This is one of the an untold story of how I believe Moshoeshoe cemented his power. It is a story about Moshoeshoe and his brother Makhabane. Although I am not sure who between the brothers was older, I think Makhabane was senior to Moshoeshoe by virtue of his mother being senior to Moshoeshoe’s mother. (In Sesotho: ‘Makhabane ke mora oa ntlo e kholo’). That said, the story goes as follows:
Moshoeshoe got a report that his brother will be attacked. Trusting the sources of his information, he immediately went to his brother’s ‘land’ to warn him and also offer him reinforcement. In response to Moshoeshoe, Makhabane sat on a rock and said: “Ka ‘Mamamile, Maanya ha a tlatsoe e se noka!”. (Translated: ‘I swear by my mother, ‘Mamamile, that my army, Maanya, is not a river that depends on streams for supply!’)
After such a response, Moshoeshoe left to go to his own land. And not long after this, Makhabane sent a messenger to Moshoeshoe seeking reinforcement. When Moshoeshoe heard this, he found a rock to sit on and said: “Ka ‘Mamamile, Maanya ha a tlatsoe e se noka!” The rest as they say, its history, Makhabane died in that battle!
Question of interest: why did Moshoeshoe let his brother die? There is the obvious response, Moshoeshoe was a man of principle, he did offer to help but was snubbed blah blah! Indeed he was a man of principle but my thesis is he was aware that with Makhabane alive his rise to power and greatness might not be possible. Makhabane being senior, protocol allowed that at anytime he could go into Moshoeshoe’s land and take over. With that in mind and being the Mokoena 1 he is, he merely seized the opportunity!
Whatever my thesis is, make no doubt, I am in awe of Moshoeshoe and I shall in the next posting give my reasons. And yes, I have no problems with the fact that Moshoeshoe thought ‘Maanya anya koana’ 😳 (to hell with Maanya)! For I think one should always accept help when it is offered or at the very least be polite in refusing the help.
- Remember that Bakuena by nature make excellent businessmen and/or politicians, so it was easy to rationalise the death of his brother to be but a means to an end. In any case, lets not forget the ‘ever- talked- about’ rivalry that exists between siblings of different households (‘bana ba sethepung’)! ↩
Khotso khaitseli’a motho,
ke iphumana ke oetse qepheng lena la hao ha ntse ke phaqola marang-ranng mona ke tsoma tsona taba tse amanang le tsena – tsa nalane ea rona. Empa ke hlokomela hore eka ho na le taba eo u e lobileng ka tlhahlamano ea Makhabane le Moshoeshoe (ntle leha eba kea fosa); hoba, ho latela pokello ea “Lithoko Tsa Marena A Basotho” ea ntate Z.D. Mangoaela, e hatisitsoeng la pele mane Morija ka 1957, Makhabane e n’e le moena oa Moshoeshoe, morena Moshoeshoe o n’a le moholo ho eena. Kea kholoa ke hore re tle ke re e batlisise re e fumane hantle.
Ke leboha ruri ho ntharolotse tabeng ea hore na ke mang ea neng a le moholo ka lilemo. Ntumelle hore ke tsoele pele ka karobo ea ka ka senyesemane (molemong oa ba bali baka) 😉
While I was genuinely not sure about who was actually older between Moshoeshoe and Makhabane, the point I was relaying was that in terms of their mothers Makhabane had seniority–or at least that is what I was told. I shall rise to the challenge and investigate the matter further.
Again thank you for taking time to engage 😉
I like how you address yo issues I learn a lot from your experiences , keep it up
Kea leboha 🙂
Moshoeshoe is alredy a great man, I think if he wd have gone to help his brother after his brother had refused his help, he wd b even greater. If u ar a really gud person how can u let ur brother die, its true he rejected his aid but tht doesnt justify our great king to let the brother die, especially because the brother realised tht the matter was true thts why he later requested for the help tht he had rejected b4. Rather than having principle like you say, I think oir great king violated principle, the principle of love. I stand 2 b corrected ausi mathe.
Things are not black and white on this issue. Hopola hore senkhanang se nthola moroalo.
Moshoeshoe’s actions can be explained in part by that idiom. But there’s also the dimension of power. His brother eventually could have destabilized Moshoeshoe’s rule.
Dear Mathe
I came across your article while checking Morena Moshoeshoes’s peace philosophy. according to Z Mangoaela in his collection of Lithoko Tsa Marena. Moshoeshoe1 was older and senior to Makhabane in that in his Lithoko tsa Ntoa ea ha Kobo, Masupha Moshoeshoe’s son says
“Malefetsane e motsoana lesitla loana o lefeletse hlooho ea rangoanao. ke e lefelelitse hlooho ea makhabane ke ‘molaile morena oa bathepu”
further the history has it that Makhabane refused reinforcement like you said but that later he called for it and Moshoeshoe refused i am not sure you have your facts correct, please provide a source so that we help each other on the subject matter.
