The Battle of Amalinde

The Battle of Amalinde

In October 1818, two AmaXhosa chiefs of the Rharhabe clan, namely: Chief Ngqika and his paternal uncle Chief Ndlambe, went to battle in Amalinde, the isiXhosa name for the Debe Hollows of Kommetjie, 19 kilometres west of King Williams Town [1], in what is today part of East London, Eastern Cape. However, the exact site of the battle remains uncertain. Ngqika’s father, Mlawu, died when Ngqika was too young to rule and therefore his uncle Ndlambe, as per custom, became the regent. Under Ndlambe’s leadership, the chieftaincy grew in strength as he consolidated his power by absorbing smaller chiefdoms or expelling them to far afield lands. It was in 1795 when Ngqika had entered manhood that he soon demanded his rightful place as regent and leader of the AmaRharhabe. Ndlambe refused to relinquish power and because of this stalemate, a minor civil battle ensued. The two adversaries co-existed for almost two decades, in a state of immense tensions.

INGRAM1891 pg056 East London

The battle of Amalinde, which lasted from midday to nightfall was a result of this longstanding rivalry between the two chiefs, stemming from both personal and socio-political conflict[2]. On the personal, Ngqika fell deeply in love with Thuthula, the beautiful daughter of Dibi and wife of his uncle, Ndlambe. This is incestuous event was a remote but direct cause of the Battle of Amalinde. A more substantial cause of the battle was in 1817 when Ngqika met with Lord Charles Somerset, Governor of the Cape, and was forced to give up both the Great Fish River and Keiskamma River.[3]. The Amaxhosa felt aggrieved, that since Ngqika was not the paramount chief, he could not then authorise the alienation of the land. Ndlambe used this resentment of Ngqika by the people to exploit for his own selfish gains.

Ngqika’s strategy

Most sources reveal that Ngqika and his men went forth towards the Debe, known in isiXhosa as indebe meaning pockmark. He followed a route that skirted the foothills of the Amathole region, the route that is today followed by the roads and railway. Having travelled for over 45 kilometres that morning, Ngqika and his men arrived only at noon. It is said that Ngqika watched the battle from the hillside, some believing that possibly even on the foothills of the Ntaba kaNdoda area that flanks the Debe River valley to the north [4]. Sources report that Ngqika himself was neither a great fighter nor military strategist[5]. As such, he appointed his eldest son Maqoma, who had no actual battle experience, together with Jingqi, a renowned fighter, as lead forces in the battle against Ndlambe. In October 1818, Ngqika mobilised his warriors and sent for help from the British Cape Colony. Ngqika and his men sought advice from Ntsikana, the royal diviner and spiritual counsellor, in his quest to destroy the Ndlambe Great Place. Ntsikana first offered his visionary services to Ndlambe, who then rejected them since he was already served by Nxele, prompting Ntsikana to find his spiritual home under the trusteeship of Ngqika. As with the other charismatic millenarian prophet Nxele, who was in service to Ndlambe, Ntsikana came under the influence of the missioner, Johannes van der Kemp, stationed at Bethelsdorp near Port Elizabeth.

Ndlambe’s strategy

Ndlambe had the advantage of distance and did, in fact, use it wisely. Having to travel a much shorter distance to the battle site as compared to Ngqika, Ndlambe’s great place was at Mount Coke, only 25 kilometres away from the Debe, it is probable that he selected an area which held the greater advantage for him and his men. For this, he and his men had to first cross a large area covered by the Amalinde, proving true that indeed it was the battle of Amalinde [6]). Ndlambe’s army was led by his son, Mdushane and further supported by the amaGcaleka nation who were led personally into the battlefield by their paramount, Chief Hintsa, who was his cousin.[7]. Another important figure in Ndlambe had in his camp was the other charismatic millenarian prophet [8] Nxele, otherwise known as Makana. Proclaiming himself to be the son of God, Nxele offered to Ndlambe and his men a way of thinking which provided them with some exploration of and resistance to the pressures being exerted by the encroaching whites[9]. Ndlambe also made use of Nxele’s growing influence in his power struggle with Ngqika.

The End of the Battle

Wounded and facing defeat, Ngqika’s remaining army men, as led by his eldest son Maqoma, fled up to the slopes of Ntaba ka Ndoda. It is reported that over 500 [10] men lost their lives on that fateful day in October 1818. As the sun went down on that same day, Mdushane’s men fueled huge bonfires with the lifeless bodies of Ngqika’s men, leaving behind very little of what used to be people. In the final analysis, there was no real victor between the amaNgqika and the amaNdlambe as the consequences for both were profound. Soon after the battle, Ngqika applied to the British for assistance and in December 1818, a military expedition under the leadership of Colonel Brereton set out to attack Ndlambe. Matters become extremely worse when Nxele attacked Grahamstown, albeit unsuccessfully. The amaXhosa, in their entirety, lost access to the fertile tract of the country between the Keiskamma and Fish Rivers and soon the area was filled with colonial settlers. A once proud and independent people were inexorably placed under British control.

See also

References

  1. ↑ South African Military History| http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol135hk.html
  2. ↑ South African Military History| http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol135hk.html
  3. ↑ Couzens, T. (2004) Battles of South Africa. Claremont. David Phillips Publishers
  4. ↑ Brownlee, C (1896). Reminiscences of Kaffir life and History. Lovedale Mission Press
  5. ↑ Stapleton, T. J. (1994) Maqoma: Xhosa Resistance to Colonial Advance, 1798-1873. Johannesburg. Jonathan Ball Publishers
  6. ↑ South African Military History| http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol135hk.html
  7. ↑ Buffalo City Tourism|http://www.bctourism.co.za/itemdetail.php?id=566&category=15
  8. ↑ Mostert, N. (1992) Frontiers: the Epic of South Africa's creation and the tragedy of the Xhosa people. Alfred. A. Knopf. Inc.
  9. ↑ Couzens, T. (2004) Battles of South Africa. Claremont. David Phillips Publishers
  10. ↑ South African Military History| http://www.bctourism.co.za/itemdetail.php?id=566&category=15
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.