Faku kaNgqungqushe

King Faku kaNgqungqushe was born around 1780^[1] at Vungeni^[2] homestead, the royal centre of the amaMpondo Kingdom.  He was the son of King Ngqungqushe,^[3] who ruled over a polity already well established along the coastal and inland regions between the Mzimkhulu and Mthatha rivers.^[4] The amaMpondo Kingdom was a layered political formation composed of homesteads, subordinate chiefs, and regimental structures tied together by allegiance to the king. Authority rested on cattle, control of land, and the ability to mobilise armed followers.^[2]

Although King Faku’s mother seems to have been deposed as King Ngqungqushe’s Great Wife in favour of Phakani’s mother, she was to later regain this position immediately after King Ngqungqushe’s death. What could have caused the deposition of King Faku’s mother as the Great Wife during the lifetime of King Ngqungqushe remains a mystery and led many to mistakenly believe that King Faku was not of full royal blood and that he had acquired his Kingship by force of arms. However, the amaMpondo naming system suggests otherwise. His mother being the sister of King Mngcambe of amaMpondomise, she was the only wife of King Ngqungqushe of full royal blood out of 8 wives.^[2] She was given the marital name of Mamngcambe after her brother Mngcambe the King of amaMpondomise.^[5]

Faku’s rise to kingship must be located in the crisis that followed the death of his father around 1810-15. Ngqungqushe was killed in a military campaign against the Bomvana regent Gambushe, where he had unsuccessfully sought to install Ngezana on the amaBomvana throne^[6]. At the moment of his father’s death, the heir was Phakani^[7]. Yet the transition did not follow this line. Instead, the royal councillors intervened^[8]. They seem to have re-instated Faku’s mother into the position of Great Wife^[1], thereby retroactively legitimising Faku’s claim to the throne. This act was not arbitrary. It reflected the balance of power within the kingdom: Faku was already a mature man, married, with followers and standing among the leading men of the polity, whereas Phakani was young and politically untested. And, whatever decisions were taken by the late King, seem to have died with him.

His accession, however, was not universally accepted. Opposition emerged from within the royal family itself. Mtengwane, a senior right-hand son of Ngqungqushe, rejected Faku’s authority and sought refuge among the Bomvana.^[9] Other elements within the kingdom fled toward the Xesibe, signalling uncertainty about the new king’s legitimacy. Even the displaced heir, Phakani, represented a potential focal point for dissent, though he never developed into a serious rival. Faku moved swiftly to consolidate power. The dissenters found little external support, and those who fled were compelled to return. What might have become a prolonged civil conflict instead resolved relatively quickly, demonstrating that Faku’s claim was backed not only by councillor support but by real power on the ground and military support from the army itself.

The first major expression of that power was military. Faku launched a campaign against Gambushe of the Bomvana, both to avenge his father’s death and to eliminate a refuge for internal rivals. The campaign was significant and sustained. Faku’s forces drove the Bomvana westward across the Mbashe River, displacing them into the territory of the Gcaleka under Hintsa. Gambushe regrouped and mounted a counterattack, forcing Faku’s army to retreat^[10]. Even so, the strategic outcome favoured Faku: the Bomvana were removed from their previous position as a proximate threat, and Faku’s authority within the Mpondo polity was strengthened. From this early moment, his reign was defined by a combination of aggression and calculation—he was neither reckless nor passive, but deliberate in the use of force.

Faku’s kingship unfolded during a period of intense upheaval in Southern Africa: Portuguese slave trade in Delagoa Bay^[11] and land theft^[12] and rape by Boer^[13] and Briton on the side of the Cape. The early nineteenth century saw widespread movement of peoples, warfare, and the reorganisation of states. In this context, Faku did not merely survive; he expanded and transformed his kingdom. Maize cultivation expanded, cattle accumulation intensified, and trade networks developed further^[14]. Authority became more concentrated around the king, even as the underlying structure of semi-autonomous regiments and local loyalties remained.

