Mutupo · Tshivenda
Vhandalamo
- PeopleVhavenda
- Grouping Companions and allies of the Singo; intermarried with the Singo royal house
- Surnames recorded Mundalamo, Mukhodobwane
- Places recorded Near Tshakhuma, Mutumbe, Mangwele, Khubvi, Mukula
Also Spelled
Vhandalamo is also written Mundalamo, Ndalamo and Vhandalamo vha ha Mukhodobwane.
Spellings differ between families, between records and between countries. Wozekhaya keeps the name as each source wrote it rather than settling on one form.
Written down by families and by the people who recorded them.
About This Record
What Was Written Down
Luonde makes the Vhandalamo leader the custodian of the drum Ngomalungundu, which six Vhandalamo or Vhalemba men carried so that it never touched the ground. Wikipedia (citing Loubser) describes the Ndalamo as an allied mutupo whose dynasty intermarried with the Singo so that each became the other's father's-sister's people, giving the makhadzi of each house ritual authority over succession, and records a tradition that a Ndalamo chief's eldest sister took the drum from the Lemba. The typescript tells of Mutumbe, a Vhandalamo woman and great makhadzi who settled near Tshakhuma after Thohoyandou left Dzata, whose people paid tribute to the Vhadau of Damani, and who was later given a hill and married the Tshakhuma chief Radzaga II; it names Khubvi and Mukula as lands that paid her respect. Netshisaulu lists Mundalamo as a totem-derived surname without the totem. Recorded from the sources named on this entry; the wording here is Sibaya's own.
Families Tell This Differently
Families who carry this name tell parts of it differently. Each way it has been told is below.
Where This Comes From
- Written down by
-
- Luonde.co.za - Brief History; Ngomalungundu (community heritage site), accessed 2026-09-05, luonde.co.za — https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ and https://luonde.co.za/brief-history/ngomalungundu
- Vhadau vha Tshakhuma (Tshivenda-language typescript on the Vhadau of Tshakhuma and the early peoples of Venda; author… — https://repository.up.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/e2593648-436f-4316-87cf-b72e71970958/content
- Nthambeleni Charles Ṋetshisaulu (University of Venda), The Role Played by Nicknames and Totems in the Development of Tshivenḓa Surnames, 2025 — https://noyam.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/EHASS20256715.pdf
- Wikipedia contributors, Venda Kingdom (Wikipedia article), accessed 2026-09-05, Wikimedia Foundation — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venda_Kingdom
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