Modjadji, The Rain Queen
The Lovedu tribe (also called the Balobedu), a Sotho-Venda group that in 1500 settled in the north of what is now the Limpopo Province of South Africa, has the distinction that it is the only tribe in Africa still ruled by a female monarch.
Rain queen’s heir is pawn in a battle royal
Spring is here and it is time for rain-making in the royal kingdom of Modjadji, South Africa. Except that the legendary 'rain queen' is dead and her daughter and heir, Masalanabo, has been spirited away by the little girl's father, who believes her life is also in danger.
Fears of a 400-year-old dynasty being buried
South Africa's Rain Queen has gone to an early grave. The young woman was said to have power over the elements and the flow of rivers. Her tribe, the Bolobedu, are divided over the cause of her recent death at the age of 27 and suspect the 400-year-old dynasty, immortalised by Rider Haggard's novel She,...
Rain Queen Is Dead, but Debate Over Her Power Lives On
Late Sunday night, hours before the funeral for Makobo Caroline Modjadji VI, Rain Queen of the Balobedu, shouts of alarm rang from the mountaintop redoubt that had been her home. The simple building that housed the Rain Queen's body was on fire. As omens go, this was pretty bad.
Tribal in-fighting dogs Rain Queen’s burial
t's pouring - not just raining - for the Balobedu since the death of the tribe's head, Rain Queen Makobo Modjadji VI. Her funeral will not be held on Thursday as planned because two rival royal councils claim the right to organise the funeral.
She who must be surveyed
Africa's legendary Balobedu tribe enters an era of modernity and scandal this week following the crowning of its youngest rain queen, a descendant of the female monarchs who inspired the phrase "she who must be obeyed".