Xwalile
Ndebele queen and great wife of Lobengula / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Xwalile was at one time the great wife of Lobengula, king of the Ndebele people in present-day Zimbabwe.[1] The dates of her birth and death are unknown, but she is known to have lived at least from the 1870s to the 1890s.
Xwalile | |
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Nationality | African |
Known for | Great Wife of Lobengula |
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Daughter of Mzila, king of the Gaza people, Xwalile married Lobengula in 1879; seven other Gaza royal women married him in the same ceremony, which was designed as an exchange of royal wives.[1] Conflict over the payment of bridewealth soon caused trouble in the marriage, as did the fact that there was a dearth of Ndebele women who would marry Mzila in exchange. Furthermore, she proved to be infertile. Eventually Xwalile was forced to return home; she may in part have been driven away by witchcraft practiced against her by her sister-in-law Mncengence, who would be executed in 1880 for her behavior.[2][3]