Faku a Ngqungqushe

King Faku kaNgqungqushe was a King of the Ama-Mpondo Kingdom. He was born around 1780 at Vungeni homestead, the royal centre of the amaMpondo Kingdom. He reigned for around 50 years, resisting invasions from other African kingdoms, internal dissention, and European colonial pressure. In his old age his son, Ndamase, established himself as effectively independent in the western part of the Kingdom, which spilt in two upon King Faku's death at the age of 87.

Parents and background He was the son of King Ngqungqushe, and Queen Mamngcambe (a Mpondomise princess). 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. Thus this suggests that when the Royal Council overturned King Ngqungqushe's decision about who his heir was, it was merely to re-instante a son who was of full Royal Blood who may have lost this position because his father was said to be cruel.

Rise to kingship 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. At the moment of his father’s death, the heir was Phakani. Yet the transition did not follow this line. Instead, the royal councillors intervened. They seem to have re-instated Faku’s mother into the position of Great Wife, 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. Anyway, Faku had support of two younger brothers who stood to benefit from his rise to power such as Cingo and Sitata, who later "who both eventually became subordinate rulers of large sections of the Mpondo state" according to Stapleton. 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.

Reign Early war against the Bomvana 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. 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 and land theft and rape by Boer 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. Authority became more concentrated around the king, even as the underlying structure of semi-autonomous regiments and local loyalties remained.

Invasions The abaThembu bakaNgoza invasion

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 Most of the abaThembu retreated back east of uMzimkhulu while the rest were assimilated into the Mpondo polity as vassals.

AmaBhaca of Ncaphayi become a vassal

Soon after, King Faku received amaBhaca under Ncaphayi who pledged themselves to King Faku’s service and sought land. One of Madzikane’s minor sons, Dliwako, first led a section of amaBhaca into Faku’s Mpondo Kingdom for protection. Soon after, Ncaphayi—a more senior son—brought the remainder of the group. According to Bhaca oral tradition, Madzikane had long foreseen that his people would find peace only by seeking refuge with Faku. Upon their arrival, King Faku warmly welcomed amaBhaca. He granted them land in the northern reaches of his territory, primarily along the upper Mzimvubu River area. AmaBhaca settled as a semi-autonomous tributary chiefdom under Ncaphayi, adopting elements of Mpondo language and culture while retaining their distinct identity. This incorporation strengthened Faku’s kingdom by adding a significant military ally during a time of intense regional instability.

Ncaphayi quickly proved a valuable partner. From the mid-1820s to the early 1830s, amaBhaca under Ncaphayi became one of Faku’s most important military regiments. They participated enthusiastically in campaigns, including a major 1826 raid against the amaBomvana (who had re-entered Mpondo territory). In that operation, Faku’s Mpondo forces attacked directly while amaBhaca regiments were instructed to circle north to cut off the enemy’s retreat and seize cattle. Similar coordinated raids targeted abaThembu and other neighbours. Faku further cemented the alliance by marrying his daughter Dludla to Ncaphayi. The Bhaca provided crucial scouting, manpower, and combat support.

Tensions eventually strained the relationship. By the late 1830s, disputes arose—possibly over bride-wealth, cattle, or stock-raiding incidents. In December 1840, Boer forces under Andries Pretorius launched a devastating raid on Ncaphayi’s Bhaca kraals, killing dozens, seizing thousands of livestock, and taking captives (often termed “apprentices”). Faku distanced himself to avoid direct confrontation with the Boers. By 1845, the alliance had fully broken down. The amaBhaca sought to attack their hosts by allying with the amaXesibe (another amaMpondo vassal) and began raiding amaMpondo specifically those under Ndamase's Nyandeni section. In retaliation, Faku mobilized his Mpondo warriors. During the ensuing battle in 1845, Ncaphayi was killed at Nowalala. His son Makaula succeeded him as the principal amaBhaca leader.

Ncaphayi’s death marked the end of the close Mpondo–Bhaca partnership, but it did not result in full Bhaca independence. A small remnant of the Bhaca stayed in Pondoland under Ncaphayi’s widow and then Makaula (the main Bhaca ruler thereafter). They distanced themselves by moving about thirty miles north but remained within the broader Pondoland region. Most other amaBhaca groups (under a nephew, Mdushane) moved toward Natal.

