Kwena tribe

The Bakwena or Bakoena ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini. "Kwena" is a Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi word meaning "crocodile", the crocodile is also their totem (seboko).^[1]

Genealogy and history

Earliest ancestor of the Kwena clan, Kwena, was a grandson of Masilo I, the King of Bahurutse clan around 1360 CE. Kwena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called Heidelberg.^[2] Around 1500 CE, Bakwena started spreading in the region, from the Lekwa River to Kalahari (Botswana) until settling at Ntsoanatsatsi (mythical origin land of the Sotho-Tswana people) with the Bafokeng around 1580 CE.

Early leaders

Kwena (dates unknown)^[3]
Phokotsea (dates unknown)^[3]
Kgabo I (late 17th century)^[4]
Tebele (late 17th or early 18th century)^[3]

Basotho line

first leader was Kgosi Napo.
Napo begat and was succeeded by his son Motebang
Motebang begat and was succeeded by his son Molemo
Molemo begat and was succeeded by his son Tsoloane le Tsolo
Tsholoane begat and was succeeded by his son Monaheng
Monaheng begat and was succeeded by his son Motloang
Motloang begat and was succeeded by his son Peete
Doc Mokoteli begat and was succeeded by his son Mokhachane
Mokhachane begat and was succeeded by his son Moshoeshoe

and it continues to the royal line of Lesotho.

Batswana line

Kgabo II led a small group of Bakwena and crossed the Madikwe River and founded a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe (whose totem was the blue monkey) which they drove away, modern day Botswana. As the result of a split, several tribes like the Ngwato and Ngwaketse.^[5]

Kgabo II (until c. 1740)^[6]
Motshodi (c. 1740 – c. 1770)^[7]
Motswasele I (c. 1770 – c. 1785)^[3]
Seitlhamo (late 18th century)^[6]
Legwale (late 18th century)^[6]
Maleke (early 19th century; regent)^[6]
Tshosa (early 19th century; regent)^[6]
Motswasele II (c. 1807–1821)^[8]
Sechele I (c. 1829–1892)^[9]
Sebele I (1892–1911)^[10]
Sechele II (1911–1918)^[11]
Sebele II (1918–1931)^[12]
Kgari Sechele II (1931–1962)^[13]
Neale Sechele (1963–1970)^[14]
Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1970–1978; appointed as the Tribal Authority)^[15]^[16]
Mack Sechele (1978–1986; regent)^[16]
Moithali Sechele II (1986–1996; regent)^[17]
Kgosikwena Sebele (1996–2002; regent)
Kgari Sechele III (2002–present)

Notes

^ Rosenberg, Scott; Weisfelder, Richard F. (13 June 2013). Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. p. 45. ISBN 9780810879829.
^ Eldredge, Elizabeth A. (2015). Kingdoms and Chiefdoms of Southeastern Africa: Oral Traditions and History ... p. 245. ISBN 9781580465144.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Stevens 1975, p. 88.
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Kgabo I (pre-1700).
^ Schapera 1980.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Schapera 1980, p. 84.
^ Schapera 1980, pp. 83–84.
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Motswasele II (1785?–1821).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sechele I (ca. 1810–1892).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sebele I (ca. 1838–1911).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sechele II Kealeboga Sebele (1892–1939).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Sebele II, Kelebantse Sechele (1892–1939).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Kgari Sechele II (1904–1962).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Neale Sechele (1917–1985).
^ Morton & Ramsay 2018, Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1926–1978).
^ ^a ^b Ramsay 1996, p. 80.
^ Ramsay 1996, pp. 65, 80.

References

Morton, Barry; Ramsay, Jeff (2018). Historical Dictionary of Botswana (5th ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-5381-1133-8.
Ramsay, Jeff (1996). "The Fall and Decline of the Bakwena Monarchy". Botswana Notes and Records. 28: 65–86. ISSN 0525-5090.
Schapera, I (1980). "Notes on the early history of the Kwena (Bakwena-bagaSechele)". Botswana Notes and Records. 12: 83–87. ISSN 0525-5090.
Stevens, Richard P. (1975). Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Botswana. The Scarecrow Press Inc. ISBN 0-8108-0857-9.

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