Ndlovukazi, noun

Forms:
Indlovukati, IndlovukaziShow more Also Indlovukati, Indlovukazi, Ndhlovukazi, Ndlovukasi.
Origin:
IsiZulu, SiswatiShow more IsiZulu indlovukazi, Siswati indlovukati, (indlovukazi), elephant cow, ‘Great She Elephant’.
In Swazi and Zulu society: an honorific title given usually to the Queen Mother, but also to the Queen Regent, or to the wife of a king or paramount chief; also used with a name. See also Indlovu.
1941 H. Beemer in A.M. Duggan-Cronin Bantu Tribes III. iv. 9Privileges and responsibilities of citizens are conferred on everyone owing allegiance to the king, head of the Nkosi Dlamini, titled Ingwenyama, the lion, and to his mother, the Indlovukati, lady elephant.
1964 Drum Nov. 25She was the ‘Ndlovukazi’ Emily Thokozile Majali, Queen of the Zulus, the wife of Paramount Chief Cyprian Bhekuzulu.
1975 E. Prov. Herald 22 Aug. 13The Swazi Queen Mother ranks second to the King, and enjoys exclusive right to the title of Ndlovukasi, which means ‘great-she-elephant’. She has a special and separate royal kraal with her own private regiment of warriors.
1983 Cape Times 5 Jan. 1The prince will become king when he is 21, the sources said. Meanwhile, the king’s senior widow or Ndlovukazi — The Great She Elephant — would continue as regent.
1983 C. Van der Merwe in Pace Oct. 26Swaziland, ruled..by King Sobhuza for so long, was inevitably plunged into a vicious power struggle by his death. At the centre of the row is the Ndlovukazi, or She Elephant, the Kingdom’s traditional fellow ruler.
1983 C. Van der Merwe in Pace Oct. 28In the reign of her husband, Mbandzeni, the Ndhlovukazi Labotsibeni Mdluli had been the proverbial power behind the throne. After his death in 1889, she had held the centre stage, first as Queen Mother for her son, Bhunu, then, on his death in 1899, as Queen Regent until 1921.
an honorific title given usually to the Queen Mother, but also to the Queen Regent, or to the wife of a king or paramount chief; also used with a name.
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