Embo-Dlamini

Embo-Dlamini refers to a historic Nguni-speaking community in the Maputaland-Lubombo region of Southern Africa that formed the modern Swazi people. It is a branch of the Embo-Nguni ethnic group that falls within the broader Embo identity.

Context

According to Swazi oral tradition recorded by historians such as J.S.M. Matsebula and A.T. Bryant, Dlamini I was a son of Chief Langa, leader of an Embo-Nguni community that settled within the Tembe territories near Delagoa Bay. Dlamini I and Hlubi's followers later separated and migrated in different directions. Dlamini’s followers moved northward across the Lubombo Mountains and formed early Ngwane communities or the Embo-Dlamini, while Hlubi’s followers migrated southward along the Pongola River and became the ancestors of the amaHlubi.