Ngungunyane
Tsonga · mortal · Tsonga traditional religion; continuing · mortal
Ngungunyane, son of Mzila, was the last king of the Gaza empire, reigning from 1884 until his defeat in 1895. Ruling a vast tributary state over the Tsonga of southern Mozambique, he manoeuvred between Portuguese, British and Boer interests before Portuguese columns under Mouzinho de Albuquerque broke his power and captured him; he was exiled first to Lisbon and then to the Azores, where he died in 1906. Praised as the Lion of Gaza, he became the supreme symbol of Tsonga-Shangaan resistance, and in 1985 his remains were carried home to be reburied as a hero of independent Mozambique.
Parentage
Domains
- kingship and resistance
Powers
- resists the Portuguese conquest of Gaza
Epithets
- Leao de Gaza
Relations
- parent: Mzila
Sources
- Douglas L. Wheeler, 'Gungunyane the Negotiator: A Study in African Diplomacy', Journal of African History 9.4 (1968)
- Patrick Harries, Work, Culture, and Identity: Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa (1994)
- Patrick Harries, Work, Culture, and Identity (1994), on Gungunyane in Tsonga historical memory