Soon as Faku dealt with those who could challenge his Kingship internally and their allies on his Southwestern border, an invasion by Ngoza and his abaThembu on the East on the banks of uMzimkhulu River. Arrayed in a formation of three regiments, Ngoza’s abaThembu poured into amaMpondo^[1] and sought to grab territory. King Faku, repelled the invader and killed the invader. Recounting the episode, a Thembu oral informant in 1909 recalling tales from his grandfather who was present at the time of the episode Languza ka Mpukane told James Stuart that amaMpondo were so incensed by this incursion that they cut off the arms of the abaThembu in order to remove “the metal ornaments they wore on the arm.” So terrible was the deed that the people who had lost their wrists had to kneel to eat food as they had no hands to pick it up^[15]. Most of the abaThembu retreated back west of uMzimkhulu while the rest were assimilated into the Mpondo polity as vassals.^[16]

Soon after, King Faku received amaBhaca under Ncaphayi who pledged themselves to King Faku’s service and sought land. This was granted. They were to live as vassals until amaBhaca started believing they could fight the amaMpondo and they suffered a heavy defeat at Nowalala in Ntabankulu in 1845 with their leader Ncaphayi killed in the process as well.^[17]

King Faku had to face another invasion in 1824 by King Shaka’s amaZulu regiments led by their commander Mdlhaka. King Faku  delegated command to his twenty-five-year-old son Ndamase. Ndamase mobilized the Mpondo rapidly, intercepted the invading Zulu, and inflicted heavy losses on three senior Zulu regiments^[1]. Among the many amaZulu casualties was Sikhonyana ka Ngqungqulu who was seriously injured and was nursed back home by other amaZulu regiments. Mdhlaka had to reinforce the army with younger regiments; and only then were the Mpondo compelled to break contact, allowing the Zulu to withdraw^[1]. Even that withdrawal did not end the pressure. A Zulu oral informant later claimed that Faku used supernatural power to send hyenas against the retreating army^[1]. So the 1824 war was a Zulu defeat. AmaZulu were to never forgive King Faku for this humiliating defeat which they termed the amaBhece campaign because the army had to run away and eat watermelons^[1].

Fresh from a rousing defeat of Zwide aided by white allies, and impressed by their artillery, King Shaka started preparing to use these against amaMpondo that had defeated him earlier, unfortunately, his mother passed away and a period of mourning ensued. No soon was the mourning period for his mother concluded, he led his army towards amaMpondo with spears and white muskets. They poured into the amaMpondo in great numbers around uMzimvubu in 1828^[18]. Although King Faku again, re-organized his army and defended his territory under the military command of his capable son Ndamase, this time, victory was not as sweet, as the asymmetry of a combination of AmaZulu spears and English guns against amaMpondo spears proved decisive leading to a stalemate^[1]. AmaZulu were again forced to retreat without victory, but at least this time, without humiliating defeat^[1].

With his army still grazed by the bullets of King Shaka’s guns, Faku’s amaMpondo in 1829 came to the aid of King Ngubengcuka’s abaThembu Kingdom around Mthatha’s Mbolompo when they routed amaNgwane and greatly slew Matiwane’s amaNgwane^[1]. At this point, it seems everyone wanted to test the efficacy of guns and King Faku’s amaMpondo were no different. The slaughter of amaNgwane were reduced to a vassal state and some assimilated into the Mpondo King’s state.

Militarily, Faku was active throughout his reign, but his wars were directed primarily at African rivals. He engaged the Bomvana, Mpondomise, Thembu, Bhaca, and Xesibe at various points, seeking to dominate the regional balance of power^[1]. These conflicts were not incidental; they were central to the consolidation of the Mpondo state. After the attack by AmaZulu and the English, he saw it necessary to also get a colonial missionary. From the 1830s, onward, he maintained contact with the Cape Colony and later Natal through Wesleyan missionaries, who served as intermediaries. Through them, he communicated, negotiated, and gathered intelligence. He allowed missionary presence but as a diplomatic instrument, not once allowing any of his children to learn to read and write or to be taught by the Europeans^[1]. Neither he nor his family converted to Christianity, but often engaged cordially with the missionaries and engaged in trade with the Europeans. Also, he refused to be drawn into the orbit of their wars^[1].

