Makhanda

Makhanda, also spelled Makana and also known as Nxele ("the left-handed"), ( – 25 December 1820 ) was a Xhosa indigenous doctor. He served as a top advisor to Chief Ndlambe. During the Xhosa Wars, on 22 April 1819, he initiated an abortive assault on the town previously known as Grahamstown, in what was then the Cape Colony.

He was imprisoned on Robben Island. On 25 December 1820, Makhanda attempted to escape with thirty other prisoners, but drowned. Only four of the escapees survived the crossing.

Life

Makhanda was born near the coast around 1780 in the Uitenhage area. His father was a Xhosa named Gwala of the Cwerha clan and his mother was a Khoikhoi of the Gqunukhwebe clan. After Makhanda's father died when he was a young boy, he was brought up by his mother strongly influenced by her village's Khoi traditions. His mother was a spiritual diviner and medicine woman. Makhanda was later recognised as an ‘'inyanga,'’ which seemed rooted in the early guidance of his mother and her traditions. The Xhosa also particularly held the Khoikhoi and San spiritual guides in high esteem. His mother took him and his siblings to the Great Fish River Valley, where they lived with his foster father Balala.

It is unclear when Makhanda encountered Christianity. Missionary Dr James van der Kemp had established a mission station in Bethelsdorp in 1799, and Makhanda may have met him. Makhanda advocated peace and denounced the use of magic after converting to Christianity.

During his days as an itinerant preacher, he was attacked by a gang of detractors. He was rescued by Qalanga, a councillor of Chief Ndlambe.

Battle of Grahamstown

In 1818 at the Battle of Amalinde, Makhanda fought alongside a combined force of the Xhosa against Chief Ngqika, who was considered to be selling out his people in return for personal gain as an ally of the British Cape Colony.

When a British-led force commanded by Colonel Thomas Brereton seized 23,000 head of stolen cattle from Ndlambe's people, Makhanda urged all the Xhosa to unite to try to drive British forces out of the land once and for all. Makhanda advised Ndlambe that the gods would be on their side if they chose to attack the British garrison in the settlement of Grahamstown, and promised that the British "bullets would turn to water".

Ndlambe took Makana's advice, and on 22 April 1819 Makana led a raid on Grahamstown in broad daylight with a force of about 6,000 men (some sources say 10,000 men), all under the overall command of Ndlambe's son Mdushane. They were accompanied by women and children, prepared to occupy Grahamstown after the battle. The British garrison of approximately 350 troops, along with a Khoikhoi group led by Jan Boesak Makhanda, Eastern Cape, previously known as Grahamstown, was named after him in 2018. Makana F.A., a sporting body formed by political prisoners on Robben Island during the apartheid years, was named after him. The 1834 anonymous novel Makanna is inspired by him.

South African Ship

The SAS Makhanda was named after him.