Hlubi people
The Hlubi people or AmaHlubi are an Nguni ethnic group native to Southern Africa, with the majority of population found in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.
AmaHlubi | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| ~3 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| isiHlubi | |
| Religion | |
| African Traditional Religion, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Xhosa,Zulu,Swati,Southern Ndebele,Northern Ndebele and Basotho phuthi people |
| The AmaHlubi Nation | |
|---|---|
| Person | iHlubi |
| People | AmaHlubi |
| Language | isiHlubi |
| Country | EmaHlubini |
Origins
The Hlubi, similar to other current Southern African nations, originate from Central Africa. They moved as part of the eMbo people’s southern migration. More specifically, they are said to originate from the people known as the Shubi. The Shubi can still be found today in Congo and some parts of Rwanda and Tanzania.
Language
The AmaHlubi speak a dialect closely related to the Ama Swati language, one of the Tekela languages in the Nguni branch of the Bantu language family.
The Hlubi (AmaHlubi) dialect is endangered and most Hlubi speakers are elderly and illiterate. There are attempts by Hlubi intellectuals to revive the language and make it one of the eleven recognized languages in South Africa.[1]
References
- "Isizwe SamaHlubi: Submission to the Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Draft 1" (PDF). July 2004. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
Further reading
- Henry Masila Ndawo (1939). Iziduko zama-Hlubi. Lovedale Press.
- Henry Masila Ndawo (1945). Ibali lama Hlubi. Lovedale Press. hdl:10962/47224.
- Andrew Hayden Manson. The Hlubi and the Ngwena Clan in a colonial society, 1848–1877. s.n. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- Alfred T. Bryant (1965). Olden times in Zululand and Natal: containing earlier political history of the Eastern-Nguni clans. C. Struik.
- John Henderson Soga (1930). The south-eastern Bantu: (Abe-Nguni, Aba-Mbo, Ama-Lala-Nguni ). The Witwatersrand university press.
- John Britten Wright; Andrew Manson (1983). The Hlubi Kingdom in Zululand-Natal: a history. Ladysmith Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-620-06178-0.
- John William Colenso (1875). Langalibalele and the AmaHlubi Kingdom: being remarks upon the official record of the trials of the King, his sons and Induna, and other members of the AmaHlubi Nation. tribe.
- Paul Maylam (1986). A history of the African people of South Africa: from the early Iron Age to the 1970s. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-37511-9.