From 1845 onward, the Bhaca operated with practical autonomy and engaged in periodic skirmishes and mutual stock raids with the Mpondo. However, the Mpondo never accepted the amaBhaca as fully independent. Faku (and later his heir Mqikela) continued to treat them as subjects living on Mpondo land who refused to recognize Mpondo authority. The Mpondo launched multiple military campaigns to reassert dominance:

In 1848–1849, Mpondo forces attacked Bhaca sub-chief Cetwa. In 1852, Mpondo warriors raided a Bhaca community near the Shawbury mission. In 1866, Mqikela led a major invasion with 7,000–8,000 Mpondo warriors against Makaula’s great place. The Bhaca initially fled but rallied and inflicted a disastrous defeat on the amaMpondo in hand-to-hand fighting. Mpondo oral tradition records that Faku had opposed the attack, but Mqikela proceeded anyway.

Soon after Faku’s death in 1867, Mqikela launched another offensive against the Bhaca, again aiming to bring them “back into the orbit of the Mpondo state.”

In short, while the tributary relationship ended with Ncaphayi’s death and the Bhaca successfully resisted full re-subjugation (at least militarily), they remained entangled in a hostile, contested relationship with the amaMpondo rather than becoming a completely separate and independent chiefdom. The Mpondo kings continued to assert suzerainty over them. Colonial powers (British in Natal and the Cape) increasingly intervened and eventually dominated both groups, but within the pre-colonial and immediate post-Faku context, the Bhaca never achieved full independence from Mpondo claims and pressure. This dynamic of rivalry and incomplete autonomy persisted for decades after Ncaphayi’s death.

ZULU INVASIONS

IMPI YAMA-BHECE (WATERMELON WAR) 1824

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 amaZulu, and inflicted heavy losses on three senior Zulu regiments. 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.

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,

LOSS OF LAND TO THE BRITISH

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.

In the early 1850s, colonial officials in Natal sought to amend the territorial provisions of the 1844 treaty. In 1854–1855, Natal commissioner Walter Harding, accompanied by Henry Francis Fynn, met with Faku and his councillors to obtain consent for enlarging Natal’s boundary into Mpondo territory. The stated reason was to relieve Faku of responsibility for stock theft (particularly by San/Bushmen groups) occurring in the area between the Mzimkhulu and Mtamvuna rivers. Although Wesleyan missionary Thomas Jenkins attempted to negotiate more favourable terms for the Mpondo, Faku ultimately agreed to the alteration. A new document was signed that ceded the country lying east of the western branch of the Mtamvuna River (and a line running from there to the Drakensberg), thereby moving the boundary southwest from the Mzimkhulu River. This document, was not co-signed with Ndamase who had already moved west unlike the Maitland Treaty.

Further pressure on Mpondo territory occurred in the early 1860s. In November 1860, Governor George Grey proposed settling Adam Kok’s Griqua—a mixed-race group then living north of the Drakensberg—in the northeastern section of the Mpondo Kingdom. Faku strongly objected through Jenkins, arguing that the 1844 treaty had guaranteed Mpondo borders and that his land could not be taken for the Griqua. Despite these protests, approximately 3,000 Griqua moved into the area in 1863. This territory, located just south of the Drakensberg Mountains in what had been the northern part of Eastern Pondoland, became known as Griqualand East, with the modern town of Kokstad named after Griqua leader Adam Kok.

The Griqua settlement and associated boundary adjustments led to ongoing disputes. Faku and his successor Mqikela continued to view the Griqua as occupying Mpondo land, while the Griqua acted as an independent force and engaged in raids and counter-accusations of horse theft against the Mpondo. Colonial officials occasionally discussed integrating the Griqua into the Mpondo Kingdom or exchanging land, but these plans were largely abandoned amid deteriorating relations. The establishment of Griqualand East represented a significant loss of territory for the Mpondo in Faku’s final years.

The crossing of Ndamase to the West of Mzimvubu seems to have weakened King Faku's military power and capacity to negotiate knowing well that he had a capable military commander. He was left with half his army and Ndamase was more focused on subjugating other vassal states such as abaThembu and amaMpondomise and asserting his dominance on the Western side. Thus, King Faku, old and frail, had to resort to diplomacy rather than the threat of war. 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. (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 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.