Kwena clan

{{Short description|Ethic group in Southern Africa}} The '''Bakwena''' or '''Bakoena''' ("those who venerate the crocodile") are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini. "Kwena" is a Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi word meaning "crocodile", the crocodile is also their totem (seboko).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B2TWVN92hYYC&dq=koena+crocodile&pg=PA45|title=Historical Dictionary of Lesotho|page=45|isbn=9780810879829 |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Scott |last2=Weisfelder |first2=Richard F. |date=13 June 2013 }}</ref>

==Genealogy and history== The earliest ancestor of the Kwena clan, Kwena, was a grandson of Masilo I, the King of Bahurutse clan around 1360 CE. Kwena and his followers settled at Tebang, now called Heidelberg.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q43sCQAAQBAJ&dq=tebang+heidelberg&pg=PA245|title=Kingdoms and Chiefdoms of Southeastern Africa: Oral Traditions and History ...|page=245|isbn=9781580465144 |last1=Eldredge |first1=Elizabeth A. |year=2015 }}</ref> Around 1500 CE, Bakwena started spreading in the region, from the Lekwa River to Kalahari (Botswana) until settling at Ntsoanatsatsi (mythical origin land of the Sotho-Tswana people) with the Bafokeng around 1580 CE.

== Early leaders == * Kwena (dates unknown){{Sfn|Stevens|1975|p=88}} * Phokotsea (dates unknown){{Sfn|Stevens|1975|p=88}} * Kgabo I (late 17th century){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Kgabo I (pre-1700)}} * Tebele (late 17th or early 18th century){{Sfn|Stevens|1975|p=88}}

== Basotho line == * first leader was Kgosi Napo. * Napo begot and was succeeded by his son Motebang * Motebang begot and was succeeded by his son Molemo * Molemo begot and was succeeded by his son Tsoloane le Tsolo * Tsholoane begot and was succeeded by his son Monaheng * Monaheng begot and was succeeded by his son Motloang * Motloang begot and was succeeded by his son Peete * Doc Mokoteli begot and was succeeded by his son Mokhachane * Mokhachane begot and was succeeded by his son Moshoeshoe and it continues to the royal line of Lesotho.

== Batswana line == Kgabo II led a small group of Bakwena and crossed the Madikwe River and founded a tribe on the lands of the Bakgatla tribe (whose totem was the blue monkey) which they drove away, modern day Botswana. As the result of a split, several tribes like the Ngwato and Ngwaketse.{{Sfn|Schapera|1980}}

* Kgabo II (until c. 1740){{Sfn|Schapera|1980|p=84}} * Motshodi (c. 1740 – c. 1770){{Sfn|Schapera|1980|pp=83–84}} * Motswasele I (c. 1770 – c. 1785){{Sfn|Stevens|1975|p=88}} * Seitlhamo (late 18th century){{Sfn|Schapera|1980|p=84}} * Legwale (late 18th century){{Sfn|Schapera|1980|p=84}} * Maleke (early 19th century; regent){{Sfn|Schapera|1980|p=84}} * Tshosa (early 19th century; regent){{Sfn|Schapera|1980|p=84}} * Motswasele II (c. 1807–1821){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Motswasele II (1785?–1821)}} * Sechele I (c. 1829–1892){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Sechele I (ca. 1810–1892)}} * Sebele I (1892–1911){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Sebele I (ca. 1838–1911)}} * Sechele II (1911–1918){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Sechele II Kealeboga Sebele (1892–1939)}} * Sebele II (1918–1931){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Sebele II, Kelebantse Sechele (1892–1939)}} * Kgari Sechele II (1931–1962){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Kgari Sechele II (1904–1962)}} * Neale Sechele (1963–1970){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Neale Sechele (1917–1985)}} * Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1970–1978; appointed as the Tribal Authority){{Sfn|Morton|Ramsay|2018|loc=Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1926–1978)}}{{Sfn|Ramsay|1996|p=80}} * Mack Sechele (1978–1986; regent){{Sfn|Ramsay|1996|p=80}} * Moithali Sechele II (1986–1996; regent){{Sfn|Ramsay|1996|pp=65, 80}} * Kgosikwena Sebele (1996–2002; regent) * Kgari Sechele III (2002–present)

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

== References == * {{Cite book |last1=Morton |first1=Barry |title=Historical Dictionary of Botswana |last2=Ramsay |first2=Jeff |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |year=2018 |isbn=978-1-5381-1133-8 |edition=5th}} * {{Cite journal |last=Ramsay |first=Jeff |date=1996 |title=The Fall and Decline of the Bakwena Monarchy |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40980134 |journal=Botswana Notes and Records |volume=28 |pages=65–86 |issn=0525-5090}} * {{Cite journal |last=Schapera |first=I |year=1980 |title=Notes on the early history of the Kwena (Bakwena-bagaSechele) |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40980796 |journal=Botswana Notes and Records |volume=12 |pages=83–87 |issn=0525-5090}} * {{Cite book |last=Stevens |first=Richard P. |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio0000stev/page/88/ |title=Historical Dictionary of the Republic of Botswana |publisher=The Scarecrow Press Inc. |year=1975 |isbn=0-8108-0857-9}}

{{Ethnic groups in Botswana}} {{Ethnic groups in Eswatini}} {{Ethnic groups in Lesotho}} {{Ethnic groups in South Africa}} {{Authority control}}

Category:Sotho-Tswana peoples in South Africa Category:Ethnic groups in Botswana Category:Ethnic groups in Eswatini Category:Ethnic groups in Lesotho