The
Xhosa royal blood line stretches from King Xhosa, who fathered Malangana, who fathered Nkosiyamntu, who fathered Tshawe, who fathered Ngcwangu, who fathered Sikhomo, who fathered Togu, who fathered Ngconde, who fathered Tshiwo, who fathered
Phalo. The reason the
Xhosa nation is governed by two houses can be traced to the time of King
Phalo, who had both his intended wives arriving on the same day for their wedding, as he had already paid
lobola for one from the
Mpondo royal family, and for one from the
Thembu royal family. In Xhosa tradition, the first wife, as declared on arrival, would be the one whose sons would be heirs to the throne. This situation caused a great dilemma and a great outcry – some called this the ancestors' punishment – because a first wife could not be declared. As the two young princesses were of equal status, by choosing one as the Great Wife, King Phalo stood to offend the father of the other. This dilemma was solved by a wise old man called Majeke, who said: "What is greater than the head of the king, and what is stronger than his right hand? Let the one be the head wife and the other the wife of the right hand". So a secondary yet autonomous house was then created, being the Right Hand House. The Mpondo princess was chosen as his Great Wife and the Thembu princess as his Right Hand Wife. So there was a Right Hand House and the Great House. Phalo had two sons,
Rharhabe, the eldest son born from his Right Hand House and
Gcaleka, born from the Great House. Rharhabe was by birth older than Gcaleka having been born around 1722, with Gcaleka born in 1730. Rharhabe displayed signs of bravery and wisdom from a very young age, traits which made him by far the superior of Phalo's sons. This caused great friction between the brothers, as Gcaleka feared that his brother with his popularity may one day seek to claim the throne for himself. After Gcaleka had reached manhood, conflict arose when Gcaleka tried to usurp the throne from his father but failed. Rharhabe who had assisted his father against his brother's designs for the throne, decided to leave Phalo's Great Place with a group of followers and crossed the
Kei River and settled at Amabele, near present-day
Stutterheim. This move had the blessing of Phalo, as he accompanied his son in his search for a new home. On arrival in these new lands, Rharhabe encountered the
KhoiKhoi (whom the Dutch named the
Hottentots) and against whom fierce battles were fought over cattle and land. In the end and after killing the KhoiKhoi leader Hinsati, Rharhabe reached an amicable arrangement and negotiated with Hinsati's widow, Queen Hoho, for sale of land between the
Keiskamma and
Buffalo rivers. The
Amathole Forests and Hoho Hills between Middledrift and
King William's Town were also sold to Rharhabe. Thus, the Xhosa monarchy was, and still is, divided into the
amaGcaleka and the
amaRharhabe kingdoms. Rharhabe's children from his great wife Nojoli kaNdungwana of the Thembu were Ntsusa kaRharhabe (daughter), Mlawu kaRharhabe (his great son), Ndlambe kaRharhabe, Nukwa kaRharhabe and Khinzela kaRharhabe (daughter). In the Right Hand House, he fathered Cebo kaRharhabe who died without male heirs, but whose house was placed under Mdushane, Ndlambe's eldest son, to be the successor of Cebo. Rharhabe's other sons were Mnyaluza kaRharhabe, Siko kaRharhabe, Sigcawu kaRarabe, Nzwane kaRharhabe and Hlahla kaRharhabe. In 1782, his great son Mlawu kaRharhabe died, but he had fathered two boys, Ngqika and Ntimbo, who were infants at their father's death. Mlawu's councillors (amaphakathi) were then placed under Ndlambe who became regent for the young Ngqika. Rharhabe's daughter Ntsusa married the Qwathi chief Mdandala, who as dowry (lobola) sent a miserable hundred head of cattle to Rharhabe. This was seen by Rharhabe as a great insult for someone of his stature, so that he sent his Right Hand son Cebo to Thembuland to demand more cattle. When Cebo arrived at Mdandala's homestead to demand the cattle as instructed by Rharhabe, the Qwathis fell upon this prince and killed him. These events enraged Rharhabe so that he at once entered Thembuland to remedy the affront at the tip of an assegai (spear). War broke out where Rharhabe scattered the Thembus and seized many of their cattle. But at the skirmish near the Xuka River, Rharhabe was fatally wounded and died. This battle is estimated to have occurred around 1787. Rharhabe's grave is near present-day
Dohne in the
Eastern Cape Province. ==Ciskei==