Lovedu

The Lovedu, a Bantu people, live in the Transvaal, an area in northern South Africa. According to their oral traditions, they settled in that particular location as a result of the migration south of a small number of Karanga people, from Zimbabwe, in the 17th century. The Karanga people, who were great traders, had created a great empire from about 1000 to 1600 AD. They smelted gold and traded it on the shores of the Indian Ocean for glass beads and porcelain from China. When they settled in the Transvaal, however, the Karanga, now Lovedu people, developed a subsistence economy primarily based on agriculture and cattle-rearing.

There are several stories about the reason that the Lovedu came into existence. According to one, the King's son took ...