Mfecane
Encyclopedia
Mfecane also known by the Sesotho
name Difaqane or Lifaqane, was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous
tribes in southern Africa
during the period between 1815 to about 1840.
As king Shaka
created the militaristic
Zulu Kingdom
in the territory between the Tugela River
and Pongola River
, his forces caused a wave of warfare and disruption to sweep to other peoples. This was the prelude of the Mfecane, which spread from there. The movement of peoples caused many tribes to try to dominate those in new territories, leading to widespread warfare; consolidation of other groups, such as the Matabele, the Mfengu
and the Makololo
; and the creation of states such as the modern Lesotho
.
Mfecane is used primarily to refer to the period when Mzilikazi
, a king of the Matabele, dominated the Transvaal
. During his reign, roughly from 1826 to 1836, he ordered widespread killings and devastation to remove all opposition. He reorganized the territory to establish the new Ndebele order. The death toll has never been satisfactorily determined, but the whole region became nearly depopulated.
following the Portuguese
introduction of maize
(corn) in Mozambique
from the Americas. The corn supported increased population. While corn was more productive than the grains from native grasses, it required more water during cultivation. The agricultural surpluses and increased population enabled Shaka
to raise a standing army of Zulus. By the end of the 18th century, the Zulus occupied much of their arable land
. Declining rainfall and a ten-year drought
in the early 19th century set off a competition for land and water resources among the peoples of the area.
Other possible causes were the Zulus' adoption of new tactics and weapons during this period. Instead of using throwing spears, the Zulus used broad-bladed, stabbing spears known as iklwa
, which were deadly in close combat. The Zulus also instituted a form of conscription, in which every man had to serve the king as soldier in special age regiments, known in English as impi
s. Many of the Nguni people
s adopted the same practice, putting most of their men under arms. This greatly expanded the scale of regional warfare.
of the Mthethwa group in the south near the Tugela River
, entered into an alliance with the Tsonga
, who controlled the trade routes to Delagoa Bay (now Maputo
). This alliance encroached on the routes used by the Ndwandwe
alliance, who occupied the region in the north, near the Pongola River
. Battles between the allied forces of Chief Dingiswayo and of Chief Zwide
, and the Ndwandwe probably mark the start of what became the Mfecane.
Zwide defeated the Mthethwa and executed Chief Dingiswayo. Many of the Mthethwa leaders formed a confederation with the Zulu clan, under the leadership of Shaka
. The Zulus conquered and assimilated smaller clans in the area. The Battle of Gqokli Hill
marked the start of Shaka's conquest of the Ndwandwe. The Zulu practice was to absorb only the women and young men of a clan or village. They killed the elderly and men of fighting age; the lucky ones escaped. Having learned Zulu tactics, the escapees in turn descended upon more distant clans unfamiliar with the new order.
of the Khumalo clan defied Zulu king Shaka, and set up his own kingdom. He quickly made many enemies, not only with the Zulu king, but also with the Boer
s, Griqua and Tswana. Defeats in several clashes convinced Mzilikazi to move north towards Swaziland. Going north and then inland westward along the watershed between the Vaal and the Limpopo River
, Mzilikazi and his followers, the AmaNdebele, (called Matabele in English) established an Ndebele
state northwest of the city of Pretoria
.
During this period, the Matabele left a trail of destruction in their wake. From 1837 to 1838, the arrival of Boer settlers drove the Matabele north of the Limpopo. They settled in the area now known as Matabeleland
, in present-day southern Zimbabwe
. Mzilikazi set up his new capital in Bulawayo
. The AmaNdebele forced the AmaShona of the region northward and forced them to pay tribute. This caused tribal resentment that has continues in modern Zimbabwe.
At the Battle of Mhlatuze River
in 1818, the Ndwandwe were defeated by the Zulu led by Shaka. Shoshangane, one of Zwide's generals, fled to Mozambique
with the remainder of the Ndwandwe. There they established the Gaza kingdom
. They oppressed the Tsonga
people living there, some of whom fled over the Lebombo Mountains
into the Northern Transvaal. In 1833, Shoshangane invaded various Portuguese settlements, and was initially successful. But a combination of internal disputes and war against the Swazi caused the downfall of the Gaza kingdom.
The Ngwane people lived in present-day Swaziland
, where they had settled in the southwest. They warred periodically with the Ndwandwe. Ngwane chief Sobhuza I
led his people to higher elevations around 1820 to escape Zulu attacks. In this period, the Ngwane became known as the Swazi; Sobhuza established the Swazi kingdom in what is now central Swaziland
.
