Makhanda

Makhanda , also spelled Makana and also known as Nxele ("the left-handed"), ( – 25 December 1820) was a Xhosa indigenous doctor. He served as a top advisor to Chief Ndlambe. During the Xhosa Wars, on the 22nd of April, 1819, he initiated an abortive assault on the town of Grahamstown, in what was then the Cape Colony. Life Makhanda was born near the coast around 1780 in the Uitenhage area. His father was a Xhosa named Gwala of the Cwerha clan and his mother was a Khoikhoi of the Gqunukhwebe clan. After Makhanda's father died when he was a young boy, he was brought up by his mother strongly influenced by her village's Khoi traditions. His mother was a spiritual diviner and medicine woman. Makhanda was later recognised as an ‘'inyanga,'’ which seemed rooted in the early guidance of his mother and her traditions. The Xhosa also particularly held the Khoikhoi and San spiritual guides in high esteem. His mother took him and his siblings to the Great Fish River Valley, where they lived with his foster father Balala. It is unclear when Makhanda encountered Christianity. Missionary Dr James van der Kemp had established a mission station in Bethelsdorp in 1799, and Makhanda may have met him. Makhanda advocated peace and denounced the use of magic after converting to Christianity.