AmaSwati are part of the Nguni-language speaking peoples whose origins can be traced through archaeology to East Africa where similar traditions, beliefs and cultural practices are found.

About three-quarters of the clan groups are Nguni; the remainder are Sotho, Tsonga, others North East African and San descendants.

Swazi identity extends to all those with allegiance to the twin monarchs Ingwenyama "the Lion" (the king) and Indlovukati "the She-Elephant" (the queen mother).

Under the leadership of Dlamini III who took over from the Maseko and settlement took place in 1750, along the Pongola River where it cuts through the Lubombo mountains.

Here the Swati people continued the process of expansion by conquering numerous small Sotho and Nguni-speaking tribes to build up a large composite state today called Eswatini.

Under Sobhuza's leadership, the Nguni and Sotho peoples as well as remnant San groups were integrated into the Swati nation.

A substantial portion of Swati territory was ceded to the Transvaal Boers who settled around the Lydenburg area in the 1840s.

People of Swati descent in South Africa are typically identifiable by speaking siSwati, or a dialect of that language.

The Kings of Eswatini date back to some considerable time to when the royal line of Dlamini lived in the vicinity of Delagoa Bay.

The 17 founding clans were Dlamini, Nhlabathi, Hlophe, Kunene, Mabuza, Madvonsela, Mamba, Matsebula, Mdluli, Motsa, Ngwenya, Shongwe, Sukati, Tsabedze, Tfwala, Mbokane and Zwane.

On Sunday morning, the bride, with her female relatives, stabs the ground with a spear at the groom's cattle kraal; later she is smeared with red ochre.

[3] Umhlanga is one of the most well-known cultural events in Eswatini held in August/September for young unmarried girls to pay homage to the Ndlovukati.