Content area
Full text
Mongala’s rule is otherwise remembered for his tragic demise as a result of an outbreak of war between the Bangwaketse and their Bakgwatheng (or Bakgwatlheng) vassals, who sought to reassert their own independence under Tau’s son Mabeleng and grandson Seeiso.
Following an altercation between Seeiso and Mongala’s son Moleta, Mabeleng led the Bakgwatheng to a place known as Kgaloong-loo-Tau, near Segeng.
Determined to maintain his overrule, Mongala led an attack on Mabeleng’s position. It is said that in his eagerness for action, if not misplaced pride, Mongala failed to bring sufficient force with him. At any rate the Bangwaketse suffered defeat; with the Kgosi being captured and speared to death.
When news of Mongala’s execution reached Seoke, his son and heir Moleta vowed to extract revenge, setting off an era of sustained militarisation, which would ultimately transform the Bangwaketse mephato into the region’s most renowned warriors.
The material nature of the ensuing conflict is suggested by the fact that, while the rebels’ primary leader, Mabeleng, was remembered as a Shekalagari folk hero, he seemingly became a virtual non-person in Sengwaketse oral accounts.
The war between the Bakgwatheng and Bangwaketse evolved into much more than another of the countless dynastic skirmishes that have occurred amongst the putative descendents of Matsieng over the...