Legends of Africa

The Legends of Africa reflect a wide-ranging series of kings, queens, chiefs and other leaders from across the African continent including Mali, Benin, Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea and South Africa. Sekhukhune Sekhukhune, became king of the Maroteng also known as the Bapedi after the death of his father Sekwati I in 1861 and usurping the intended heir of the Bapedi nation, Mampuru II. He fought wars against the Boer of the South African Republic (Dutch: Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek) British empire and the Swazi. After his defeat at the hands the British and 10,000 Swazi warriors, he was arrested in 1881 in the ZAR capital in Pretoria. He was assassinated by his half-brother Mampuru II, in 1882. Mampuru was later hanged in Pretoria by the ZAR the following year. The London Times, which was not known to write about African ruling affairs, wrote a tribute to the slain warrior King on August 29, 1882. Shango was the third king of the Oyo in Yorubaland who brought prosperity to the kingdom he inherited. Many stories have been told about him, and several myths surround him. He stands as the cornerstone of many Afro-Caribbean religions. In the Yoruba religion, Shango (Xangô or Changó in Latin America), is perhaps the most popular Orisha. He is the orisha of thunder and one of the principal ancestors of the Yoruba people. In the Santeria religion of the Caribbean, Shango is considered to be the focal point as he represents the Oyos of West Africa. The Oyo empire sold a lot of people to the Atlantic slave trade who then took them to the Caribbean and South America. It is primarily for this reason that every major Orisha initiation ceremony performed in the New World within the past few hundred years has been based on the traditional Shango ceremony of Ancient Oyo. Such ceremonies survived the Middle Passage and are considered to be the most complete traditional practices to have arrived on American shores. Shango's sacred colors are red and white; his sacred number is 6; his symbol is the oshe, which represents swift and balanced justice.