Chobe District (1)

Jeff Ramsay | Tuesday August 10, 2021 06:00

Over the centuries, the area has served as a crossroads linking the wealth of central and southern Africa across the Chobe and Zambezi rivers. It has thus evolved as a meeting place of unique cultural diversity as well as natural wonders. This diversity was reflected in a 1970 ethnographic survey of the district, which recorded the presence of households belonging to 23 different ethno-linguistic groups out of a population than just above 5,000.

The history of settlement in the Chobe District is believed to date back to the very beginnings of humankind. Along with other parts of Southern Africa, the district is believed to be where the first modern humans (homo sapiens) emerged, dating from about 300,000 years ago. By 150,000 years, archaeological sites containing the remnants of homo sapiens populations are associated with the onset of the Middle Stone age, which lasted to about 35,000 years ago.

A 2019 study, based on DNA and archaeological findings, has gone further to suggest that some 200,000 years ago the Chobe region was part of a vast wetland covering much of modern Botswana, which was the ancestral home of all living humans. Serving as an oasis in what was then otherwise parched expanse of Africa, this well-watered area south of the Zambezi River may have sustained an isolated, founder population of modern humans before their northward migration into East Africa and beyond some 130,000 years ago.

In addition to ancient tools, early humans have left an artistic legacy in the form of rock paintings in northern Botswana, which includes those located among the Gubatshaa Hills overlooking the Savuti Marsh area in the Chobe National Park. These paintings were by local Khoe (Khoisan speakers/Basarwa) over many generations dating back at least as far as the sixth century, with the latest paintings having been produced at the beginning of the 19th century. The style of many of the surviving paintings is similar to the larger and more ancient collection of rock art located at the Tsodilo Hills World Heritage site in Botswana’s North-West District.

Today, people of Khoe heritage continue to make up a significant proportion of Chobe’s indigenous population. Traditionally Khoe are commonly associated with hunter-gather lifestyles, having long benefited from the region’s celebrated abundance of flora and fauna. Modern Khoe populations in the region have, however, had to adapt to other urban and rural opportunities while preserving their unique culture within the region’s demographic mosaic. These include Shua-Khoe who are concentrated in the Kasane-Kazungula-Lesoma area. Other Khoe groups found in the wider region have been identified linguistically //Ani, /Anda, Buga, Danisi, Kxoe Tuyea, and Ts'ixa. By the beginning of the first millennium or common era 2000 years , stone age culture had begun to give way to early iron age settlement associated with the introduction of arable and pastoral agriculture, which was accompanied by the emergence of new peoples into the region. Prominent among these was a community that thrived from the 13th through 15th centuries along the banks of the Chobe at Nyungwe, which is located between modern Kasane and Kazungula townships. Recent excavations have revealed that the site is rich in tools, pottery, and other artifacts. Among these are the remains of female figurines made of fired clay, which are notable for their depiction of intricate hairstyles. Besides its wealth of locally manufactured objects, the Nyungwe site is notable for also containing cowrie and other seashells of Indian Ocean origin. The existence of such shells suggests that the settlement was linked to trade routes possibly leading to the Atlantic as well as Indian Oceans. The Nyungwe site is associated with the rise of Bantu-speaking communities in the region. The largest Bantu ethno-linguistic group found in the district today is the Vekuhane, who are also commonly known as Basubiya. Vekuhane communities are further concentrated in other parts of Botswana, including Gumare in Ngamiland and the Boteti sub-district around Rakops, as well as in Namibia and Zambia.

In terms of language and heritage, the Vekuhane are related to other Ila-Tonga groups in the Mid-Zambezi region. Additional ethno-linguistic groups found in and around the Chobe District include smaller numbers of Bakalanga, Matotela, Maschi, Mafwe, Matoka, Wayeyi, Bakgalagari, and Hambukushu. During the 19th century considerable numbers of Malozi ('Barotse', Aluyi), Makololo (Bafokeng bagaPatsa), Batswana (Batawana and Bangwato), and Amandebele have migrated in and out of the area.

During the 1600s Vekuhane settlement in the middle Zambezi-Chobe-Linyandi (or Linyanti) region had led to the establishment of Intenge polity under a ruler named Ikuhane who was the son of Intenge. According to some accounts, the group had migrated from the upper Zambesi into the region during the time of Ikuhane who was forced to flee with his subjects from Aluya, the ancestors of today's Malozi. His people thereafter identified themselves as Vekuhane, and their language as Chikuhane, while referring to the Chobe-Linyandi as the Ikuhane river.

Ikuhane is said to have been succeeded by Lilundu-Lituu, followed by a female ruler named Mwale, who in turn was succeeded by Shanjo or Singongi. During this early period, the Vekuhane were both matrilineal and matrilocal in their social organisation.