Abenguni History

  THE JELE ROYALTY IN THE HOUSE. A picture that will stand the test of time! From left to right; Prince Inthabeni Jele, Princesses Benadete and Sonile Mafavuke Jele (she is now late) captured together in the Makeni area in Lusaka, Zambia.  These three Jele royalties are actually children of His MAJESTY King Pontino Msandukuzeni Khuzwayo Jele, who reigned as the Third King Mphezeni from 1941 upto his death in 1981, a year after he gloriously resurrected the Incwala after it's more than 80 year hiatus. With the exception of Princess Benadete, both Prince Inthabeni and Princess Sonile were born from the house of Queen Atinedi Jessi Divine who lived in the Luangeni village.   These Jeles just like the others with roots from Zwangendaba Jele are of the Ncwangeni royal bloodline. In the case of these descendants of Zwangendaba, their apical ancestor was Prince Jele.  Now Prince Jele was the  son of Prince Mfeka kaMncwanga. Prince Mfeka had married 7 wives and begot Cr...

  Inkosi Zibhebhu kaMaphitha Zulu with his youngest wife. Now, Zibhebhu was a son of Maphita, son of Sojiyisa, son Jama, son of Ndaba. He belonged to Mandlakazi Royal Homestead. Zibhebhu was induna (chief) of the Mandlakazi. Also called Usibepu/Ziphewu, he, after the defeat of the Zulu Kingdom by the British, he attempted to create his own independent kingdom. From 1883 to 1884, he fought the Zulu king Cetshwayo, inflicting a series of defeats on him. Zibhebhu was made chieftain of one of the thirteen chiefdoms resulting from the First Partition of Zululand after the Anglo-Zulu War,. The chiefdom was in northern Zululand, a hotbed of uSuthu, and the British General Wolseley thought that Zibhebhu's rule there would help suppress them. I n 1882, after pleas from Cetshwayo, the British Foreign Office relented and restored eight of the central "chiefdoms" to Cetshwayo's superintending control; however, in this Second Partition of Zululand Zibhebhu's chiefdom in the no...

A satellite view of  Mkoma (Red Dot). The Luangwa is situated top left. Now, Old Petauke would be on the way between Luangwa and Kapandula village under Mambo Nyanje in Sinda district.  Now Mkoma is another historical site for the Mphezeni Ngonis. This is where their sung hero of their story, Nsingo Jele was born in 1865. The acclaimed Ngoni Prince was born in the Luphoko Phakathi household.  His father, Ntutho Mphezeni, had initially married Tombiyimbi but since she was barren the Great House status had shifted to the Lupoko house.  Mphezeni had crossed the Luangwa in majestic style in 1860 on the Eastern front before camping at Mkoma and dislodging Chief Mbangombe five years later. After the birth of Nsingo, the Ngonis under Mphezeni again moved and entered Mozambique. They camped at the foot of the Mpinduka Hill but their villages reached as far as Chipili Hill on the West.  It was here that celebrated villages such as Mfumbeni (the village of Queen Mtizwa So...

Mwine Lubemba Chitimukulu (left) of the Bemba speaking people of Zambia with Inkosi YaMakhosi Mphezeni IV, of the Ngonis of Zambia and Mchinji Malawi (right). On the middle is His Excellency, Mr George Kanyamula Zulu, former Australian ambassador to Zambia who is himself a dedicated Ngoni from the Angoni capital.  This was during the 2022 Ukusefya Pangwena Traditional Ceremony of the Bemba Speaking People in Northern Zambia. The Bembas and Ngonis of Zambia do one of the most celebrated traditional cousinship on the continent as the two Nations had clashed around the 1850s when Mphezeni led his group and settled on the Southern tip of the Bemba Kingdom, this was after his father's Nation bad broken up due to succession wrangles.  After the last battle, the Mphezeni Nation had gotten with them some Bemba women, among them a prominent Bemba Princess who even had a relationship with a royal Ngoni family member.  A son born from this relationship would be gotten by the Bembas ...