ibandla, noun

/iˈbaːnɮa/
Forms:
Also bandhla.
Plurals:
unchanged, or amabandla.
Origin:
IsiZulu, isiXhosaShow more IsiZulu and isiXhosa ibandla assembly; leader’s retinue; church congregation; army division (plural amabandla). For an explanation of singular and plural forms, see i- and ama-.
In the context of Nguni society: a meeting, committee, court, or congregation of a village, area, clan, or people; the following of a chief. Cf. kgotla sense 2, 3, 4, and 5. See also inkundla sense 1.
1895 H. Rider Haggard Nada 90On the first day of the new moon I summon a great meeting, a bandhla of all the Zulu people.
1954 W.D. Hammond-Tooke in A.M. Duggan-Cronin Bantu Tribes III. v. 34In times of national emergency a council of all the adult men of the tribe is called (ibandla).
1955 E.A. Ritter Shaka Zulu 45It was the feature of these ibandla, or councils of war, that everyone was entitled freely to voice his opinions.
1978 Voice 8 Nov. 10Whoever came with the suggestion to form an ibandla — residents’ committee — and why, nobody can tell with certainty.
1981 J.B. Peires House of Phalo 34The state apparatus of a Xhosa chief was not a standing bureaucracy of named officers, but a variable and shifting aggregation of people, usually referred to as his ibandla, or following.
1982 M. Mzamane Children of Soweto 194The Methodists, the Lutherans and members of other denominations..would all await their turn after the Anglicans whose territory, as it were, this was, as Muntu’s parents belonged to their ibandla.
1985 L. Du Buisson in Avenue May 89King Goodwill called an ibandla of all his people at the royal capital at Nongoma.
1986 P.A. McAllister Xhosa Beer Drinks. 6Meetings of the sub-ward court (ibandla) and of the Tribal Authority.
1988 S. Meintjes in Laband & Haswell Pietermaritzburg 1838–1988 66Conflicts between village members were solved in the customary court, ibandla.
a meeting, committee, court, or congregation of a village, area, clan, or people; the following of a chief.
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18951988

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IsiZulu
IsiXhosa
i-, prefixpref.Ibhayi, nounn.
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