Ntshembeni Surname Meaning
The Khumalo clan was divided into three sub clans. Chief Donda governed the Southern Khumalo, his cousin Chief Beje governed the Central Khumalo and his uncle Chief Matshobana (also known as Mashobane), governed the Northern Khumalo.
Matshobana was the son of Mangethe and his mother was MaNxumalo. Matshobane ruled a people, in line with the trend at the time, who were tillers, pastoralists, and hunters. In comparison to most of the Zululand tribes, the Khumalo clan was but a small clan of people.
The Ntshembeni clan originated from the kingdom of Matshobane. The leader of Khumalo clan, father of Mzilikazi who ended as the leader of Matebele after the death of his father and is now in Zimbambwe. The Ntshembeni are an African clan that originated in northern KwaZulu, South Africa. They are the Nguni and are commonly in small towns of Jozini and some are in Mozambique in Maputo and they inhabited the land after escaping the wars of Zulu-Ndwandwe wars which ended in 1879. At the end of the Anglo Zuluwar of 1879 the British government decided to divide the Zulu Kingdom into thirteen regions and to govern each of them they placed Zulu Chiefs (amakhosi) who had shown some form of loyalty to them during the Anglo-Zulu War. The Ntshembeni escaped to Mozambique. They then lived under the rulership of Cam Phumo, a Shangaan chief who lived in the area before the arrival of Lourenço Marques). The Ntshembeni are part of a group of Zulus and Ngunis known as the Mtungwa though during the Shaka Zulu wars (1872) some tribe split and when they returned to claim their land the Ntshembeni changed their surname to Nxumalo (mother of Matshobane) but some were brave to use Ntshembeni. The Khumalo clan had been forced to join the Ndwandwe state due to the power of Zwide rule. Zwide was determined to be the most powerful ruler in Zululand. This resulted in a collision course with Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa, who by now had recruited Tshaka into his army regiments. Zwide was not a great warrior, but he was cunning. Dingiswayo decided to personally lead his army into Zwide territory, he sent command to Tshaka to organise the Zulu army regiments and meet at the present Nongoma.
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