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The Khomo Royal Family

The Khomo royal family comprises of King Mfanseni Phillip I and his close relations.

The Khomo royal family can be dated back to the first Nguni Chiefs and Kings and can trace its seeds to the then indigenous Sibiya clan who stemmed from Qwabe KaMalendela and his descendants of the Gumede Royal Family, which can trace its royal roots to the eldest Nguni Kings Mnguni and Ndaba.

Khomo son of tribal chief Sibiya refused to bow down to the rule of his father(Chief of the Sibiya Clan) to partake in Tribal Wars and migrated with his family from eMahlabathini to eSbubulumi hence losing his title and inheritance as the Sibiya prince. With the civil wars brewing within the indigenous tribal chiefs, Khomo fled deeper in-country to eMzimkhulu where he abandoned his last name Sibiya in order to stay protected, hidden from Tribal Chief Wars and became Khomo. Khomo refurnished and changed his forefathers clan names and ordained the new clan as The House Of Phambuka.

The Khomo tribe later on spreaded on the south coast of Natal and established a new tribal homeland and settled in Njovokazi stretching all the way to eMgababa. Once Khomo had felt he was safe from tribal wars, he settled and had a male offspring and named him after the new clan's name, Phambuka. Later on he had a second offsprings, Zamisa. Naturally Phambuka being the heir, he was to gain his father's estates and title. The two brothers had conflict as to who was to inherit their fathers lands thus dividing the clan into two separate branches. Khomo sent his son Zamisa to Thoyana where Zamisa ruled over the lands and established ''The House Of Zamisa', while Phambuka was to stay and rule over his fathers lands.

Zamisa lookin to grow his influence in the region defeated the local and surrounding chiefs who ruled over Madudubala, Vulindlela, Ndaya and Mfume thus becoming the first prince from the new clan Khomo to establish a new chiefdom and earn title of "Chief". News had spread of the new victorious chief who had conquered four nations. The news of Chief Zamisa attracted other Nguni and Zulu chiefs to challenge him. This period is known as being part of the The Mfecane Wars. The long on-going wars between the Nguni and Zulu tribal people. Chief Zamisa fought a few battles but was forced to flee with his family to a Xhosa Nation and later on up northwards to a family relative (through 6th cousin) King of the Mpondos King Khanya of Mpumalanga, where Zamisa abdicated his role as chief and ruler. This resulting in The House of Zamisa adopting new tribal traditions and later on new clan names "Khomo, Zamisa, Mbundu, Yiga, Nomenco, Mnyaphane".

Phambuka rose to being a prominent and predominant figure in the south coast of Southern African Regions and went to reclaim his younger brother's land that was lost to the Mfecane Wars. Phambuka was successful in his campaigns and regained the land his father had given to his brother. The events had manifested Phambuka to being the ruler of the villages of Thoyana, Mdudubala, Vulindlela, Ndaya, Mfume that his brother "Zamisa" had conquered and ended up dwelling in "Thoyana Royal House" in order to defend the kingdom and its people. Phambuka had regained the land back and earned title of being Chief.

It was not until the passing of Khomo that Phambuka then gained the title of "king" as now he was lord over his fathers lands and also lord and ruler of the extended lands he had regained from the Mfecane wars, thus uniting the kingdoms and earning him the title "Nkosi uPhambuka kaKhomo" which means "King Phambuka son of Khomo", this is also when he got the nickname"Zingelwayo" meaning "The Great Hunter" or "The Warrior King". King Phambuka kaKhomo stretched his military strengths out to conquer the surrounding tribes and clans in the southern region, and once again his military strenghts seemed to be too much and overwhelmed other local tribes. This resulted in the conquering of Luthuli, Magabeni, Nkwali, Gudwini, eGoqweni, Ngilanyoni, Mbongolwane, Mashiwase, Ntukwini, Amahuqwa, Ntshongweni and Mathongwane. This campaign was one that expanded the influence and power of the Khomo Clan. Taking into possession cattle, food, women and land.

Phambuka ruled over the lands with just laws but showed favourism when it came to people he ruled over in Mgababa and Njovikazi as this was his fathers lands. King Phambuka later on had an offspring with one of the conquered tribal chiefs daughter "Indoni YaseNtukwini" and gave birth to Prince Mbimbi kaPhambuka. Prince Mbimbi was raised in Mgababa where he was educated in warfare, herding, governing and traditional medical practices. Under the rule of King Phambuka, he relocated the royal house and head of royal affairs from Thoyane to Mgababa where he ruled over with generosity to all his followers. Mgababa thrived in its culture, society and arts. Mgababa was rich in sugarcane, fruit and crop farms, farming Banana, Mangoes and Mealie meal. The land was flat and had beautiful beaches and seashores, thus was making it a perfect head of state and a paradise to the king to show of to his visitors and guests. Prince Mbimbi came to power after the passing of King Phambuka and inherited title of Nkosi uMbimbi kaPhambuka which means "King Mbimbi son of Phambuka".

