Book Review : Among the Matabele by Rev David Carnegie

 

Among the Matabele is a short book written by Reverend David Carnegie. It was published in 1894. For anyone interested in precolonial Zimbabwe this is a very interesting read. It gives an account of life among the Matabele before the advent of European colonialism. To read this book is to delve into a world untouched by Christianity and modernity. And what is great about this 136 page work of non-fiction is that you can download it for free here 

https://archive.org/details/amongmatabele00carn/page/n5/mode/2up

The Matabele were a proud warrior nation founded by Mzilikazi, a renegade from Zululand who was once a general under Shaka Zulu before they parted ways. 300 Matabele warriors, women and children led by Mzilikazi journeyed north, fighting the tribes they met along the way, gathering the defeated and building a mighty nation. They settled in what is today Pretoria before clashing with the Boers and coming out second best. Then they travelled north again and finally settled in what is today Matabeleland in Zimbabwe.

When Reverend Carnegie lives amongst the Matabele they are now settled in their new homeland and are the masters of all they survey. They live comfortably in the new land blissfully unaware that in a few years their world will come crushing down and Rhodesia will be built on the ruins of the dismantled Matabele kingdom.

Reverend Carnegie spoke fluent Ndebele, lived at Hope Fountain twenty miles from koBulawayo the capital of Matabele. He spent ten years there from 1882 to 1892 and became personally acquainted with Lobengula the king of the Matabele. Carnegie describes the daily life of the Matabele. He mentions how the Matabele are rich in cattle and corn and how there is no hunger poverty in the land. He describes the Matabele as a proud people who consider other tribes as slaves, cowards and dogs. The Reverend writes about how the Matabele live in constant fear of witchcraft and how those suspected of witchcraft suffer a brutal death. Often those who accuse others of witchcraft are inspired by jealousy of their neighbour. Carnegie also discusses how life amongst the Matabele revolves around agriculture and how they are always anxious about the rain and how they fear a drought. Many rituals are performed to insure that the rain comes on time and being a rain doctor was a very lucrative business. The religious life of the Matabele is discussed in detail as well their business and what they did for a living. Making shields, working the land, herding cattle, beer brewing, being a warrior etc.

The book beings with a summary of the rise of the Matabele but it ends with a description of Khama chief of the Bamangwato people. Khama was the complete opposite of Lobengula. He had accepted baptism and become a Christian. Khama was a merciful and benign monarch who hesitated to spill human blood. He was generous and helped the less fortunate. And of course in the end Lobengula and the Matabele came to ruin whilst Khama and his people prospered and even today the people of Botswana live in peace and security.

When I finished the book I got the impression that colonialism was a blessing for the Matabele. The book described Matabele life as uncivilised and primitive. Carnegie describes the Matabele as an "untamable horde of savages" and Lobengula as the "embodiment of the very worst features of the native character". Let me give two examples that illustrates how ignorant pre-colonial Africans were. The Matabele believed the hippo was a sacred animal and killing it without the king's approval would cause a drought and the rain would not fall. One white man was banished from the land because he shot a hippo without the king's consent. Matabele rain doctors would make all sorts of concoctions of herbs, bones etc that would make the rain fall on time. One day a white man knocked down a jar full of rain making medicine and the whole village was afraid there would be a drought. However, the next day there was a lot of rain and the Matabele now thought the spilling of the concoction made the rain fall.

It is possible that the book is written with ill intent. It may be the ramblings of a racist white man who is angry that the Matabele had refused to convert to Christianity. Perhaps Among the Matabele is a polemic work of fiction meant to besmirch a proud and prosperous nation. Or maybe Carnegie was sincere and gave a precise description of life among the Matabele. There is no doubt that the Matabele kingdoms was a well organised, disciplined state which towered above the other African tribes. Unfortunately, history is written by the literate. If the Matabele had written down accounts of their own world, it would possibly be a bit different from Carnegie's account. The lesson here is that if you do not write your own history, other people will write it for you. The important thing is to write your own story and let future generations be the judge.