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The Xhosa people are a group of peoples of Bantu origins living in south-east South Africa.

History of the Xhosa

The Xhosa are part of the southern Nguni migration which slowly moved south from the region around the Great Lakes; based on linguistic and archeological evidence, the ancestors of the Xhosa are likely to have arrived in South Africa around 1500 years ago. [1]

The name Xhosa refers to a specific tribal leader, called uXhosa, from whom the Xhosa claim descent. They refer to themselves as the amaXhosa and their language as isiXhosa, a Bantu language. Xhosa society was historically viewed as an 'open' society, because of its readiness to learn from, trade and interact with other societies. This included the incorporation or absorption of entire Khoi and Griqua cultural groups into Xhosa communities, often through marriage, and the wholesale adoption of Khoisan loanwords into Xhosa vocabulary.

The Xhosa people split in the eighteenth century as the result of a succession dispute between chiefs. The two branches of the group are known as the Gcaleka and the Rharhabe or Ngqika. The name Xhosa is also often used to refer to anyone from a number of different Xhosa-speaking ethnic groups that includes the Pondo and Thembu, neighbours of the Xhosa people, and the Mfengu people, who are descendants of scattered clans who were displaced during the mfecane of the early nineteenth century.

Although nowadays around 8 million Xhosa people are distributed across the country, the population is concentrated in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. The pre-1994 South African system of bantustans attempted to confine Xhosa people to the nominally self-governing 'homelands' of Transkei or Ciskei, now both a part of Eastern Cape Province

The Xhosa and white settlers first encountered one another around Somerset West in the early 1700s. In the late 1700s Afrikaner trekboers migrating outwards from Cape Town came into conflict with Xhosa pastoralists around the Great Fish River region of the Eastern Cape. Following more than 20 years of intermittent conflict, in 1811 to 1812 the Xhosas were forced east by British colonial forces in what was known as the Third Frontier War.

In the years following, many Xhosa-speaking clans were pushed west by expansion of the Zulus, as the northern Nguni put pressure on the southern Nguni as part of the historical process known as the mfecane, or "scattering". Xhosa unity and ability to resist colonial expansion was further weakened by the famines and political divisions that followed the cattle-killing movement of 1856 (see Nongqawuse). Historians now view this movement as a millenialist response both directly to a lung disease spreading among Xhosa cattle at the time, and less directly to the stress to Xhosa society caused by the continuing loss of their territory and autonomy. At least one historian has also suggested that it can be seen as a rebellion against the upper classes of Xhosa society, which used cattle as a means of consolidating wealth and political power, and which had lost respect as they failed to hold back white expansion.

With or without Nongqawuse, white expansion in particular would likely have eventually caused much the same effect as the cattle-killing; the cattle-killing simply likely hastened the speed at which Xhosa people left pastoralism and joined the wage economy.

Some historians argue that this early absorption into the wage economy is the ultimate origin of the long history of trade union membership and political leadership among Xhosa people. That history manifests itself today in high degrees of Xhosa representation in the leadership of the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling political party.

Local Environment

The Xhosa settled on mountain slopes of the Amatola and the Zinterberg Mountains. Many streams drain into great rivers of this Xhosa territory including the Kei and Fish River. Rich soils and plentiful rainfall make the river basins good for farming and grazing making cattle important and the basis of wealth. Traditional foods include sorghum, maize, milk, pumpkins, beans, vegetables, and umphokoqo, or dry maize porridge. Tobacco is an important crop in this area.

Language

In South Africa, the Xhosa-speaking people form the second largest language group. The language contains click sounds borrowed from Khoisan languages. Three basic clicks are used when speaking Xhosa. They are C (front-click) as in icici (an earring). Form a slight smile, put tongue behind teeth and pull down. Q (top click) as in iqaa (skunk). Form an O and put tongue on roof (middle) then pull down. X (side-click) as in uxam (water lizard). Pull tongue inward and downward from top roof of mouth. These clicks can also be used in combination with consonant sounds as in ingca. Use c and ng.

Religion

Traditional Xhosa culture includes diviners, who serve as herbalists, prophets, and healers for the community. This job is mostly taken by women, who spend five years as an apprentice. Many Xhosa people are Christian, particularly within the African Initiated Churches such as the Zion Christian Church.

Oral tradition

The key figure in the Xhosa oral tradition is the imbongi (plural: iimbongi) or praise singer. Iimbongi traditionally live close to the chief’s great place and accompany the chief on important occasions - the imbongi Zolani Mkiva preceded Nelson Mandela at his Presidential inauguration in 1994. Iimbongi's poetry praises the chief’s actions and best features, and may also criticise the chief if aspects of his reign or government are unpopular.

Á==Famous Xhosa People== Nelson Mandela is a Xhosa-speaking member of the Thembu people.

Other famous Xhosa speakers include:

References

Results of the 2001 South African census

Note that the figure mentioned on this page is based upon the number of people speaking Xhosa as their home language, which may be greater or less than the total number of people claiming Xhosa descent.

Reader, J., 1997. Africa: A Biography of the Continent, Vintage Books, New York, NY, United States of America.
Kaschula, Russell The Heritage Library of African People: Xhosa, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc., 1997.