Some transformational names

I have come accross  some names, not for the first time, which initially bore no significance  to me, but which now seem highly significant. These are historical Zimbabwe names. They are written differently by different authors. I will write what I believe they really are. The first name CHIKULA-U-JE-MBEU is of an ancient ruler.

Let's break this name down. The verb KU KULA means TO GROW UP. Chikula is an imperative - "It's time you grew up!" The verb KU JA means TO EAT. U-JE is an imperative - "and eat!". The noun MBEU (here) means GRAIN, otherwise means SEEDS.

The name CHIKULA-U-JE-MBEU therefore loosely translated means IT IS TIME YOU GREW UP AND STARTED EATING GRAIN! Well, what is there to say other than just Voila! A child born in transformation from crap-and-milk eating Anunnaki to grain-eating Human was eagerly awaited to be King.

The next name I met was that of the TORWA dynasty of Nkami (Khami) near Bulawayo. In my recent post titled "Barwa are Barua", I showed that the people of Nkami are the Bangwato, Bakwena and Bangwaketse of present day Botswana. Following the same lexicon, Torwa should correctly read TO-RUA, a word that is partly Kalanga and partly Tswana. "TO" is Kalanga meaning "WE". The word "RUA (dikgomo)" is a Tswana verb meaning "To rear or to raise (cattle)".

What the above shows is that the TORWA were a transformation from a Kalanga speaking to a Tswana speaking dynasty. Some may ask "why not the other way around?" The answer is simply that the names of the listed tribes remain Kalanga names to this day, but a good portion of those tribes speak Setswana (Tswana) today.

A tribe of Kalangas known as Bahumbe, meaning "diggers/miners", evidently identify with the Changamires of the Zimbabwean plateau. I knew a very old woman who died in the early 1970's.
She used to say "Iswi ti ba Makulukusa, uno busa ku BuChanga", meaning "We are of the clan of Makulukusa, who reigns at Changa". In my view this directly links to the "Guruuswa" and their "Changamire" rulers. She also told us that traditionally, their clan rode oxen (Tanangombe?). What this shows is that the Butua (Buthuwa) dynasty of the Changamire's which routed the Barwa from Nkami, extended all the way into present day Botswana. And these are the Barwa to whom the British gave up to 80 % of the land area of Botswana, resulting in the Barwa naming our country after themselves - Botswana!