When Boer trekkers established themselves in Natal in the late 1830s, and later when the British annexed Natal in the early 1840s, Faku found himself positioned between competing colonial powers. He exploited this situation with considerable skill. He aligned when it suited him, as in the 1844 treaty with the British under Maitland^[1], but he resisted being drawn into their wars. The British repeatedly sought his military assistance against Xhosa groups to the west, yet these efforts largely failed. Faku refused to commit his forces to conflicts that did not serve his interests. As historian Stapleton makes clear, this pattern of avoidance was consistent: Faku preserved his military resources for his own regional objectives and avoided entanglement in colonial campaigns . This decision was of profound significance. While other African polities were drawn into destructive wars with colonial states, Faku maintained a autonomy for decades.

Internally, however, his greatest challenge emerged not from external enemies but from within his own house. His son, Ndamase, rose as a powerful military figure, commanding regiments and earning a reputation for bravery and leadership. By the 1840s, Ndamase had effectively become a political force in his own right. The tensions between father and son culminated in the events around 1845, after which Ndamase crossed the Mzimvubu River and established himself in the west^[2]. From that point onward, the Mpondo polity existed in a dual form: Faku ruled in the east, while Ndamase exercised autonomous authority in the west. This was not a formal division declared by Faku, but a political reality he was unable—or unwilling—to reverse. The relationship between them remained complex: there was no decisive confrontation, but neither was there reintegration. Even colonial officials recognised this dual authority, at times dealing with both figures separately.^[19]

In his later years, Faku faced increasing colonial pressure. From the 1850s onward, both the Cape and Natal sought to expand their influence into Mpondo territory. Agreements were imposed, and land was gradually lost. Yet even in old age, Faku remained a capable negotiator, using his experience and connections to delay deeper encroachment. His long reign, extending over five decades, allowed him to navigate multiple phases of transformation—from early nineteenth-century upheaval to mid-century colonial expansion.^[1]

Faku departed the world of the living on the 29 October 1867 at exactly 87 years old. By the time of his death, the kingdom was both strong and divided. In the east, his son Mqikela assumed kingship without opposition, but his authority did not extend into the west, where his son Ndamase had long established his own power since 1845 after a brief quarrel with his father and thus ruled semi-autonomously. This outcome reflected both the strength and the limits of Faku’s rule. He had created a powerful and enduring state, yet he had not fully resolved the internal dynamics of royal power that allowed alternative centres of authority to emerge even during his lifetime.

In historical perspective, Faku stands as one of the most significant rulers of the amaMpondo. He was not merely a passive intermediary between Africans and Europeans, nor a minor figure overshadowed by larger kingdoms. He was a state-builder, a military leader, and a strategist of considerable skill. His avoidance of colonial wars was not weakness but foresight. His wars against African rivals were not random but purposeful. His kingship was neither absolute nor fragile, but negotiated within a complex system of power. Above all, his reign demonstrates that African political systems of the nineteenth century were dynamic, adaptive, and capable of producing leaders of great ability.

During his lifetime, King Faku, earned the official Royal greeting Jasele^[1] (he who crushes all) from his people, and was affectionately called Sophankomo^[20] (he who gifts his people in cattle) and a plethora of praise poems.

Some rendered thus:

Nzuka mthi kosala izipunzi ku-Sontswelane,

Bayadla bayasola oo-Nongingila ka Nomatshobe'Ndlovu

uNokhalimel'ibango lide libangazeke^[2]

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^[1] C. de B. Webb and J.B. Wright (eds.), The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples (Durban: Killie Campbell Africana Library, 1976), vol. 1, pp. 298-99, evidence of Lunguza ka Mpukane, 11, 3, 1909.

During his reign, King Faku consolidated and unified several groups and expanded the territory he had inherited from his father.^[21] Through a series of events, the kingdom was eventually annexed by the British Empire, became part of the Cape Colony and is today a section of the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.