6/18/05 Rain Queen of Africam Dynasty has died
THE Rain Queen is dead. Africa's most ancient female dynasty, said to know secrets so powerful no man, king or commoner would dare violate them, may have met its end.
The death this week of 27-year-old Modjadji VI, monarch of the Lobedu tribe of South Africa, before she could provide a successor may be a mortal blow to a line of queens who have ruled for centuries and stared down some of the most feared conquerors to march through the bushveld.
The royal council has refused to reveal what she died of and this is interpreted to mean she may have fallen to the HIV virus.
Living in the far north of South Africa, the queen's clan would have long since vanished, its people carried off into slavery or slaughtered in sectarian warfare, but for one thing: nobody, not even the great Zulu king Shaka, or Bible-thumping Boers, were brave enough to mess with the magic of the Rain Queen.
"Her death so young came as a great shock to us all," said Sibusiso Nkosi, a spokesman for South Africa's National House of Traditional Leaders.
"We were expecting her to be around for many more years. She had a lot to offer."
The queen's power lay in the belief that she could make - or withhold - life-giving rains. If there is one thing Africans of all tribes and colours share, it is the terror of drought, which can destroy kingdoms and beggar rich men as their cattle die. The queen's mystique was so great that Victorian writer Ryder Haggard immortalised her as "She who must be obeyed" in his novel She.
Women do not, as a rule, have much of a voice in traditional African life, but the Lobedu turned the convention on its head and allowed only queens to rule. A queen took "wives" to care for her, as would any male king, but would also take a male consort to father her successors.
These traditions have served the tribe well, but some felt it was time to move with the times.
When Modjadji VI was crowned two years ago, a gentle rain that fell on the ceremony was received as an omen that she would lead the Lobedu into the modern era.
She was the first queen to be educated. She wore jeans and T-shirts, and attended public functions and conferences, breaking the practice of shutting herself away to all but a few privileged visitors.
In this, Modjadji VI promised to be very different to her doughty old grandmother, Modjadji V. It was the elder queen who once kept Nelson Mandela waiting on her doorstep when he came to pay homage to her in 1994. She would demand that all visitors approach her on hands and knees in supplication.
Modjadji VI was different. "She was a kind, young woman and very interested in developmental issues," Mr Nkosi said. "She would have made an extremely important contribution to her people's wellbeing."
Modjadji VI did reportedly have a son, but he would automatically be excluded from succession because he is male. This will leave tribal elders scrambling to line up behind relatives who might qualify to fill the title.
"These issues can divide a family," Mr Nkosi said.
"We hope this does not happen here."
The death this week of 27-year-old Modjadji VI, monarch of the Lobedu tribe of South Africa, before she could provide a successor may be a mortal blow to a line of queens who have ruled for centuries and stared down some of the most feared conquerors to march through the bushveld.
The royal council has refused to reveal what she died of and this is interpreted to mean she may have fallen to the HIV virus.
Living in the far north of South Africa, the queen's clan would have long since vanished, its people carried off into slavery or slaughtered in sectarian warfare, but for one thing: nobody, not even the great Zulu king Shaka, or Bible-thumping Boers, were brave enough to mess with the magic of the Rain Queen.
"Her death so young came as a great shock to us all," said Sibusiso Nkosi, a spokesman for South Africa's National House of Traditional Leaders.
"We were expecting her to be around for many more years. She had a lot to offer."
The queen's power lay in the belief that she could make - or withhold - life-giving rains. If there is one thing Africans of all tribes and colours share, it is the terror of drought, which can destroy kingdoms and beggar rich men as their cattle die. The queen's mystique was so great that Victorian writer Ryder Haggard immortalised her as "She who must be obeyed" in his novel She.
Women do not, as a rule, have much of a voice in traditional African life, but the Lobedu turned the convention on its head and allowed only queens to rule. A queen took "wives" to care for her, as would any male king, but would also take a male consort to father her successors.
These traditions have served the tribe well, but some felt it was time to move with the times.
When Modjadji VI was crowned two years ago, a gentle rain that fell on the ceremony was received as an omen that she would lead the Lobedu into the modern era.
She was the first queen to be educated. She wore jeans and T-shirts, and attended public functions and conferences, breaking the practice of shutting herself away to all but a few privileged visitors.
In this, Modjadji VI promised to be very different to her doughty old grandmother, Modjadji V. It was the elder queen who once kept Nelson Mandela waiting on her doorstep when he came to pay homage to her in 1994. She would demand that all visitors approach her on hands and knees in supplication.
Modjadji VI was different. "She was a kind, young woman and very interested in developmental issues," Mr Nkosi said. "She would have made an extremely important contribution to her people's wellbeing."
Modjadji VI did reportedly have a son, but he would automatically be excluded from succession because he is male. This will leave tribal elders scrambling to line up behind relatives who might qualify to fill the title.
"These issues can divide a family," Mr Nkosi said.
"We hope this does not happen here."
posted by Dakini at Saturday, June 18, 2005
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