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HOW THE LUYANA PEOPLE CAME TO BE KNOWN AS BAROTSE PEOPLE
By Saleya Kwalombota
The Luyana people were known as such not until the Kololo, a horde with a Basuto nucleus, conquered Aluyana in the middle of the nineteenth century. Kololo tribe belonged to the Bafokeng of Patsa who lived on the Kurutlele Mountain on the bank of Vet River (Ellenberger 1912:306; Gluckman 1968:1; 1993:vi).
By the time the Kololo people entered Southern Barotseland at Sisheke, the group was completely different from the original group, due to the fact that during their northward travel they swelled through alliances and assimilation of conquered people.
Sebitwane was their leader. When Kololo warriors entered Barotseland at Sesheke they found a tribe of Subiya who paid tribute to the Luyi. It is around this period that the name of the Luyana people was changed to the name Rotse. The Subiya pronounced the name of their pillagers Luizi. In turn, the Kololo corrupted the name further to Ba-rozi (Turner 1952:9). Missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society who were well conversant in Sesotho language elected to spell the name of the people Barotse.
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