INTRODUCTION
v In this introductory part I would
like to welcome you all to this wonderful presentation on the history of Bantu
of south Africa which covered the below subtopics:-
v origin of Bantu
v The chiefs and rule of law
v Culture of the Bantu(total way of life)
ORIGIN OF BANTU
¨ Bantu “Abantu” (it was used during
colonialism by colonialism) it is the zulu word “umuntu” meaning person and it
based on stem….ntu and the prefix..”aba”. This origin meaning changed through
the history of south Africa. It is a term used in two ways in archaeology,
history and anthropology(David, 1998)
¨ European. It comes from aba ntu
meaning "people," and is the plural of the word "man"-umu
ntu. The language and customs of the Bantu speaking people varied only slightly
causing them to form close bonds through kinsmanship and lineage ties. 9 Donald
Morris describes the Bantu people as follows:
¨ Before Bantu began to expand into southern
Africa, they originated at the border of Nigeria in 3000BCE. The Bantu people
had agriculture, metals for tools, and livestock. Early on in history, they
began to split into two major groups: the West and East Bantu. The reason for
split is unknown but it was most like to find more places to inhabit. They
began migrating around the Iron Age. Both the Bushmen and the Hottentots were a
branch of the nomadic or migratory Bantu people. The Bantu are believed to have
migrated to Southern Africa from East and Central Africa as a result of wars,
famine and overpopulation. The Bantu, prior to the arrival of the Europeans,
spoke a closely related language, and estimates of their population, during the
fifteenth and sixteenth century, reached 50,000,000 people.8 The term Bantu is
a philological word coined during the nineteenth century by the European
THE CHIEF AND THE RULE OF LAW
¨ The chief was the recognized leader
of all civil, military and religious matter affecting.
¨ The chief governed with the agreement
of the senior members of the clan
¨ it was usual for the chief to consult
with a small council of advisors
¨ In matter of great importance an assembly of all
religions chiefs was called.
¨ Justice was carried out in courts
presided over by the chiefs or sub-chiefs.
¨ In this bantu speakers chiefdoms ship
was largely hereditary, although chief
were often replaced when not effective.
¨ With most bantu clan in south Africa
the eldest son inherited the office of his father
¨ Other clans. The eldest brother of
the deceased chief took over the office
¨ Generally the chiefs had much power
but were not above the law (Shongwe, 2001)
SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
¨ Until very recently, Bantu speaking
communities were often divided into different clans, not around National
federations, but independent groups from some hundreds to thousands of
individuals.
¨ The smallest unit of the political
organizational structure was the household, or Kraal, consisting of a man,
woman or women, and their children, as well as other relatives living in the
same household.
¨ The man was the head of the household and
often had many wives; and was the family's primary representative. The
household and close relations generally played an important role.
¨ Households which lived in the same
valley or on the same hill in a village were also an organizational unit,
managed by a sub-chief.
¨ Chiefdomship was largely hereditary,
although chiefs were often replaced when not effective. With most clans the
eldest son inherited the office of his father. With some clans the office was
left to the oldest brother of the deceased chief, and after his death again the
next oldest brother. This repeated until the last brother died. Next was the
eldest son of the original chieftain; then the oldest one of the brothers as
the leader.
¨ The chief was surrounded with a
number of trusted friends or advisors, usually relatives like uncles and
brothers, rather than influential Headmen or personal friends. The degree of
the democracy depended on the strength of the chieftain. The more powerful and
more influential a chieftain was, the lesser the influence of his people.
¨ Although the leader had much power,
he was not above the law. He could be criticized both by advisors as well as by
his people, and compensation could be demanded(Rodgers 2000)
CULTURE
¨ Traditionally, Bantu speakers were
not territorially minded like the Europeans, but rather group-related. As long
as sufficient land was available, they had only very vague conceptions of borders.
Borders were natural features such as rivers or mountains, which were not by
any means fixed.
¨ Traditionally, Bantu speakers were
not territorially minded like the Europeans, but rather group-related. As long
as sufficient land was available, they had only very vague conceptions of
borders. Borders were natural features such as rivers or mountains, which were
not by any means fixed.
Common ideas among Bantu of South
Africa
¨ Communities divisions and their
common ideas
Bantu communities
South Africa Bantu speaking
communities are roughly divided into four main groups Nguni, Sotho,Tswana, Vhavenda and Shangana Tsonga, with the Nguni representing
the largest group. These are divided as follows:-
v Northern Nguni Swati,Zulu,Ndebele,Ngoni (in
Northern Zimbabwe)
v Suthern Nguni Mfengu,Mpondo, Mpondomise,Thembu, Xhosa,
Shangane Tsonga, Sotho-Tswana, Basotho, Lozi
v Northern Sotho, Balobedu, Bapedi, Batswana,
Vhavenda, Vhalemba(speaking Tshivenda)
v Common among the two powerful
divisions of the Nguni and the Sotho–Tswana are Matrilineal societies, with
which the leaders formed the socio-political units. Similarly, food acquisition
was by cultivation and hunting
LAND OWNERSHIP
¨ Individual ownership of land is not
characteritics of national identity of bantu people(Beningfield,2006)
¨ Communal land ownership was accepted traditionally
¨ The chief decided how it was to be
ü he has the power to give other people
ü the right to use land on a temporal basis for
his own people(Beinat 2006)
ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES
v They cultivated crops like millets,
beans, sorghum, pumpkin and water melon.