King Mbimbi grew up with very little friction from opposing outside invaders. When he was just a young adult he wished to rejoin the Khomo branch of the family with the Sibiya branch of the family but did not succeed, thus resulting in a war between the two families. Mbimbi claimed the Sibiya throne by using his grandfather "Khomo" who was the rightful heir and who was once a Sibiya Prince before he fled and changed his name, as his birth right to the throne. The current Sibiya King at the time "King Zwelethu" refused to abdicate as he claimed that the throne was his lawfully. King Zwelethu was against the idea of the Sibiya Clan being ruled by his distanced cousin who now had no longer had the last name of Sibiya but had the last name of the new "Khomo" clan. The two families went into a civil war that lasted for roughly four years, which had King Zwelethu defeated and exiled from Mzimkhulu. King Zwelethu had to abdicate and reclaimed King Mbimbi as king. King Mbimbi claimed the throne of his forefathers after defeating King Zwelethu, and was now head and prime ruler of the Sibiya Royal Family and its kingdoms. This ended the Sibiya line of rulers and rose with the "House Of Phambuka" being the dominant and senior line in succession. (Reason why "Sibiya" is added back into the Khomo Clan praise names).

King Mbimbi joined the once separated clans into one rule and kingship. This event marked the first Khomo king to had ruled over the two families. Due to the large reputation and influence of King Mbimbi had, he was later famously known as "Bhubhesi elabhodla umyovu umlilo kwakhothama amadoda nezizwe zawo" meaning "Great Lion who roared fired and conquered men and their lands". King Mbimbi later on married 7 wives and had three children with the first queen, two males and one female. Prince Nawana, Prince Khathi and Princess Nkanyezi (who married into the Mthethwa Royal Family). He had various other offsprings with the other wives as well that went on to either marry into african nobility or in the matter of male offsprings (princes) either lived in the many royal houses or relocated to else where. This is were we can trace the first descendants from the Gazu, Nandisa, Mbende and Sotobe families.

Prince Nawana being the heir ascended to the throne after King Mbimbi's long and prosperous rule. "Nkosi uNawana kaMbimbi" (King Nawana son of Mbimbi) as now he was referred only faced a few battles but not as upscale as those which were fought by his grandfather King Phambuka. The Mfecane wars were still occuring and due to his increased military army he managed to defend his southern kingdoms but lost major land in the northern kingdom in Zululand which was the originally the Sibiya Kingdoms. King Nawana is famously known for expanding the Khomo Kingdom south westernely and gained the title "Bhele eladla iskhova nopelepele" which means "The bear that ate the owl with chilli". King Nawana married 5 wives. The first wife passed without any children, so did the second, third, and fourth. It was thought to be a curse as King Nawana had lost his forefathers lands up north and this was said to be a curse from "Amathonga" meaning "The Gods". After many sacrificial traditions, pleading and begging to the Gods, King Nawana finally had the heir he had wished for. Prince Mkhomazi was born. This is the Khomo prince that would be associated with one of the greatest myths in African Mythology and one that would play a very significant role in the Khomo Dynasty.

Prince Mkhomazi ka Nawana would be the youngest king to ever rule in the Khomo household. He ascended to the throne after the murder of his father King Nawana by his uncle Prince Khathi when he was just 3 years old. The young prince inherited the title of "Nkosi uMkhomazi ka Nawana" which means "King Mkhomazi son of Nawana", but Prince Khathi stood in as the head of the family till the "Crown Of Ingwe" could fit the young prince. Prince Khathi had murdered King Nawana and knew at the coming of the young prince's age, he would have to abdicate the throne to his nephew because he was the rightful king and his nephew will seek to avenge his father and reclaim his birthright. Prince Khathi ordered members of the royal council to assassinate the young prince. News had spread within the royal chambers and the queen mother fled with the young prince. Prince Khathi was deceived to being told that the future king was murdered. The queen mother fled to a nearby village and kept hidden the young prince. Prince Khathi received the title of "King Khathi kaMbimbi". The young prince grew up with no knowledge of who he was and as so did the village. The queen mother and only her loyal servants knew.

