Mthwakazi

Mthwakazi is the traditional name of the Northern Ndebele people and their kingdom in what is now Matebeleland, Zimbabwe. The kingdom was located between the Sanyati and Limpopo rivers. Additionally, Mthwakazi is widely used to refer to inhabitants of Matebeleland Province in Zimbabwe.

==Etymology== The word Matabele is an anglicised term that was used by the British, a spelling that is still common in older texts, because they found it difficult to pronounce the word amaNdebele. Moreover, in the early 19th century, the Ndebele lived in territories populated by Sotho-Tswana peoples who used the plural prefix "ma" for certain types of unfamiliar people or the Nguni prefix "ama", so the British explorers, who were first informed of the existence of the kingdom by Sotho-Tswana communities they encountered on the trip north, were presented two variations of the name, the first being the Sotho-Tswana pronunciation (maTebele or Matabele) and the second being the Ndebele pronunciation (Ndebele or amaNdebele). They are now commonly known as the Ndebele or amaNdebele under Zimbabwean rule (but were officially known as the Matabele under British rule).