Zwangendaba
of the Jele or Gumbi clan, a commander of the Ndwandwe army, fled north with Soshangane after his defeat in 1819. Zwangendaba's followers were henceforth called Ngoni
. Continuing north of the Zambezi River, they formed a state in the region between lakes Malawi
and Tanganyika
. Maseko, who led another part of the Ngoni people, founded another state to the east of Zwangendaba's kingdom.
To the east, refugees from the Mfecane were assimilated into the Xhosa
-speaking groups in present-day Eastern Cape Province, becoming the Mfengu
. Subjected to successive waves of attack by other tribes, they were also pressed from the West by the British colonists.
gathered the mountain clans together in an alliance against the Zulus. Fortifying the easily defended hills and expanding his reach with cavalry raids, he fought against his enemies with some success, despite not adopting the Zulu tactics, as many other clans had done. The territory of Moshoeshoe I became the kingdom of Lesotho
.
Sebitwane gathered the Kololo
tribe somewhere near modern Lesotho and wandered north across what is now Botswana
, plundering and killing many of the Tswana people in the way. The Kololo finally settled north of the Zambezi River in Barotseland
, where they conquered the Lozi people
.
The Tswana were pillaged by two large invasion forces set on the move by the Mfecane. The first were the Kololo, led by Sebitwane, who reached what is now Botswana in 1826. The second was the passage of Mzilikazi
and the Matabele across Tswana territory in 1837. Neither of these invasion forces established a state within Tswana territory; both continued north instead. Among those involved were European adventurers such as Nathaniel Isaacs
(who was later accused of slave trading)
Cobbing's hypothesis (now known by many historians as the "Cobbing Controversy") remains controversial. Many agree that Cobbing's analysis offered several key breakthroughs and insights into the nature of early Zulu society. Some critics assert that revisionist theories such as Cobbing's placed too much weight on environmental factors and ignored the key roles played by dynamic human agents such as the Zulu king Shaka
. The historian Elizabeth Eldredge challenged Cobbing's thesis on the grounds that there is scant evidence of the resumption of the Portuguese slave trade out of Delagoa Bay before 1823, a finding that undermines Cobbing's thesis that Shaka's early military activities were a response to slave raids. Moreover, Eldredge argues that Griqua
and other groups, rather than the British colonists, were primarily responsible for the slave raids coming from the Cape. Eldredge also asserts that Cobbing downplays the importance of the ivory trade in Delagoa Bay, and the extent to which African groups and leaders sought to establish more centralized and complex state formations in order to control ivory routes and the wealth associated with the trade. She suggests these pressures created internal movements, as well as reactions against European activity, that drove the state formations and concomitant violence and displacement.
Zulu expansion was a major factor of the Mfecane. Aggressive Zulu military activities sparked a tremendous ferment of change. Other factors include population pressures; the effect of corn crops from Europe; and white encroachment and expansion in the general area, including slaving and Portuguese activities in Mozambique.
Norman Etherington, The Great Treks: The Transformation of Southern Africa, 1815-1854, Longman, 2001: ISBN 0582315670; refutes accounts of the Mfecane
Carolyn Hamilton, The Mfecane Aftermath: Reconstructive Debates in Southern African History, Indiana University Press, 1995: ISBN 1868142523
Sesotho language
The Sotho language, also known as Sesotho, Southern Sotho, or Southern Sesotho, is a Bantu language spoken primarily in South Africa, where it is one of the 11 official languages, and in Lesotho, where it is the national language...
name Difaqane or Lifaqane, was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous
Indigenous peoples of Africa
The indigenous people of Africa are those people of Africa whose way of life, attachment or claims to particular lands, and social and political standing in relation to other more dominant groups have resulted in their substantial marginalisation within modern African states The indigenous people...
tribes in southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...
during the period between 1815 to about 1840.
As king Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
created the militaristic
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
Zulu Kingdom
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
in the territory between the Tugela River
Tugela River
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The river originates in the Drakensberg Mountains, Mont-aux-Sources, and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls...
and Pongola River
Pongola River
The Pongola River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through Pongola, is dammed at Jozini, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows north towards Mozambique, joining the Maputo River....
, his forces caused a wave of warfare and disruption to sweep to other peoples. This was the prelude of the Mfecane, which spread from there. The movement of peoples caused many tribes to try to dominate those in new territories, leading to widespread warfare; consolidation of other groups, such as the Matabele, the Mfengu
Mfengu
The Fengu are a Bantu people; originally closely related to the Zulu people. They were previously known in English as the "Fingo" people, and they gave their name to the district of Fingoland , the South West portion of the Transkei division, in the Cape Province...
and the Makololo
Makololo
The Makololo are a people of Southern Africa, closely related to the Basotho, from which they separated themselves in the early 19th century. Originally residing in what is now South Africa, they were displaced by the Zulu expansion under Shaka and migrated north through Botswana to Barotseland in...
