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Concept
Tsonga people
Summary
The Tsonga people (Vatsonga) are a Bantu ethnic group primarily native to Southern Mozambique and South Africa (Limpopo and Mpumalanga). They speak Xitsonga, a Southern Bantu language.
A very small number of Tsonga people are also found in Zimbabwe and Northern Eswatini. The Tsonga people of South Africa share some history with the Tsonga people of Southern Mozambique, and have similar cultural practices, but differ in the dialects spoken.
The Tsonga people originated from Central and East Africa somewhere between AD 200 and 500, and have been migrating in-and-out of South Africa for over a thousand (1,000) years. Initially, the Tsonga people settled on the coastal plains of Northern Mozambique but finally settled in the Transvaal Province and around parts of St Lucia Bay in South Africa from as early as the 1300s. One of the earliest reputable written accounts of the Tsonga people is by Henri Philipe (HP) Junod titled "Matimu ya Vatsonga 1498–1650" which was formally published in 1977, and it speaks of the earliest Tsonga kingdoms. Before this, the older Henri Alexandri (HA) Junod released his work titled "The life of a South African Tribe" which was first published under two volumes in 1912–1913 and re-published in 1927.
The historical movements of the Tsonga people is dominated by separate migrations, with the Tembe people settling at the Southern parts of Eswatini around the 1350s and the Van'wanati and Vanyayi settling in the eastern Limpopo region between the late 1400s and 1650s. Separate migrations from parts of Mozambique occurred shortly thereafter and particularly during the 1800s.
According to historical records acquired from the Portuguese (who are perhaps the first Europeans to ship to African soil in the 1400s) and Swiss Missionaries who arrived to Mozambique and South Africa in the 1800s, Portuguese sailors encountered Tsonga tribes near the coast of Mozambique. Early tribes identified are names such as the Mpfumo who belong to the Rhonga clan within the wider Tsonga (Thonga) ethnicity, and further identified during the 1500–1650 are the Valenga, Vacopi, Vatonga (Nyembana), Vatshwa, and Vandzawu.
Official source
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