My sense is you are after a written source. Unfortunately (for you) my sources are women and men of integrity some with no writing skills at all. It is based on the strength of their integrity that I found the courage to pen down my pieces in the spirit of sharing and indeed allowing contestation to happen. Incidentally, while I was uncertain about who between Moshoeshoe and Makhabane was older, the bit you are contesting is the one that remains very vivid in my mind because of the proclaimed utterances by Moshoeshoe: “Ka ‘Mamaile…Maanya ha tlatsoe e se noka”!
As a strong by the way, in historical matters I do not privilege the written word over the spoken word. Perhaps because I am not a trained historian.
That in fact my sources are unacknowledged has a lot to do with the fact that I gathered my information in a ad hoc fashion. At some level this information/knowledge simply landed on me during mundane conversations with elders like bo-ntate Ramakhula. Mundane in the very sense that I discovered during conversation that I could learn more about Moshoeshoe and other historical figures.
Ke ne ke ntse ke solla mona Google mme ka wela sedibeng sena sa Moshoeshoe 1. Ke thabela ho fumana ditlahlolosotse tsohle le ha di thulana empa di thusa ho rarolla lefito la tsebo eo re e hlokang. Ha re tsweleng pele re nne re fuputse ka kgalala ena e Moshoeshoe. Kgotso.
Re tla leka ho tsoela-pele! Mohlala ntate Ramakhula o ntse a leka ho fumana hore a ka tsoelisa pele documentary ea Moshoeshoe joang.
Khotso khaitseli. Joalo ka ba bang bohle, ke ne ke ntse ke khoasa marang-maranng mona, ‘me ka thulana le letlotlo lena leo o faneng ka lona. U mpe u ntumelle ke o soae mohlare feela litabeng tsa morena Makhabane tsa hore “Maanya ha a tlatsoe e se noka”. Khopolong ea ka, ka moo ke ileng ka fumana ka teng, ke hore e ne e le ha ba ile ho ea hapa likhomo (cattle-raid) ha Kobo. Makhabane a hana ho tlatsetsoa lehlakoreng leo a neng a le ka ho lona, athe ntoa e tla mo bifela. Le ha ho le joalo, tsébetso e ntlehali ruri! Likhomo!
Ke leboha ha u nkile nako hore mmoho re thusaneng ho nonts’a le ho otlolla nalane ea rona! Le kamoso!!
thank you for sharing much information about our history Mathe, i was wondering if you can assist me with the Mohale /Mathaba history if is there any info. i thank you
?
Hi,
I don’t have any information you require; but should I come across a Mohale/Mathaba person who knows their history I will ask!
If you refer to Mohale oa Mokhachane please provide me your e-mail we can talk.
Even though I am not the one who requested the information, here is my email for ANYTHING relating to Nalane ea Basotho.
Kea Leboha
Batho ba heso, ke hloka thuso mona. Ke hloka nalane ea Bahlakoana e felletseng. Ebe ke lingoloa life tseo leka nkhothalletsang ho li balance?
Mathe thanks for such amazing literature
Kea itebohela ngoaneso!
ke hore ho ea thabisa hore le rona rele bacha hantse re mathaka hara marangrang mona ebe re kopana le letlotlohali lena, le re etsang chaba setlaba le tsebo ea hore retsoa kae re habile kae. ke motho ea ratang histori haholo, ene ekaba bohlokoa haho ne hoka etsoa “filimi” ka mohale enoa ea re sirelelitseng tleneng tsa bana bafihlileng ka liketsoana base ba hapa feela lefats’e la bontata rona. ke cho hobane ke hlokometse ka mona kaha zulu ba entse filimi entle haholo e bonts’ang bophelo ba morena oa bona Chaka. ha hone ho kaba teng e joalo ka morena Moshoeshoe, hone hotla ruteha basotho bohle ka nalane ea bona. ke nahana hole bohlokoa haholo ho ka etsa joalo. ka nnete ke ea itebohela ho fumana letlotlohali lena. pele ea pele basotho ba Moshoeshoe.
Ntate Kalusi Ramakhula le bompato ba hae ba re etselitse filiminyana (documentary) ka Moshoeshoe. Ka hona mosebetsi o se o qalile oa ho tlotla ntat’a rona, eena Thesele, ka lits’oants’o!
Kea leboha. I always knew I was from Royal blood???