Somewhere between sunrise and sunset, in a chiefdom that lay on the east side of South, a great chief got himself a concubine, as is the nature of great chiefs.
“From which village do you come from, and whose daughter are you?” That was how the girl was seduced.
“I’m from the Langeni clan, sir. My parents are dead, I live with my uncle”
By evening, the relationship had been consummated, but the amahlayaendlela went too far, and as is unfortunately expected from these affairs, the concubine became with child. This relationship didn’t last, and the new mother moved back with her bastard, or rather Shaka, as he was named, to her village, to a people who despised both mother and son.
Somewhere between dawn and dusk, in a province that lay on the east side of North, another child was born- not a bastard, for his parents were properly married. But that relationship too didn’t last, and the mother moved back with her son, or rather, Kassa, as she had named him, to her village, to a people who didn’t care much for them.
Somewhere between morning and evening, in a village that lay on the east side of the West, another child was born. Her parents, even though properly married were properly poor, and so the mother moved back with her daughter, or rather Ahebi, as she had named him, to her village, to a people who loved them.
When her father consulted the diviner over his poverty, it was revealed to him that he had committed a grave crime and that’s why the great goddess, ohe, was punishing his family.
“The only way out of this is igommaogo, yes, you must offer your daughter Ahebi as a living sacrifice to the goddess,” The diviner said.
But the young girl, already a rebel, refused the ‘honour’ and ran away to the north of the east side of the West.
As with many bastard children in chiefdoms that lay on the east side of South, the boy Shaka was greatly ridiculed by his age mates and ‘persecuted’ by the adults. And so as he grew up, became curiously reckless, but in a brave way. This made him to be recruited as a warrior, where he flirted shamelessly with death.
Well, the other boy on the east side of North, being that his mother was still a staunch Christian, found himself in a convent, where he studied the bible back to back, and later European history, then Shakespeare. When he got tired of reading about white people, he studied the techniques of his own people’s warfare and their fighting methods.
Left to herself- after running away from home, with no skills or education, the girl on the east side of West became a prostitute in order to survive. She became very good at this work, so much so that she was invited to different towns to ‘work’ and hence travelled widely, gained access to the Attah-igala, met the white men who had big power, and in the process learned to speak many languages.
When the great chief of the chiefdom that lay on the east side of South died, his legitimate son took over. But Shaka, now being a warrior with a following, ousted him, took control and became chief; a fierce, ruthless, brutal chief- for he locked a seer in a house then placed hyenas inside to devour her, and when morning came, he burnt the house down. He sliced a pregnant woman open just to see how the baby sat inside. He killed all short men and anyone who opposed him- no one ever called him a bastard again.
Read Amarya’s Kuli Kuli – A Short Story by Angela Umoru (AngieInspired), Nigeria
He conquered all the neighbouring chiefdoms, built up strong military forces and forbade them from marrying, he too didn’t marry, though he kept a harem full of women, and those found pregnant by him were put to death. His mother died suddenly from illness, and how he loved his mother, for he immediately decreed;
“There shall be a one year mourning period. No crops will be planted. No woman should become pregnant, or else she and the husband will be put to death” That was not all “ Any cow or goat or sheep that gives birth will also be put to death, so that the young one knows how it feels to lose a mother. And anyone who shows little grief during this period will be killed. Is that clear?” It was clear, for no one would dare oppose the great chief.
Kassa, our young man from the east of the North, after learning of his people’s warfare, became a shifta– an outlaw, organized his own army and captured provinces. In the process he married the beautiful empress Tewabech. After conquering the entire east of the North, he changed his name to Tewodros, for he believed he was the messiah of his people.
When he had been crowned emperor, his beloved wife died, and how he had loved his wife. Her death made him erratic, violent and brutal. So much so, that when his best friend was also killed shortly after, he decreed;
“Kill all the 500 prisoners so as to avenge for the blood of my friend” and later had seven thousand more killed. He heavily taxed his people, demanded that the same starving people feed his army of fifty thousand men, decreed monogamy for all men, and fought the church mightily, for he believed he was the only elect from God.
As the young Ahebi, continued to ‘work’ throughout the east of the West, she led the white men through the inner routes of the land so that her people were conquered. She was rewarded by being made headman and later chief of her village, but that did not appease her, for she wanted to be the king of all the land. She campaigned greatly and conquered. The young woman was coronated as King of the land and the men could do nothing about it, for she had the backing of the white men.
After getting to be king, marrying many wives- for she became their female husband, her mother died and then she became erratic and brutal. Imposed forced labour, took bribes openly, took away men’s wives forcefully and demanded to receive full manhood. She brought out a masked spirit, but this was an abomination, for the masquerade was only meant to be performed by biological men.
The death of the mother of the great chief from the East of the South, made him tremble with fear at the thought of anything that threatened his mortality. And so he invited the strange white men to his kingdom.
“You have to give me the ointment; the ointment of youth so that I can remain young.”
“But of course great Shaka, the ointment you will get, but in exchange give us a part of your land and sign this document as proof”
“I will give you anything, as long as I don’t see these grey hairs on my head, or grow old and die.” So he signed, and the white men went away laughing at the foolishness of the Chief.
Because of his erratic behaviour, the soldiers of the emperor of the east of the North deserted him. The people stopped supporting him too. So he wrote a letter to the white men and asked for their support, but they refused to help him, and the kingdom began to fall. So he took all the white men in his kingdom and imprisoned them.
And so as the sun set on the east of the South, the half-brothers of the great chief, struck him dead and dumped him into an empty grain pit, then covered it with stones. But before they ascended to his throne, they found out that the Kingdom now belonged to the white men and the great chief Shaka of the Zulu fell, and his kingdom with him.
And as the sunset on the east of the North, the white men sent their forces to free the white people imprisoned by the emperor and as all his soldiers had deserted him, he put a gun to his head and took his life and the white men took over his kingdom. So the great emperor Tewodros the second fell, and his kingdom, with him.
And as the sunset on the east of the west, the white men, no longer needing King Ahebi supported the male elders against her and undermined her power. And knowing that she would not be buried properly at death, she conducted her own living funeral ceremony with so much pomp and colour that it didn’t matter when she later died and was buried quietly. But the male elders, who thought they would rule, found out that the white men now reigned over their land. So the great eze Ahebi Ugbabe of Enugu-Ezike fell, and her kingdom with her.