; and the creation of states such as the modern Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
.
Mfecane is used primarily to refer to the period when Mzilikazi
Mzilikazi
Mzilikazi , also sometimes called Mosilikatze, was a Southern African king who founded the Matabele kingdom , Matabeleland, in what became Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. He was born the son of Matshobana near Mkuze, Zululand and died at Ingama, Matabeleland...
, a king of the Matabele, dominated the Transvaal
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
. During his reign, roughly from 1826 to 1836, he ordered widespread killings and devastation to remove all opposition. He reorganized the territory to establish the new Ndebele order. The death toll has never been satisfactorily determined, but the whole region became nearly depopulated.
Causes
Theories vary as to the causes of the catastrophic warfare and migration of many tribes in the area. Populations had increased greatly in ZululandZulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
following the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
introduction of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
(corn) in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
from the Americas. The corn supported increased population. While corn was more productive than the grains from native grasses, it required more water during cultivation. The agricultural surpluses and increased population enabled Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
to raise a standing army of Zulus. By the end of the 18th century, the Zulus occupied much of their arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
. Declining rainfall and a ten-year drought
Drought
A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region...
in the early 19th century set off a competition for land and water resources among the peoples of the area.
Other possible causes were the Zulus' adoption of new tactics and weapons during this period. Instead of using throwing spears, the Zulus used broad-bladed, stabbing spears known as iklwa
Assegai
An assegai or assagai is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron.-Iklwa:...
, which were deadly in close combat. The Zulus also instituted a form of conscription, in which every man had to serve the king as soldier in special age regiments, known in English as impi
Impi
An Impi is an isiZulu word for any armed body of men. However, in English it is often used to refer to a Zulu regiment, which is called an ibutho in Zulu. Its beginnings lie far back in historic tribal warfare customs, where groups of armed men called impis battled...
s. Many of the Nguni people
Nguni people
-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...
s adopted the same practice, putting most of their men under arms. This greatly expanded the scale of regional warfare.
Rise of the Zulu
In about 1817, Chief DingiswayoDingiswayo
Dingiswayo was a Mtetwa chief, best known for his mentorship over a young Zulu general, Shaka Zulu, who rose to become the greatest of the Zulu kings.He was born Godongwana, son of Mthethwa chief Jobe...
of the Mthethwa group in the south near the Tugela River
Tugela River
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The river originates in the Drakensberg Mountains, Mont-aux-Sources, and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls...
, entered into an alliance with the Tsonga
Shangaan
The Tsonga people inhabit the southern coastal plain of Mozambique, parts of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, and the Limpopo Province of South Africa...
, who controlled the trade routes to Delagoa Bay (now Maputo
Maputo
Maputo, also known as Lourenço Marques, is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. It is known as the City of Acacias in reference to acacia trees commonly found along its avenues and the Pearl of the Indian Ocean. It was famous for the inscription "This is Portugal" on the walkway of its...
). This alliance encroached on the routes used by the Ndwandwe
Ndwandwe
The Ndwandwe clan are a subgroup of the Nguni people who populate sections of Southern Africa.The Ndwandwe, with the Mthethwa, were a significant power in present-day Zululand at the turn of the nineteenth century...
alliance, who occupied the region in the north, near the Pongola River
Pongola River
The Pongola River is a river in South Africa. It is a tributary of the Maputo River. It rises near Utrecht in northern KwaZulu-Natal, flows east through Pongola, is dammed at Jozini, and crosses the Ubombo Mountains; then it flows north towards Mozambique, joining the Maputo River....
. Battles between the allied forces of Chief Dingiswayo and of Chief Zwide
Zwide
Zwide kaLanga was the chief of the Ndwandwe clan from about 1805 to around 1820. He was the son of Langa KaXaba, a Ndwandwe Chieftain. Legend has it that Zwide's mother, Queen Ntombazi was a sangoma.- Political life :...
, and the Ndwandwe probably mark the start of what became the Mfecane.
