Hall of Kings Series:
QUEEN MODJADJI V
The Rain Queen, Queen of the Lovedu people, which her dynasty has ruled for two hundred years. Even among the convoluted and very often bizarre histories of African royal succession, Queen Modjadji’s story is unique. For a start she has thirty three wives! The Lovedu Queen is forbidden by custom to marry men and must choose her wives from among the eldest daughters of her people. Then there is the fact that her lineage was generated by incest! It all began on the Northern banks of the Limpopo river, when a certain Princess Dzuguzini, daughter of the sacred King of Mambo, potentate of the Empire of Monomotapa, indulged in an illicit affair and was impregnated as a result. Dzuguzini steadfastly refused to reveal the name of the perpetrator to her outraged father and was banished from the kingdom. Departing into exile and an uncertain future in a hostile and war torn land, with an infant child to support, Princess Dzuguzini was in desperate need of a measure of security, a situation she resolved by taking with her the sacred rainmaking beads of Mambo, with their attendant power to control the elements. In the fullness of time, the father of her son was revealed to be her own brother, the Prince of Mambo, which made her son heir to the throne, to which he ascended upon the death of the King. Having established something of a family tradition, the dynasty continued to perpetuate itself by incest, with the consequence that the fifth king, Mugado, was completely paranoid, and, in an African version of the Oedipus myth, became convinced that he would be murdered by his own son. His terror of patricide lead him to take the drastic measure of having his male heirs asphyxiated at birth. This gruesome practice resulted in the propagation of a line of female succession, redoubtable Queens who defended their people by controlling the storms and inflicting flood or drought upon their enemies. This power over the clouds and the rain was passed down from mother to daughter, along with the throne. Not surprisingly, the surrounding tribes came to view the Lovedu with some trepidation, in particular the otherwise dauntless Zulus, who believed the Mambo Queens to be fearsome predatory witches, with four lungs, who lurked in the swamps waiting to ambush hapless travellers Whatever their reputation may have been, the Mambo Queens were certainly fierce and successful survivors, embodied today by the present Queen, Her Majesty Modjadji V. Call it superstition if you will, but within one hour of the unveiling of the statue on the evening of Sunday October 29th , a violent thunderstorm assailed the misty hills of Muldersdrift, and it rained heavily for five consecutive days. Draw your own conclusions! Heraldry was first taken to southern Africa in1488, with the Portuguese adventurer, Bartholomew Diaz, who had stone crosses erected bearing the arms of Portugal. The Portuguese were probably the first to grant arms to an indigenous king in this area. The Emperor Monomatapa was given his coat of arms by the King of Portugal in 1569. The Rain Queen descends from the house of Monomatapa
QUEEN MODJADJI V
The Rain Queen, Queen of the Lovedu people, which her dynasty has ruled for two hundred years. Even among the convoluted and very often bizarre histories of African royal succession, Queen Modjadji’s story is unique. For a start she has thirty three wives! The Lovedu Queen is forbidden by custom to marry men and must choose her wives from among the eldest daughters of her people. Then there is the fact that her lineage was generated by incest! It all began on the Northern banks of the Limpopo river, when a certain Princess Dzuguzini, daughter of the sacred King of Mambo, potentate of the Empire of Monomotapa, indulged in an illicit affair and was impregnated as a result. Dzuguzini steadfastly refused to reveal the name of the perpetrator to her outraged father and was banished from the kingdom. Departing into exile and an uncertain future in a hostile and war torn land, with an infant child to support, Princess Dzuguzini was in desperate need of a measure of security, a situation she resolved by taking with her the sacred rainmaking beads of Mambo, with their attendant power to control the elements. In the fullness of time, the father of her son was revealed to be her own brother, the Prince of Mambo, which made her son heir to the throne, to which he ascended upon the death of the King. Having established something of a family tradition, the dynasty continued to perpetuate itself by incest, with the consequence that the fifth king, Mugado, was completely paranoid, and, in an African version of the Oedipus myth, became convinced that he would be murdered by his own son. His terror of patricide lead him to take the drastic measure of having his male heirs asphyxiated at birth. This gruesome practice resulted in the propagation of a line of female succession, redoubtable Queens who defended their people by controlling the storms and inflicting flood or drought upon their enemies. This power over the clouds and the rain was passed down from mother to daughter, along with the throne. Not surprisingly, the surrounding tribes came to view the Lovedu with some trepidation, in particular the otherwise dauntless Zulus, who believed the Mambo Queens to be fearsome predatory witches, with four lungs, who lurked in the swamps waiting to ambush hapless travellers Whatever their reputation may have been, the Mambo Queens were certainly fierce and successful survivors, embodied today by the present Queen, Her Majesty Modjadji V. Call it superstition if you will, but within one hour of the unveiling of the statue on the evening of Sunday October 29th , a violent thunderstorm assailed the misty hills of Muldersdrift, and it rained heavily for five consecutive days. Draw your own conclusions! Heraldry was first taken to southern Africa in1488, with the Portuguese adventurer, Bartholomew Diaz, who had stone crosses erected bearing the arms of Portugal. The Portuguese were probably the first to grant arms to an indigenous king in this area. The Emperor Monomatapa was given his coat of arms by the King of Portugal in 1569. The Rain Queen descends from the house of Monomatapa
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