Makhanda (prophet)

Makhanda, also spelled Makana and also known as Nxele ("the left-handed"), (c. 1780 – 25 December 1820) was a Xhosa indigenous doctor. He served as a top advisor to Chief Ndlambe. During the Xhosa Wars, on 22 April 1819, he initiated an abortive assault on the town previously known as Grahamstown, in what was then the Cape Colony.

He was imprisoned on Robben Island. On 25 December 1820, Makhanda attempted to escape with thirty other prisoners, but drowned. Only four of the escapees survived the crossing.