Abstract

MVENENE, Jongikhaya. Scottish missionary perceptions and images of amaXhosa in the nineteenth century. Missionalia (Online) [online]. 2019, vol.47, n.3, pp.337-354. ISSN 2312-878X.  https://doi.org/10.7832/47-3-286.

This article gives an analysis of the origins and early beginnings of mission stations among amaXhosa during the nineteenth century, which gradually became a centre of missionary activities among amaNgqika and amaGcaleka. This article analyses the history of the arrival and activities of the missionaries, east and west of the Nciba (Kei) River, in the nineteenth century. It also examines the role of the missionaries in shaping the relations among the traditional leaders and the colonial governors. The activities of the Scottish missionaries among amaXhosa are closely tied to the decline of traditional authority, power, control and influence, disintegration of amaXhosa chiefdoms and kingdom attended to by a loss of land and lives. The colonial government's forceful removal of amaNgqika from Ciskei in 1878 and resettlement in Gcalekaland is also brought to surface, as it is an example in point of how amaXhosa were rendered weak and fragile by the colonial governing authorities.

Keywords : Christianity; amaGcaleka; amaNgqika; conversion; resettlement; traditional authority.

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