Bakalanga
and Baroe (Basotho, Batswana) – a deadly embrace!
I have been prompted to write this, by an article written by
Jeff Ramsay in the Sunday Standard of December 11-17, 2011, entitled “Builders
of Botswana 1; Children of the Mambo”. Jeff Ramsay’s focus is on events that
occurred starting from around the 17th Century. He writes:
The Bakwena royal names “Sechele” and “Sebele” for example,
are apparently of Ikalanga origin. Does this mean that the Bakwena royalty were
once Bakalanga? Absolutely not! They are rather the true descendents of Masilo
a Malope, if not Matsieng of Lowe…
Right there JR, is the distinction between Bakalanga and
BaTebele. A significant percentage of Bakalanga are descendants of Malope,
while BaTebele descended from Lowe.
Lowe, as we know by now is Mapungubwe mesa in South Africa, but what is Malope?
Malope is the continent of Europe. The
name Malope is a corruption of the Kalanga word “Malopa” meaning “Blood”. The
current name “Europe” is a Roe (Sotho/Tswana) influence on the word Malopa to
produce “Uropa”, which is a later reference to the European continent. Bakalanga
(specifically Bayela) in Botswana are North Africans and Europeans who
re-emigrated back into Africa, after wiping out the Neanderthal in Europe,
hence “Blood”. The Neanderthal must have put up a fierce resistance to the
Human incursion into Europe from North Africa.
On re-entry into Africa, the Europeans (Bayela) first
settled in Sudan/Nubia (Taka dwa ku Bunyubi), before heading down south.
So there are three main categories of nations in Botswana
today:
1. Bakalanga
(from Egypt and Nubia), among whom we count BaYela i.e. BakaHabangana, Bakwena,
Bangwaketse, Bangwato, Batawana; Banyayi
i.e. the Moyo, the Chuma ; Bakaa and possibly others.
2. BaTebele
(from ancient Mapungubwe in South Africa), among whom we count Bahurutshe, BaRolong,
BaKgatla, Batlokwa, Balete, Bahumbe, Barotsi and possibly others.
3. Part-BaKalanga
and part-BaTebele (initially from Mapungubwe/Lowe, but later from Egypt and
environs), among whom we count Baperi i.e. BakaNswazwi, BakaMasunga etc.;
Bakhurutshe.
There are very few Shonas in Botswana, if we
exclude the Banyayi. It is instructive to note that Bangwato refer to
Batalaote/Banyayi as “Baswina”. In Ikalanga language, the Shonas are referred
to similarly, i.e. as “Baswina”. So who are these Baswina? In actual fact they
are “Bazwina”, meaning “gate keepers” or “shields”. These are the people who
used to act as a buffer between Bakalanga in lower Egypt (the North), and
Baroe/Badawi in Upper Egypt (the South), until Pharao Mengwe (Narmer), a king
of Baroe, broke loose from the south and conquered the north. It is this role
of “Bazwina” that is now erroneously, attributed to the Bakaa, of Sebina/Tjibizina
(allegedly Tjizwina) today, with claims that they were used as a shield by She
Mengwe of Maitengwe. In actual fact the people whom Pharao Mengwe (Narmer) used
as a shield, on his Northern flank, were indeed called Bazwina, i.e. the
Shonas. They acted as a buffer between his (Mengwe’s) Baroe in Upper Egypt and
the Bakalanga in Lower Egypt. That is why Shona language sounds like a hi-breed
between Ikalanga and Chirwa (SeSotho, SeTswana).
