A lot has been said about the Nsingo connection to the Ngo(u)ni people of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. There are a lot of stories out there, others saying Nsingo are Vendas. The purpose of this research and blog is to work hard with facts, as oral tradition that was later published is not only unreliable but dangerous. It is dangerous because instead of having one account of a certain people or tribe, different accounts will be doing rounds out there, leading to tribal or ethnic divisions.
Some trace the first Nsingo ancestors to the time Mzilikazi entered southern Rhodesia, having run away with them from Shaka. How then would they identify themselves differently if they had the same identity as Mzilikazi?
Thorough research has alerted this blog that when Mzilikazi arrived in Southern Rhodesia, he built a new nation and called it Mthwakazi. He called the people of Mthwakazi, AmaNdebele. He then divided the Ndebeles into different clans, as per their chiefs, but the main purpose was mainly for war, a Ndebeles warriors' divisions. Per regiment of warriors, for example, 'Insingo,' was under a chief called Somabulane Dlodlo, of the BaVenda that Mzilikazi had brought with him into Southern Rhodesia. For more information click on this link; http://www.inkundla.net/ubbthreads7olde/ubbthreads.php/ubb/printthread/Board/5/main/784/type/thread. For more on Mzilikazi please click on this link; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mzilikazi.
Now, who are the BaVenda? The BaVenda have a very long but interesting history. Some souces believe that the Singo, of the Changamire Rozwi of Zimbabwe founded the Venda state. Please click on this link to read more; http://www.luonde.co.za/pdfs/vhavenda_early_history02.pdf. However, recent investigations into the history of the Venda state claim that the Singo were a division of the Changamire Rozwi of Zimbabwe, who came to dominate an already-existing Venda state. This then shows that the Singo were formerly Shonas. Fore more information please clink on the following link; http://newhistory.co.za/tag/singo-clan/. Let's assume that all the Singo from Changamire Rozwi went and dominated the Venda state, leaving no Singo at all back at Changamire Rozwi. The Singo in Venda married Venda wives, and so on, to the point all the Singo totally identified themselves as BaVenda, and vice-versa. Now, when Mzilikazi passed through Venda into Southern Rhodesia, he was joined by some Singo(s), under the chieftainship of Somabulane. Please remenber that our abovementioned sources have shown how the Singo dominated the Venda, therefore, we can safely assume that when Mzilikazi was joined by Somabulane, only a few Singos follwed him to Southern Rhodesia. Merit of the story - proof that a Singo born in Venda is a Venda since Somabulane may have left behind some of the Singo that had already integrated smoothly into the Venda state, and were now proud being identified as Vendas.
Then, 'Nsingo' is different from 'Singo'. Why, you may again ask? The 'N-' in the Nsingo could have been necessitated by Ndebeles' difficulty to pronounce 'Singo,' thus the 'Singo' in Southern Rhodesia became commonly-known as 'Nsingo'. To summarise the issue, the above analysis thoroughly proves that anyone using 'Nsingo' as their surname today is a Ndebele, since they originate from Mzilikazi's Mthwakazi state, whose people was known as the AmaNdebele. Those that use the surname 'Singo' are Vendas, since they remained behind in Venda as BaVenda, whilst Somabulane travelled with Mzilikazi into Southern Rhodesia. It may not be true then that Nsingo originated from the Zulu state based on the analysis above. It may be true that both Nsingo/Singo share the same Shona origins. Even if you listen to Venda-speaking people you will discover that the language is more closer to Shona language than Ndebele, which gives credence that the Singo had a huge influence in the culture, tradition and language of the BaVenda.
Please keep checking this blog as we keep digging further into the History of Nsingo(s).
by Fanuel Nsingo
No comments:
Post a Comment