#matabele

Sekhukhune I[a] [b](Matsebe; circa 1814 – 13 August 1882) was the paramount King of the Marota, more commonly known as the Bapedi, from 21 September 1861 until his assassination on 13 August 1882 by his rival and half-brother, Mampuru II. As the Pedi paramount leader he was faced with political challenges from boer settlers, the independent South African Republic (Dutch: Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek), the British Empire, and considerable social change caused by Christian missionaries.

Sekhukhune was the son of Sekwati I, and succeeded him upon his death in 20 September 1861 after forcibly taking the throne from his half-brother and the heir apparent Mampuru II. His other known siblings were; Legolwana, Johannes Dinkwanyane, and Kgoloko. Sekhukhune married Legoadi IV in 1862, and lived at a mountain, now known as Thaba Leolo or Leolo Mountains which he fortified. To strengthen his kingdom and to guard against European colonisation, he had his young subjects work in white mines and on farms so that their salaries could be used to buy guns from the Portuguese in Delagoa Bay, as well as livestock.

Sekhukhune fought two notable wars. The first war was successfully fought in 1876, against the ZAR and their Swazi allies. The second war, against the British and Swazi in 1879 in what became known as the Sekhukhune Wars, was less successful.

Sekhukhune was detained in Pretoria until 1881. After a return to his kingdom, he was fatally stabbed by an assassin in 1882, at Manoge. The assassins are presumed to have been sent by his brother and competitor, Mampuru II.

The Pedi /pɛdi/ or Bapedi /bæˈpɛdi/ (also known as the Northern Sotho or Basotho ba Leboa and the Marota or Bamaroteng) – are a southern African ethnic group that speak Pedi or Sepedi, a dialect belonging to the Sotho-Tswana enthnolinguistic group. Northern Sotho is a term used to refer to one of South Africa's 11 official languages. Northern Sotho or Sesotho sa Leboa consist of 30 dialects, of which Pedi is one of them.

Some clans in tribes that speak variations of Northern Sotho can be traced back to the Kalanga-Tswana-Sotho group originating from earlier states such as Great Zimbabwe and Butua

The Pedi were the first of Sotho-Tswana peoples to be called Basotho, the name is derived from Swazi word uku shunta which referred to their clothing style, the Pedi took the name with pride and other similar groups began to refer to themselves as Sothos

Proto-Sotho people migrated south from the great lake region in east Africa making their way along with modern-day western Zimbabwe through successive waves spanning 5 centuries with the last group of Sotho speakers, the Hurutse, settling in the region west of Gauteng around 16th century. It is from this group that the Pedi/Maroteng originated from the Tswana speaking Kgatla offshoot. In about 1650 they settled in the area to the south of the Steelpoort River where over several generations, linguistic and cultural homogeneity developed to a certain degree. Only in the last half of the 18th century did they broaden their influence over the region, establishing the Pedi paramountcy by bringing smaller neighboring chiefdoms under their control.

During migrations in and around this area, groups of people from diverse origins began to concentrate around dikgoro or ruling nuclear groups. They identified themselves through symbolic allegiances to totemic animals such as tau (lion), kolobe (pig) and kwena (crocodile).

The Marota Empire/ Pedi Kingdom[edit]

The Pedi polity under King Thulare (c. 1780-1820) was made up of land that stretched from present-day Rustenburg to the lowveld in the west and as far south as the Vaal river.[9] Pedi power was undermined during the Mfecane, by Ndwandwe invaders from the south-east. A period of dislocation followed, after which the polity was re-stabilized under Thulare's son Sekwati.

Sekwati succeeded Thulare as paramount chief of the Pedi in the northern Transvaal (Limpopo) and was frequently in conflict with the Matabele under Mzilikazi, and plundered by the Zulu and the Swazi. Sekwati has also engaged in numerous negotiations and struggles for control over land and labor with the Afrikaans-speaking farmers (Boers) who had since settled in the region.

Matabele ants: Travelling faster with detours

[ad_1] Ants do not always take the shortest route when they are in a hurry. Their navigational system occasionally makes them take detours to speed up their journey. [ad_2] Source link

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/warring-matabele-ant-soldiers-retrive-injured-from-battlefield/

Warring Matabele ant soldiers 'retrive injured from battlefield'

An ant species that goes into battle with termites in Africa tends to its wounded, according to researchers.

A team of Matabele ant medics were observed rescuing injured comrades from battlefield and carrying them to safety.

Other critically injured ants refused to allow themselves to be rescued in an apparent act of selfless heroism.

Once the injured ants had been returned to the nest, the treatment they were given depended on the severity of their wounds.

Their behaviour results in the rate of death of injured ants from the warfare being cut from 80% to 10%.

German researchers who made the discovery said the behaviour appeared highly organised.

Dr Erik Frank, from Julius-Maximilians University in Wurzburg, said: “Heavily injured ants (loss of five extremities) were not rescued or treated; this was regulated not by the helper but by the unresponsiveness of the injured ant.

“We show organised social wound treatment in insects through a multifaceted help system focused on injured individuals,” he wrote in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

“This was not only limited to selective rescuing of lightly injured individuals by carrying them back (thus reducing predation risk), but, moreover, included a differentiated treatment inside the nest.”

The discovery was made after the scientists studied violent clashes between the ants and termites in Comoe National Park, Ivory Coast.

Matabele ant colonies were found to launch their raids against termites two to four times a day.

Between 200 and 600 insects would march on a termite mound in files where they would attempt to kill their prey and haul them back to the nests, to be eaten.

But regularly the ants met powerful resistance as the termites used their strong jaws to slice through enemy limbs.

Those who needed help put out a distress signal by secreting a chemical pheromone that compelled other soldiers to come to their aid.

Back at a ‘hospital’ in the ants’ base, their open wounds were ‘treated’ by intensive licking, often for several minutes, the scientists found.

It is believed that the saliva may contain antibacterial agents that help treat the injuries.

Those which are too badly wounded struggle and lash out when rescuers attempt to retrieve them.