Sinokubonga Nkala
Mzala Tom
Two political dynasties in the present day Harare province and surrounding areas aligned themselves with the Ndebele in the mid to late 1800s. These were the Rwizi and Hwata dynasties. The relationship was one based on mutual benefits.
These two dynasties were, however, not the only allies of the Ndebele in present-day Zimbabwe outside the borders of the erstwhile Ndebele kingdom. The focus of this thread is on the Rwizi Dynasty-Ndebele relations.
After clashes with the Ndebele between 1860-1864 over gold and trade routes, Hwata Nherera Gwindi, travelled to meet King Mzilikazi at his capital where they agreed to have a mutually beneficial alliance. It was agreed that the Ndebele would have partial access to the lucrative Shawasha gold mines and Portuguese trade routes controlled by the Hwata.
The Hwata dynasty stretched from present-day Harare, past the Mazoe Dam (then commonly known as pagomba) to modern day Glendale and to the heads of the Mazoe, Tateguru and Murowodzi valleys.
In return the Ndebele had to assign personal and family bodyguards for Hwata Gwindi and dispatch regiments to protect him from his family contenders and external enemies. With Ndebele backing Hwata Nherera Gwindi and his son Mazarura maintained their territory and retained power for their house up to the late 1880s.
At the beginning of the 1880s the emerging Rwizi dynasty of Chitungwiza was ruled by Madzora, but his brother Pasipamire was much more famous. Pasipamire was the medium of the Chaminuka spirit. The Rwizi Dynasty was centred in present-day Chitungwiza —Dungwiza — territory of long grass, where Chaminuka Pasipamire’s shrine was located.
The territory covered the area between the Mupfure and Manyame (Hunyani) rivers, extending as far as Mhondoro in the north-west and Hwedza Hills in the southeast.
The Rwizi dynasty also forged a strategic alliance with the Ndebele during the reign of King Lobhengula. This saw the Ndebele fighting their enemies to protect and preserve their emerging, and often fragile territorial boundaries. The Rwizi dynasty was at this point in time led by Rwizi Jugu, the son of Chaminuka Pasipamire.
When faced with attacks and raids from their Shava Dynasty attacking from north of the Hunyani (Manyame) River, in the early 1880s, Rwizi Jugu made a clarion call to his Ndebele allies to help fend off the neighbouring enemies who had traversed the territorial borders. King Lobhengula dispatched the Imbizo and Ameva regiments to assist in fending off the invaders from the north and further advanced the Rwizi borders further north.
After this decisive victory Rwizi Jugu expanded his territorial borders north of the Hunyani and shared the cattle captured from his enemies north of the Hunyani River with the Ndebele.
Chaminuka Pasipamire had developed a close relationship with King Lobhengula over the years. After hearing the legend of Chaminuka Pasipamire, in the early years of his reign, King Lobhengula consulted him for spiritual advice and specificial protection to navigate the complex succession challenges he faced.
It is this relationship that led to an alliance between the Ndebele and the Rwizi Dynasty. This relationship was so deep to the extent that Chaminuka Pasipamire assigned one of his sons as his permanent representative in Bulawayo to attend to any spiritual emergencies the king faced. On important occasions, Chaminuka Pasipamire travelled to Bulawayo to perform special ceremonies and rituals for King Lobhengula to strengthen his seriously contended throne.
Chaminuka Pasipamire was endowed with great spiritual and supernatural powers. He was also a rainmaker and healer. He was also a very rich, business-minded and industrious man. For an example; he sold magic elephant-finding reeds to commercial ivory hunters from the south, at often lofty prices. He also controlled all the hunting to the north of the Munyati River. He was also a market gardener and seller of ivory, ostrich feathers and ironwork.
The fall out between Chaminuka Pasipamire and King Lobhengula happened after the Ndebele helped Rwizi Jugu fight his enemies as narrated above. After defeating Rwizi Jugu’s enemies King Lobhengula developed an interest in the area north of the Hunyani River. He saw an opportunity to sell hunting concessions to white travellers and hunters.
This did not go down well with Rwizi Jugu and Chaminuka Pasipamire as they argued that the spiritual help they offered King Lobhengula was of far greater value and as such he couldn’t ask for more from them.
They argued that King Lobhengula had no rights over their territory and the new area north of the Hunyani River. To mark his territory, Chaminuka Pasipamire expelled all the whites who had been given concessions by King Lobhengula in the area north of the Hunyani River.
Online Reporter
