Mantatee, noun

/manˈtɑːtiː//mænˈtɑːtiː/
Forms:
Manchatee, MantatiShow more Also Manchatee, Mantati, Mantatie, Manteti.
Origin:
Adaptation of MmaNtatisi, the name of a leader of this people (see quotation 1928).
obs. except in historical contexts
A member of a section of the Tlokwa people who, under their chieftainess MmaNtatisi, migrated through parts of what is now the Orange Free State during the Mfecane, conquering other peoples as they moved. Also attributive. See also Fetcani sense 1, Makatees.
1823 [see Matabele].
1824 Cape Chron. in S. Afr. Jrnl I. 76Mr. Moffat..Missionary of the Kuruman..has lately arrived in Cape Town..accompanied by..five women and a boy of the marauding nation called ‘Mantatees’, who recently made so formidable an inroad upon the less warlike tribes of the Barolongs and Bechuanas.
1828 T. Pringle Ephemerides 188In the years 1824 and 1825, owing to the devastation occasioned in the countries north-east of the Colony, by the hordes called Mantatees and Ficani,..many of the Bechuana tribes were broken up.
1833 Graham’s Town Jrnl 6 June 3The greater part..of these aliens, are destitute people of the Bechuana tribes, usually designated by the Frontier farmers ‘Mantatees’.
1838 J.E. Alexander Exped. into Int. II. 221The invasion of the Bechuana country, in 1823, by an immense horde which came from the eastward, driven from their own country by the warlike Zoolas, and called Mantatees.
1841 B. Shaw Memorials 47Dr. Smith..states that the Mantatees were known by the name of Backlokwa, or Bakora, previous to their coming into contact with the Bechuanas, and that their present designation was first given them by the Bechuanas, from the name of their Chief, Mantatee...It is ascertained that Mantatees in the Bechuana language, and Ficani in the Kaffir, are synonymous terms, both signifying invaders.
1843 J.C. Chase Cape of G.H. 238The Mantatees, the remnants of tribes broken up and dispersed by the Zoolah conquests in 1822 to 1824.
1862 Lady Duff-Gordon in F. Galton Vacation Tourists (1864) III. 151The boots here is a mantatee, very black, and called Kleen-boy, because he is so little.
1867 Blue Bk for Col. 1866 JJ30By the great influx of Mantatee and other Kafirs, agricultural labour is abundant and cheap.
1905 Native Tribes of Tvl 9The ‘Mantatis’ took their name from Ma Ntatisi the chieftainess of the Basuto tribe, said to be the original Batlokwa, which till about 1821 dwelt in or near the present district of Harrismith.
[1928 E.H.L. Schwarz Kalahari & its Native Races 225Mokotjo, a Bechuana chief of the tribe of the Batlokoa, married his cousin Monyalue...She gave birth to a daughter, Ntatisi, and..became known herself as her daughter’s mother — Mantatisi; later, she bore a son who was called Sekonyela. This boy became the leader of the Batlokoa in a series of raids throughout the country..but his mother was the directing force; to such an extent indeed that the marauders came to be called after her.]
1941 C.W. De Kiewiet Hist. of S. Afr. 50A common explanation of the confusion of Bantu life at this time was the sudden emergence of highly disciplined warrior tribes — Zulu, Matabele and Mantatees — who carried death and destruction far and wide.
1953 B. Fuller Call Back Yesterday 144Towards the close of the year 1833 Edwards, Archbell, and Moroka set out to interview Chief Moshesh of the Basutos, and Chief Sikonyela of the Mantatees.
1979 M. Matshoba Call Me Not a Man 147The land that had been left barren of populace...Left barren by the Mantatee Hordes.
1980 J. Cock Maids & Madams 200Somerset arranged for the original 13 Mantatee women and children to be apprenticed for seven-year periods in Graaff Reinet.
1985 Weekend Post 27 July 5The building..was built for and by a group of Southern Sothos called the Mantatees. The Mantatees had fled across the Orange River and settled in the area.
1989 J. Crwys-Williams S. Afr. Despatches 14A general assembly of the tribes making up the Bechuana nation..was called together at Kuruman to meet the threat of advancing Mantatees.
A member of a section of the Tlokwa people who, under their chieftainess MmaNtatisi, migrated through parts of what is now the Orange Free State during the Mfecane, conquering other peoples as they moved. Also attributive.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18241989

Browse Related Words

By Category

Peoples

By Usage

obsolete or obsolescent
mannetjie, nounn.mantshingilane, nounn.
Copyright © 2025 Dictionary Unit for South African English