The Nkhanini Royal Residence (also spelt Nkanini or eNkhanini) is a historic royal kraal (royal residence) in Lobamba, Hhohho District, Eswatini.Bonner, Philip (1983), Pages 118 & 151 It was the principal royal seat of the Queen Mother (Ndlovukati) Sisile 'LaMgangeni' Khumalo during King Mbandzeni's reign. The modern administrative capital of Lobamba was built on the site of the former traditional royal house of Nkhanini.
The first governor of Nkhanini was Mgenge Matsebula, who was put to death alongside Prince Ndwandwa Dlamini by the royal court following the mysterious death of the Crown Prince Ludvonga II in 1872.Bonner, Philip Commoners and Concessionaires: The Evolution and Dissolution of the Nineteenth-Century Swazi State (PDF), Cambridge University Press, 1983, page 127, Matsebula was replaced by Mbovane Fakudze, a son of Mngayi Fakudze, in 1874.Patrick, Richard Mdvumowencwala Chiefs and Chiefdoms of Swaziland: Part 2: Non-Dlamini Chiefs, Government of Swaziland (Swaziland Oral History Project), Manzini, September 2000
Nkhanini is the area where King Ngwane III was born in the 18th century.In Pursuit of Swaziland's Precolonial Past: Kulandza Umlandvo (PDF). Manzini, Swaziland: Macmillan Boleswa Publishers. 1990. p. 56. ISBN 0-333-47907-6. Retrieved 23 August 2026Westcott, Michael; Hamilton, Carolyn (1992): In the cracks of Swazi past: A historical tour of the Ngwane and Swazi kingdom, Swaziland Oral History Project. Page 46
It is also the royal site where the newly crowned King Mbandzeni was shown to the public in June 1875 by Sandlana Zwane.Matsebula, J. S. M. A History of Swaziland, Longman Penguin Southern Africa Pty Ltd, 1988, , page 70
It is also the site where the Queen Mother Sisile 'LaMgangeni' Khumalo was put to death by King Mbandzeni in February 1881.
See also List of monarchs of Eswatini History of Eswatini
References