v Cultivation was done by girls and
women.
v They kept animals like cattle's,
goats and sheep
v Animal keeping was being done by Men
v In the 16th century maize
was introduce by the Portuguese.
v Cattle was used for exchange with
other goods
v The cattle were used to pay as wages
to poorers who worked to the rich.
v Hunting was being done by the Bantu
v They collected honey from the
forests.
v Mining of copper, tin, gold and iron`
v Craft industry produced pots,
baskets, mats, leather work, ivory carving, barter trade and long distance
trade were also done. Therefore the economy was diversified.(Mugaju 1992:20-23)
ETHNIC PARTITIONING
¨ South Africa's Bantu speaking
communities are roughly "divided" into four main groups:
Nguni, Sotho–Tswana, Vhavenda and Shangana Tsonga, with the Nguni representing
the largest group. These are divided as follows (this list is not exhaustive):
¨ Nguni
¡ Northern Nguni
ú Swati
ú Zulu
ú NdebeleXhosa
¨ Shangane Tsonga
¨ Sotho–Tswana
ú BasoNgoni (in Northern Zimbabwe)
¡ Southern Nguni
ú Mfengu
ú Mpondo
ú Mpondomise
ú Thembu
FOOD ACQUISITION
¨ Food acquisition
¨ Their food acquisition was primarily
limited to agriculture and hunting, where generally the women were responsible
for agriculture and the men drew for the hunt. Except with the Tsonga (and
partially the Mpondo), fishing was surprisingly of little importance. The diet
consisted of corn (introduced from South-East Asia), meat (mostly wild game and
beef), vegetables; and milk, water and grain beer (which contained very little
alcohol compared with European beer).
¨ . There were a number of taboos
regarding the consumption of meat. No meat of dogs, apes, crocodiles and snakes
could be eaten. Likewise taboo was the meat of some birds, like owls, crows and
vultures, as well as the flesh of certain totem animals.
¨ All Bantu speaking communities
commonly had clear separation between the tasks of the women and those of the
men
HOUSE TYPES
¨ Traditionally, communities live in
two different types of houses. The Nguni use the Beehive house, a circular
structure out of long poles, which is covered with grass. The huts of the
Sotho–Tswana, Venda and Shangana Tsonga use the cone and cylinder house types.
A cylindrical wall is formed out of vertical posts, which is sealed with mud
and cow dung. The roof is built from tied-together poles. The floor of both
types is compressed earth.
¨ The term “Bantu people” is used to describe
the roughly 60 million Africans who speak languages in the Bantu language
family. Given that there are approximately 400 of these closely related
languages, it should come as no surprise that these people are incredibly
diverse, and that societies and governments among Bantus can be radically
different. Some people feel that the term may not be entirely appropriate,
since it encompasses such a huge group of Africans; these individuals may
prefer to identify individual communities instead.
¨ It is estimated that the tribes that
make up this group probably began migrating from Northern Africa around 3,000
BCE. They probably brought an assortment of skills with them, including the
ability to farm and work metals such as iron, and this migration continued
until around the fourth century CE. Many of these people settled south of the
Congo River. Over time, a number of languages, including Swahili, Kirundi,
Gikuyu, Tsonga, and Basaa, developed; many of these languages share the word
“Bantu” for people, and except for a region in South-East Africa where Khoi-San
is spoken, they cover Southern Africa.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION OF BANTU
¡ The political of organization
of bantu were divided into
different clans
¡ The
smallest Unity of the political organization
structure was household
or kraal ,consist of man and women and their
children other relatives
living in the same
household .{ Rogers B:2000}
¡ Also inheritance of chiefdom
.Chiefs were often replaced
when not effectives with most clan
the oldest son inherited
the office of his father.
MUSIC
¨ BANTU
MUSIC
Traditionally
the Nguni are Vocalist
and instruments who
favor rattles reed flutes ,whistles
horns ,Apparently they did not
originally have drums.
BANTU RELIGION
¨ Bantu had basic beliefs was
polytheistic people had to follow certain sets of rule in order to receive abundantly harvest and gifted many
other blessings.
¨ Who was also against to this rule was punished. They also
belief in many small deities that influenced the daily affairs of the people.
v - they believes life after death
REFERENCE
¨ Guthrie, M (1967) Comparative Bantu,
Farnbouughi Gregg International Publisher south africa
¨ Rogen B Beck(2000) The History of
South Africa. Greenwood press America.
¨ Funso A F (2004)culture and customs
of south Africa. United states publishers.
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