Home › Clan names › Xhosa › Mthimkhulu
Mthimkhulu Clan — History & Meaning
Xhosa clan · isiXhosa
History & origin
Mthimkhulu is a senior name within the amaHlubi (Radebe) royal lineage, borne both as a personal name of Hlubi kings and as a clan praise of the Radebe people. Mthimkhulu (literally 'great tree') appears at the head of the documented Hlubi royal genealogy (Mthimkhulu I) and recurs in later kings such as Mthimkhulu kaBhungane, who led the amaHlubi at the onset of the Mfecane in the early 19th century before the nation was attacked and dispersed. It is thus a dynastic/clan name of the Hlubi rather than a separate clan of independent origin.
Notable figures & facts
Mthimkhulu kaBhungane, the early-19th-century Hlubi king whose killing and the scattering of the amaHlubi marked a turning point in the Mfecane.
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Radebe, Bhungane, amaHlubi.
We publish the full iziduko (clan praises) only once we can verify them against documented tradition — for this clan they are still being confirmed. If you can share an authoritative version, corrections are warmly welcomed.