Nguni
:
For the cattle breed see Nguni cattle.Nguni (an older variant is
Ngoni) commonly refers both to a group of clans and nations living in south-east Africa, and to a group of
Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa including
Zulu,
Xhosa,
Swati, and
Ndebele.
It is sometimes argued that use of
Nguni as a generic label suggests a historical monolithic unity of the peoples in question where in fact the situation may have been more complex (Wright 1987). The linguistic use of the label (referring to a subgrouping of the
Bantu languages) has never been questioned.
Within the Nguni nations, the clan - based on male ancestry - formed the highest social unit. Each clan was led by a chieftain. Influential men tried to achieve independence by creating their own clan. The power of a chieftain often depended on how well he could hold his clan together. From about
1800, the rise of the
Zulu clan of the Nguni and the consequent
mfecane that accompanied the expansion of the Zulus under
Shaka, helped to drive a process of alliance between and consolidation among many of the smaller clans. For example, the kingdom of
Swaziland was formed in the early nineteenth century by different Nguni groups allying with the Dlamini clan against the threat of external attack. Today the kingdom encompasses many dfferent clans who speak an Nguni language called
Swati and are loyal to the king of Swaziland, who is also the head of the Dlamini clan.
The Nguni languages are closely related, and in many instances mutually intelligible.
Compare the following sentences:
I love your new home - Ngithanda ikhaya elisha lakho (
Zulu) Ndithanda ikhaya elitsha lakho (
Xhosa)
I only understand a little English - Ngiqonda isiNgisi kancane, nje (Zulu) Ndiqonda isiNgesi kancinci, nje (Xhosa)
Nguni people can be
Christians (whether
Catholics or
Protestants in Mozambique, South Africa, and Zimbabwe), or practitioners of
African traditional religions, or practising forms of Christianity modified with traditional African values (such as the
Shembe Church of Nazarites).
*Wright, J. (1987) 'Politics, ideology, and the invention of the "nguni"', in Tom Lodge (ed.),
Resistance and ideology in settler societies, 96-118.