Zwide defeated the Mthethwa and executed Chief Dingiswayo. Many of the Mthethwa leaders formed a confederation with the Zulu clan, under the leadership of Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
. The Zulus conquered and assimilated smaller clans in the area. The Battle of Gqokli Hill
Battle of Gqokli Hill
The Battle of Gqokli Hill was conducted in 1818, a part of the Zulu Civil War, between Shaka of the Zulu nation and Zwide of the Ndwandwe, in Shaka's territory just south of present-day Ulundi....
marked the start of Shaka's conquest of the Ndwandwe. The Zulu practice was to absorb only the women and young men of a clan or village. They killed the elderly and men of fighting age; the lucky ones escaped. Having learned Zulu tactics, the escapees in turn descended upon more distant clans unfamiliar with the new order.
Consequences for the Nguni tribes
Around 1821, the Zulu general MzilikaziMzilikazi
Mzilikazi , also sometimes called Mosilikatze, was a Southern African king who founded the Matabele kingdom , Matabeleland, in what became Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. He was born the son of Matshobana near Mkuze, Zululand and died at Ingama, Matabeleland...
of the Khumalo clan defied Zulu king Shaka, and set up his own kingdom. He quickly made many enemies, not only with the Zulu king, but also with the Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
s, Griqua and Tswana. Defeats in several clashes convinced Mzilikazi to move north towards Swaziland. Going north and then inland westward along the watershed between the Vaal and the Limpopo River
Limpopo River
The Limpopo River rises in central southern Africa, and flows generally eastwards to the Indian Ocean. It is around long, with a drainage basin in size. Its mean annual discharge is 170 m³/s at its mouth...
, Mzilikazi and his followers, the AmaNdebele, (called Matabele in English) established an Ndebele
Ndebele people (Zimbabwe)
The Ndebele are a branch of the Zulus who split from King Shaka in the early 1820s under the leadership of Mzilikazi, a former general in Shaka's army....
state northwest of the city of Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...
.
During this period, the Matabele left a trail of destruction in their wake. From 1837 to 1838, the arrival of Boer settlers drove the Matabele north of the Limpopo. They settled in the area now known as Matabeleland
Matabeleland
Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people...
, in present-day southern Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. Mzilikazi set up his new capital in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
. The AmaNdebele forced the AmaShona of the region northward and forced them to pay tribute. This caused tribal resentment that has continues in modern Zimbabwe.
At the Battle of Mhlatuze River
Battle of Mhlatuze River
The Battle of Mhlatuze River was a battle fought between the Zulu and Ndwandwe tribes in 1820 following the Zulu Civil War. The Ndwandwe hierarchy was set asunder by the battle, and largely scattered their population in response.-History:...
in 1818, the Ndwandwe were defeated by the Zulu led by Shaka. Shoshangane, one of Zwide's generals, fled to Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
with the remainder of the Ndwandwe. There they established the Gaza kingdom
Gaza Empire
The Gaza empire was an African empire established by the powerful general, Soshangane, and was located in southeastern Africa in the area of southern Mozambique and southeastern Zimbabwe...
. They oppressed the Tsonga
Shangaan
The Tsonga people inhabit the southern coastal plain of Mozambique, parts of Zimbabwe and Swaziland, and the Limpopo Province of South Africa...
people living there, some of whom fled over the Lebombo Mountains
Lebombo Mountains
The Lebombo Mountains, also called Lubombo Mountains, are an 800km long, narrow range of mountains in Southern Africa stretching from Hluhluwe in KwaZulu-Natal in the south to Punda Maria in the Limpopo Province in South Africa in the north. Part of the mountains are found in South Africa,...
into the Northern Transvaal. In 1833, Shoshangane invaded various Portuguese settlements, and was initially successful. But a combination of internal disputes and war against the Swazi caused the downfall of the Gaza kingdom.
The Ngwane people lived in present-day Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
, where they had settled in the southwest. They warred periodically with the Ndwandwe. Ngwane chief Sobhuza I
Sobhuza I of Swaziland
Sobhuza I Dlamini was king of Swaziland, from 1805 to 1839. Born around 1780, his father was Ndvungunye , and his mother was Somnjalose Simelane...
led his people to higher elevations around 1820 to escape Zulu attacks. In this period, the Ngwane became known as the Swazi; Sobhuza established the Swazi kingdom in what is now central Swaziland
Swaziland
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...
.
Zwangendaba
Zwangendaba
Zwangendaba was the king of the Ngoni people for more than thirty years, from approximately 1815 to his death in 1848. After being driven from the eastern region of what is now South Africa, near modern Swaziland, by the Zulus during the Mfecane, he led his people, then called the "Jere", on a...
of the Jele or Gumbi clan, a commander of the Ndwandwe army, fled north with Soshangane after his defeat in 1819. Zwangendaba's followers were henceforth called Ngoni
Ngoni people
The Ngoni people are an ethnic group living in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia, in east-central Africa. The Ngoni trace their origins to the Zulu people of kwaZulu-Natal in South Africa...