King Khathi gained total power of the Khomo Royal Family and is the first king in the Khomo Royal family to inherit the throne from his brother and not father. King Khathi went to dominate the inlands of Natal, joining the Buwu, Ngwane, Nzama and other local small ethnic groups. King Khathi went on to marry 9 wives and the senior queen being an EmaSwatini Princess who they had Princess Hlomula and Prince Vulindlela; who will play a huge hand in the upcoming Mfecane Wars against King Shaka Zulu. King Khathi was renouned for his huge reed regional ceremonies where he would pick a wife on every occasion. Under King Khathi the Khomo Clan rose to immense wealth having over hundred thousand cows(100 000); thus we get the clan praise "Khomo obiya ngezinkomo" which means "The Khomo's that fence their borders with their cowies" thus representing the immense sum of cows the Khomo Royals had at the time. King Khathi's period of rein was when the herd robbers began. The king had so many cows, the cowboys would lose count and is estimated that they would lose at least ten to fifteen cows a day. None other than the cattle thieves, King Khathi ruled for a great peaceful period until the return of the King.

As the young prince Mkhomazi grew older and was a young adult coming of age, he used to herd cows over to the great river. One day as legend goes, a cow had went missing and a storm was approaching. The young prince went to look for the cow without any luck until heavy rains fell on him. On his way back an elderly man was on a mountain top who was said to be a wizard/traditional doctor/a seer/sharman was gazing at the flooded river and noticed a young man who was on the other side of the flooded river. Legend says the young prince crossed the river flooded up till its banks with gashing waters and vigorous and powerful turbulence to the other side without using any floatation devices, without drowning, and without being carried away by the heavy current. This sent news all over the village about the incident and the news spread like wildfire. This was because such an event could not be possible. It would be impossible to fathom. It defied nature in the sense of, even when the river was not flooded you would still need at least a floatation device to cross over because the breath of the river where he was said to have crossed is too long to swim across. There are a lot of stories surrounding that event, but the main myth that has been passed down from generations (a part is included in the Khomo Praise Names); is that the young prince crossed over the un-crossable flooded river using a great ancient river snake spirit "Nkanyamba" (African Ancient River Snake) which was said to dwell in the river and watched over the river, healed people and brought rain and fertility to the land. Its said from various versions that the snake used its big body to lay out a bridge like foundation for the prince to cross over, and the man on top of the hill witnessed the whole event.

Its said that the elderly man went blind afterwards, as he saw something that only people with the connection to the spiritual underworld would will only be able to see. He spoke of what he saw and said the man who crossed the river had had to have a divine connection. The elderly went on to express how this phenomenon was out of this world. The villagers later named the river "uMkhomazi" or "Umkomaas" after the young king. Few years later on the village was named Umkhomazi because of that event. This represented the divine connection of the King Mkhomazi which made the villagers worship him as if he was God-like. The attention that was being projected to this young boy resembled his sole right to lead. This was the event that made the Khomo family famous amongst the nations, it sparked myths and legends that are still being told from generations till present day. Few years down the line Prince Mkhomazi was told of his significant role in the Khomo Clan and was helped by his mother and local villagers to go and claim the throne as his birth right and rule as the rightful king. As predicted King Khathi did not want to give up the throne and a civil war within the family sparked. Mkhomazi was labelled as a dark wizard who used black magic, spells, enchantments, potions and dark magic to convince people that he was the son of late king Nawana and let alone king. King Khathi went on to show Prince Mkhomazi where he was buried a few years ago when he was said to be "dead", and demanded Mkhomazi to prove that he was indeed his nephew and of royal blood.

As a result, the queen mother managed to convince the royal court with the prince's birthmark. King Khathi refused to abdicate and ordered the prince's assassination, but the rest of the kingdom was convinced that their rightful king had indeed returned. This marked the battle of "nyazi lwezulu", which means the battle of "the light of the heavens". Prince Mkhomazi successfully over threw his uncle King Khathi and took his place as king. King Khathi was exiled to Northern regions; there is no trace of his last where-bouts and no trace of his descendants. Its said he might've been killed by lions, hyenas or any carnivoran animals as he was wounded from battle. Another story suggests he found refuge in a village and changed his name to stay hidden and hide from the armies of the Khomo Clan. This marks the beginning era of what is known as the "Era Of The Lost King". King Mkhomazi was the first king from the new generation who did not face any threats of Mfecane Wars. He was the first king to have a natural feature; Umkhomazi River, to be named after him. King Mkhomazi is also the first king to have land named after him; Umkomaas/ Umkhomazi. King Mkhomazi ruled for the next period of years with peace and no challengers till he was succeeded by his son King Phakathwayo who will later on in his elderly years will face King Shaka in the Mfecane wars.

"Nkosi Phakathwayo ka Mkhomazi" / King Phakathwayo son of Mkhomazi.