Ah! Lwaganda. Ngqika, King Of The Rharhabe [1776-1829]

Dawn broke early on the morning of 5 July 2015, calling us once again to the road. Our destination was the resting place of King Ngqika. True to full Xhosa custom, he was buried at sunset on the very day of his passing (14 November 1829). His grave lay within a cattle kraal, where oxen and cows were gathered and kept through the night, bearing silent witness to his final journey

The constant milling of the cattle soon erased all trace of the grave. Beneath their hooves lay Ngqika’s karosses, his clothes and ornaments, his tobacco sack and pipe, his saddle and bridle, and the mats on which he had slept—each placed beside him for the journey beyond.

His assegais were broken and also placed in the grave.
All his huts and those of his wives were sealed and set on fire. All of his people, male and female alike, took off their ornaments and shaved their heads, and left the Great Place for a period of mourning in the bush.

The King's Resting Place

A watchman of the grave was appointed, He had sole charge of the cattle in the funeral kraal, and milked the cows for his food.

He remained for a year, when the cattle were removed, but these beasts were sanctified and were to be killed or eaten; the watchman himself was a privileged person who thereafter could claim food from anyone; to affront or injure him was a grave offence, as if to the deceased chief himself.

- "Frontiers : The Epic of South Africa's Creation and The Tragedy Of The Xhosa People" by Noël Mostert





"Ingcwaba Lo Kumkani" by S.E.K. Mqhayi
Published in Izwi Labantu, October 27, 1908

iXesi (umlambo) lipuma kwi ntaba zakwa Matole, kwanje nge
 Tyume (umlambo) liye ku ngena elwandle ngobutshantshatela
 Obukulu kwele Ntlalo pakati ko Gompo no Cihoshe.
 Ngumlambokazi odume kunene ebalini lama Xosa.
 Kulapo zikona izigqubo,

 Kulapo ikon’ imikondo,
 Kulapo zikon’ iziganeko,
 Igazi lisahleii nanamhla.
 Ngumlambo omanzi amnandi,
 Ngumlambo omanz’ anamandla,
 Indonga zizele kucuma;
 "No Ngqika usalele khona."

Isivivane

After paying my respects to the King, as ancient Nguni custom dictates, I added my stone to the isivivane. The isivivane—a cairn of small stones—stands as a marker of a warrior’s grave, each stone a quiet act of remembrance.