Battle of Amalinde

The Battle of Amalinda was an armed confrontation between two Xhosa chiefs of the Rharhabe House, which took place in October 1818 just outside of what is today King Williams Town,[1] in the Eastern Cape region of South Africa.

A British-led force commanded by Colonel Thomas Brereton then seized 23,000 head of cattle from Ndlambe's people in retaliation, leading to the battle of Grahamstown.

[citation needed] On the personal side, Ngqika fell deeply in love with a young Thuthula, the beautiful daughter of Dibi and, more significantly, wife of his elderly uncle Ndlambe.

[4] The clash lasted from midday to nightfall, and occurred at Amalinde, the isiXhosa name for the Debe Hollows of Kommetjie, 19 kilometres west of King Williams Town,[1] in what is today a part of East London, Eastern Cape.

It is said that Ngqika watched the battle from the hillside, some believing that possibly even on the foothills of the Ntaba kaNdoda area that flanks the Debe River valley to the north.

As with the other charismatic millenarian prophet Nxele, who was in service to Ndlambe, Ntsikana came under the influence of the missioner, Johannes van der Kemp, stationed at Bethelsdorp near Port Elizabeth.

Having to travel a much shorter distance to the battle site as compared to Ngqika, Ndlambe's great place was at Mount Coke, only 25 kilometres away from the Debe, it is probable that he selected an area which held the greater advantage for him and his men.

Proclaiming himself to be the son of God, Nxele offered to Ndlambe and his men a way of thinking which provided them with some understanding of and resistance to the pressures being exerted by the encroaching whites.

[citation needed] Wounded and facing defeat, Ngqika's remaining men, as led by his eldest son Maqoma, fled up to the slopes of Ntaba ka Ndoda.

Soon after the battle, Ngqika appealed to the British for assistance and in December 1818, a military expedition under the leadership of Colonel Thomas Brereton set out to engage Ndlambe.