate power over the Tembe territory. [9] [8]

Relations with inland powers

The Tembe Kingdom maintained complex relations with inland Nguni powers, including the Ndwandwe, Dlaminis, Mthethwa and early Zulu chiefdoms. While some oral and historical sources indicate that the Tembe occasionally offered tribute or gifts to these inland groups, the Tembe retained formal independence due to their wealth from coastal trade with Europeans and control over key ivory hunting grounds. [10] [11]

They maintained their coastal authority and negotiated trade and diplomatic arrangements, which allowed them to resist incorporation into inland military confederations, even as Ndwandwe, Mthethwa, and later Zulu chiefdoms kept expanding and posing threats. This economic and political autonomy enabled the Tembe to remain a distinct coastal polity well into the colonial period. [8]

List of Tembe rulers

The following is a list of Tembe rulers from King Sikuke to current Chief of Tembe. [10]

NameReignNotes
King Sikuke c.1692-1710First verifiable Tembe ruler after the genealogical gap
King Ludahumba 1710-1728Successor to King Sikuke
King Silamboya 1728-1746Consolidated Tembe authority during early coastal-inland interactions
King Mangobe 1746-1764Predecessor to Mabudu; pivotal ruler before the rise of the Mabudu-Tembe branch
King Mabudu 1764-1782Founder of the Mabudu-Tembe branch; powerful 18th-century ruler
King Mwayi 1782-1800Successor to Mabudu; father of Makasana and Madingi
King Makasana 1800-1854Major ruler during early 19th-century upheavals; father of King Noziyingile Tembe
King Noziyingile Tembe 1854-1886Father of Prince Ngwanase; strengthened Tembe polity during colonial encroachment
Queen Zambili Dlamini (Regent)1886-1894Regent for Prince Ngwanase following Noziyingile’s death
Chief Ngwanase Tembe 1894-1928Installed after regency; founder of the modern Ngwanase-Tembe branch
Chief Mhlupeki Tembe 1928-1950Son of Ngwanase; ruled through early apartheid years
Chief Mzimba Tembe 1951-2000Son of Mhlupeki; long-serving 20th-century chief
Chief Mabhudu Israel Tembe [12] 2001-presentCurrent Chief of Tembe, currently leading the Tembe Tribal Authority

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ngubane, S (2021). "Identity construction in KwaNgwanase personal names". Sabinet African Journals. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  2. 1 2 Hamilton, Carolyn (1990). Carolyn Hamilton (ed.). In Pursuit of Swaziland's Precolonial Past. Kulandza Umlandvo: Swaziland Oral History Project (First ed.). Manzini, Swaziland: Macmillan Boleswa Publishers (Pty) Ltd. ISBN   0 333 4 7907 6.
  3. ↑ Mathebula, Mandla (2017). "Some notes on the early history of the Tembe, 1280 AD–1800 AD (PDF)". New Contree. 78: 102.
  4. 1 2 Harries, Patrick (1993). Work, Culture, and Identity: Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
  5. ↑ Matsebula, J. S. M. (1972). A History of Swaziland. 3rd edition. Longman Publishers: South Africa. pp. 8–9.
  6. ↑ Smith, A. (1970). "The Peoples of Southern Mozambique". Journal of African History 11(2): 289–305.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Mthethwa, Dingani. 2002. The Mobilization of History and the Tembe Chieftaincy in Maputaland: 1896–1997 (PDF). MA thesis, University of Natal.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Lummis, Trevor (1996). "The Colonial State and the Rise to Dominance of Ngwanase, 1896-1928" (PDF). Phambo Seminar Papers.
  9. ↑ Harries, Patrick (1993). Work, Culture, and Identity: Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa. Witwatersrand University Press.
  10. 1 2 Kloppers, Roelie J. (2003). The History and Representation of the History of the Mabudu‑Tembe (MA thesis). University of Stellenbosch.
  11. ↑ Lummis, Trevor (1996). "The Colonial State and the Rise to Dominance of Ngwanase, 1896-1928" (PDF). Phambo Seminar Papers.
  12. ↑ "Inkosi Mabhudu Israel Tembe resigns from Ingonyama Trust board". TimesLIVE. 11 January 2025.
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