Month: September 2026

Masalanabo Modjadji VII: Heir to the Rain Queens and the Balobedu Succession Dispute after Makobo Modjadji VI

| Living Successions |

Masalanabo Modjadji VII, born in 2005, is the designated heir to the Balobedu Rain Queenship of Limpopo Province, South Africa. Her mother, Makobo Modjadji VI, died in June 2005, leaving an infant successor and a protracted dispute over regency, legitimacy, and ritual authority. This article examines the historical foundations of the Rain Queens, the contested succession, and the legal and cultural struggles shaping Masalanabo’s path.

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LaYaka Ndwandwe: The Founding Ndlovukazi of the Swazi State and the Origins of Dual Monarchy

| Queen Mothers & Royal Offices |

LaYaka Ndwandwe, an eighteenth-century Ndwandwe noblewoman and mother of Ngwane III, is remembered as the founding Ndlovukazi of the Swazi state. Her co-rule with her son established the dual monarchy that remains central to Eswatini’s political order. This article examines her origins, ritual authority, and enduring legacy through oral tradition, colonial sources, and contemporary scholarship.

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Women in the Kilombo: Military Initiation and Female Authority in Nzinga’s Court

| Warrior Women |

The kilombo, a Kimbundu war camp and initiation society, became a crucible of female military and political authority under Queen Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba in the seventeenth century. This article examines the evidence for women’s initiation, command, and ritual power in Nzinga’s court, drawing on Portuguese and Capuchin records, Kimbundu oral traditions, and modern scholarship. It centres African concepts of sovereignty and gender complementarity while critically assessing colonial sources.

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The Dahomey Amazons: Women Warriors and Royal Guardians of the Kingdom of Dahomey

| Warrior Women |

The Dahomey Amazons, known as Ahosi or Mino, were an all-female military corps of the Kingdom of Dahomey in present-day Benin. From the eighteenth century until 1894, they served as royal bodyguards, palace guards, and elite shock troops. This article examines their origins, political structure, military strategies, and enduring legacy, drawing on oral traditions, colonial archives, and material culture.

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Rainmakers and Spirit Mediums in Mbundu Sovereignty: Njinga’s Ritual Alliances and the Sacred Foundations of Power

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

Rainmakers and spirit mediums were central to Mbundu sovereignty, especially during the reign of Njinga Mbandi of Ndongo and Matamba. This article examines how Njinga’s ritual alliances with nganga, kimbanda, and territorial spirit mediums legitimised her contested rule, enabled military resistance, and fused indigenous cosmologies with strategic statecraft. Drawing on oral traditions, missionary records, and recent scholarship, it reveals the sacred underpinnings of one of Central Africa’s most formidable queens.

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The Rainmaker’s Reach: Sacred Authority Beyond Political Borders in Africa

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

Explores how rainmaking queens and queen mothers in Africa wielded sacred authority that crossed political boundaries, creating networks of tribute, diplomacy, and legal influence. Focusing on the Lovedu Rain Queens and comparative cases, the article examines ritual power, matrilineal succession, and the enduring legacy of these sovereign women.

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Divine Birth Narratives as Legitimation Strategy for Female Rulers in Africa: An Encyclopedic Overview

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

Across precolonial Africa, female rulers from the Lovedu Rain Queens to the Kandakes of Kush grounded their authority in narratives of extraordinary or divine birth. This article examines how such traditions—preserved in oral epics, court ritual, and material culture—legitimised women’s sovereignty, linked them to rainmaking and ancestral power, and continue to shape contemporary succession debates.

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Asase Yaa and the Female Earth: How Akan Cosmology Legitimizes Queen Mothers

| Rainmaking & Ritual Authority |

This article examines the profound cosmological foundations of Akan queen mothers’ authority through the veneration of Asase Yaa, the Earth goddess. It explores how indigenous concepts of land, fertility, and moral order underpin the political and ritual power of the Ohemaa, demonstrating that female sovereignty in Akan societies is not a social anomaly but a sacred imperative rooted in the very fabric of the universe.

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