THE LOST KINGDOM -THE RISE AND FALL OF THE IKALANGA MONARCHY 1 by JEFF RAMSAY (original) (raw)

This article is adapted from a thirteen-part series published in the Weekend Post (Gaborone). Earlier versions of its content had previously appeared in various Botswana periodicals, beginning with the Sunday Tribune (Gaborone) in 2001. The publication was conceived as an attempt to combine the wealth of Ikalanga traditions collected by Masola Kumile with additional insights from the then-emerging literature on Ikalanga heritage in Botswana, focusing on the fall of first the Chibundule or Tshibundule and subsequent Nichasike dynasties, which together ruled the Bakalanga and neighbouring communities over some four centuries, that is from c. 1450 until the 1840s. The Chibundule dynasty, which was overthrown during the mid-17th century, is associated with the ‘Balilima’ branch of Bakalanga, while the Nichasike or Changamire dynasty that usurped them is associated with the ‘Banyayi’ branch. More broadly, the Bakalanga is here defined to include all communities who have historically identified themselves with the Ikalanga language and culture.