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Lobedu polity       Search catalogue 29492602X

STA
Approved

UPD
2012-07-20

DUT
Lobedu koninkrijk

IND
1

MIS
BR. Ga-Modjadji is a rural community of over 150 villages ruled by the Rain Queen Modjadji. There are many legends about the origins of Queen Modjadji. In one version, an old chief in the 16th-century Karanga kingdom of Monomotapa (southeastern Zimbabwe) was told by his ancestors that he must impregnate his daughter, Dzugundini, in order to bestow the princess with rainmaking powers and thus expand the wealth of his kingdom. This princess was called Modjadji or 'ruler of the day'. Another account relates that Dzugundini was banished from her tribe after she was impregnated by her brother. She fled her father's scorn and took some of his loyal followers and her rainmaking powers to the present-day Venda region of the Northern Province. In the early 19th century, Modjadji's tribe, known as the Balobedu, migrated further south to the fertile Molototsi Valley, where they founded present-day Ga-Modjadji. This tribe was ruled by a Mugudo, a male leader who was a descendant of the original Queen. Threatened by family rivalries and concerned for the tribe's future, he decided to impregnate his daughter, the new Queen Modjadji, and restore the tribe's matrilineal tradition.

PPN
29492602X

UDC
340.141.1Modjadji

SN
Location: Limpopo Province, South Africa. Queens and female rulers: Queen Makobo Modjadji VI, 2003-2005. Makobo's daughter, Princess Masalanabo (b. February 2005), was fathered by a commoner and her enthronement as the next Rain Queen when she turns 18 may be disputed by traditionalists.

MRF
321Lobedu

BT1
South African polities

UF
Lobedu Kingdom
Lovedu Kingdom
Modjadji Kingdom

BSO
09.01.02 NAMED POLITIES

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