abaThembu Descent line

Possible YDNA Haplogroup E1b1a (aka E-M2)

• Nxeko (b c late 1500s) 1st abaThembu king, whose two sons fought over the succession:
• Hlanga, defeated, left to establish his own separate community which was subordinate to the community led by his brother
• Dlomo, the father of
• Hala, ancestor of all later kings.
• Madiba
• Tato
• Zondwa
• Ndaba
• Ngubengcuka - also known as Vusani.

See abaThembu Descent Line Project for references and previous generations.

The Story of Ntlazi and Ndaba as Kings of the abaThembu

Tato's senior son and heir was Zondwa who, it would seem, died around his forties and was outlived by his father. Zondwa died without apportion his various houses (ukwaba). The process of ukwaba is significant because the heir and senior son was determined from it. The story goes that it was during Rarabe's visit to Tato that he enquired from the Thembu king who of his two grandsons, Ntlazi and Ndaba, would be king. Tato replied that Ndaba, the younger boy, could not be king as he was "naughty" (Sihele, p 22). Rarabe's response was that the naughtiness was a good sign and Ndaba should be king.

Ntlazi ascended the throne upon Tato's demise. In the meantime, Rarabe had sent his daughter, Bede, to wed Ndaba. But Ndaba was involved in mischief whereupon the amaNdungwane took up arms against him and the young prince had to flee to the land of the Xhosa King Gcaleka. He got into trouble there as well and eventually found himself resident at his father-in-laws homestead in Rarabe's land. Sooner or later there was trouble there and Ndaba sent word to his brother King Ntlazi to come and rescue him Ntlazi nominated his son, Nkosiyane, in the company of the Qwathi chief, Fubu, to proceed to Rarabeland to rescue Ndaba. The mission was accomplished and various cattle of the Xhosa were raided and driven to the Transkei by Fubu and Nkosiyane. It is important to note that Ndaba never returned to the royal homestead in Mqanduli where Ntlazi was king but, on Fubu's insistence, he was settled along the Mbashe River, in close proximity to the amaQwathi chief. Ntlazi continued to be king of abaThembu until it became clear that Ndaba was being established along the Mbashe River as a parallel king. The creation of the parallel Thembu kingdom along the Mbashe River created a lot of commotion among abaThembu and it is at this stage that Xhoba, the head of the right-hand house of the late King Dlomo, led his descendants out of royal district of Mqanduli and trekked eastwards. He settled on the eastern banks of the Tsomo River, north of the present town of Tsomo. Xhoba was followed by a few other Thembu clans, inter alia, amaNdungwane amd amaGcina. http://speedydeletion.wikia.com/wiki/Draft:AmaTshatshu