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Wozekhaya

Isiduko · isiXhosa

Tshawe

  • PeopleamaXhosa
  • RegionEastern Cape

Recorded Praise Names

These are praise names, not a full recitation.

TshaweNgcondeKhawutaPhaloMdangeTshiwo

The History Behind This Name

This account was passed down by word of mouth.

Xhosa oral tradition holds that Tshawe took the chieftainship from his elder half-brother Cirha, helped by his brother Jwarha and by the amaNgwevu clan of the amaMpondomise. From that contest the minor house of Nkosiyamntu became, and has remained, the ruling house of the amaXhosa.

The royal line is recited from Xhosa, who fathered Malangana, who fathered Nkosiyamntu, who fathered Tshawe, who fathered Ngcwangu, then Sikhomo, Togu, Ngconde, Tshiwo, and Phalo.

Under Phalo kaTshiwo the nation settled into the two houses it still keeps. The Great House passed to Gcaleka, and the Right Hand House to Rharhabe, who crossed the Kei with his followers after a clash with his younger half-brother. Both houses stand today: the amaGcaleka as the senior royal house of the Xhosa nation, the amaRharhabe as the junior.

Recorded from: SAHO; WIKIPEDIA (Xhosa people, Gcaleka kaPhalo, Rarabe kaPhalo)

Written down by families and by the people who recorded them.

About This Record

What Was Written Down

The ruling house of all the amaXhosa. The izithakazelo.blog directory records the chiefs of the line as including Hintsa, Sarhili and Sigcawu; the praise sequence above is the one A third source, iziduko.wordpress.com, records, glossed there as iinkosi zamaXhosa jikelele - the kings of the Xhosa as a whole.

Where This Comes From

Written down by
  • iziduko.wordpress.com and xhosaculture.co.za, read via indexed search results (both refused a direct fetch)

Recorded Alongside

  • Amagiqwa Also recorded among the amaXhosa.
  • Bhayi Also recorded among the amaXhosa.
  • Bhisha Also recorded among the amaXhosa.
  • Bhuku Also recorded among the amaXhosa.
  • Cethe Also recorded among the amaXhosa.
  • Cetshe Also recorded among the amaXhosa.

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If Your Family Holds More Of This

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