Sipopa Lutangu

Sipopa

Sculpture of an African chief by Herbert Ward
Other names Lutangu
Title King of the Lozi people
Predecessor Mbololo
Successor Mowa Mamili
Spouse(s) Mamochisane
Children daughter and many sons
Parent(s) Mubukwanu
Relatives Kandundu (sister)

Sipopa Lutangu was a Litunga (king) of the Lozi people. He ruled 1864–1876.[1]

Biography

Sipopa (also known as Lutangu) was a son of the former Lozi King, Mubukwanu, ruler of the south of Bulozi, based at Nalolo whose fight with his brother Silumelume, ruler of the north, for overall control of the Lozi kingdom after the death of their father, Mulambwa Santulu, led to the weakness that allowed the Makololo to subsume the Luyi kingdom easily.

He was a successor of Mbololo, who was a very cruel king. Sipopa's reign became in 1864.

Some Lozi contenders for power accused Sipopa of retaining the customs of the Makololo tribe.

He took Queen Mamochisane for a wife. She was a daughter of Sebetwane and sister of Sekeletu, who was a leper. Mamochisane was widely respected throughout Barotseland and Sipopa could well have simply been following a tradition that Sekeletu had followed whereby, when a chief had died, the wife or wives of the deceased were inherited and cared for by the new chief.

His daughter married a surviving Makololo man by the name of Manengo. Sipopa had a sister called Kandundu and many sons:

His successor was Mowa Mamili.

References

  1. ↑ Lipschutz, Mark R.; R. Kent Rasmussen (1989). "Sipopa Lutangu". Dictionary of African historical biography. University of California Press. pp. 218–219. ISBN 978-0-520-06611-3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.