. Continuing north of the Zambezi River, they formed a state in the region between lakes Malawi
Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi , is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania...
and Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake...
. Maseko, who led another part of the Ngoni people, founded another state to the east of Zwangendaba's kingdom.
To the east, refugees from the Mfecane were assimilated into the Xhosa
Xhosa language
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
-speaking groups in present-day Eastern Cape Province, becoming the Mfengu
Mfengu
The Fengu are a Bantu people; originally closely related to the Zulu people. They were previously known in English as the "Fingo" people, and they gave their name to the district of Fingoland , the South West portion of the Transkei division, in the Cape Province...
. Subjected to successive waves of attack by other tribes, they were also pressed from the West by the British colonists.
Consequences for the Sotho-Tswana peoples
Moshoeshoe IMoshoeshoe I
Moshoeshoe was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of present-day Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage- a branch of the Koena clan. In his early childhood, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34...
gathered the mountain clans together in an alliance against the Zulus. Fortifying the easily defended hills and expanding his reach with cavalry raids, he fought against his enemies with some success, despite not adopting the Zulu tactics, as many other clans had done. The territory of Moshoeshoe I became the kingdom of Lesotho
Lesotho
Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...
.
Sebitwane gathered the Kololo
Makololo
The Makololo are a people of Southern Africa, closely related to the Basotho, from which they separated themselves in the early 19th century. Originally residing in what is now South Africa, they were displaced by the Zulu expansion under Shaka and migrated north through Botswana to Barotseland in...
tribe somewhere near modern Lesotho and wandered north across what is now Botswana
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, plundering and killing many of the Tswana people in the way. The Kololo finally settled north of the Zambezi River in Barotseland
Barotseland
Barotseland is a region in the western part of Zambia, and is the homeland of the Lozi people or Barotse who were previously known as Luyi or Aluyi. Its heartland is the Barotse Floodplain on the upper Zambezi River, also known as Bulozi or Lyondo, but it includes the surrounding higher ground of...
, where they conquered the Lozi people
Lozi people
The Lozi people are an ethnic group primarily of western Zambia, inhabiting the region of Barotseland. Lozi are also found in Namibia , Angola and Botswana.-Name:...
.
The Tswana were pillaged by two large invasion forces set on the move by the Mfecane. The first were the Kololo, led by Sebitwane, who reached what is now Botswana in 1826. The second was the passage of Mzilikazi
Mzilikazi
Mzilikazi , also sometimes called Mosilikatze, was a Southern African king who founded the Matabele kingdom , Matabeleland, in what became Rhodesia and is now Zimbabwe. He was born the son of Matshobana near Mkuze, Zululand and died at Ingama, Matabeleland...
and the Matabele across Tswana territory in 1837. Neither of these invasion forces established a state within Tswana territory; both continued north instead. Among those involved were European adventurers such as Nathaniel Isaacs
Nathaniel Isaacs
Nathaniel Isaacs was an English adventurer who played a part in the history of Natal, South Africa. He wrote a book spread over two volumes called "Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa"...
(who was later accused of slave trading)
Cobbing's hypothesis (now known by many historians as the "Cobbing Controversy") remains controversial. Many agree that Cobbing's analysis offered several key breakthroughs and insights into the nature of early Zulu society. Some critics assert that revisionist theories such as Cobbing's placed too much weight on environmental factors and ignored the key roles played by dynamic human agents such as the Zulu king Shaka
Shaka
Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....
. The historian Elizabeth Eldredge challenged Cobbing's thesis on the grounds that there is scant evidence of the resumption of the Portuguese slave trade out of Delagoa Bay before 1823, a finding that undermines Cobbing's thesis that Shaka's early military activities were a response to slave raids. Moreover, Eldredge argues that Griqua
Griqua
The Griqua are a subgroup of South Africa's heterogeneous and multiracial Coloured people....
and other groups, rather than the British colonists, were primarily responsible for the slave raids coming from the Cape. Eldredge also asserts that Cobbing downplays the importance of the ivory trade in Delagoa Bay, and the extent to which African groups and leaders sought to establish more centralized and complex state formations in order to control ivory routes and the wealth associated with the trade. She suggests these pressures created internal movements, as well as reactions against European activity, that drove the state formations and concomitant violence and displacement.
Zulu expansion was a major factor of the Mfecane. Aggressive Zulu military activities sparked a tremendous ferment of change. Other factors include population pressures; the effect of corn crops from Europe; and white encroachment and expansion in the general area, including slaving and Portuguese activities in Mozambique.
Further reading
J.D. Omer-Cooper, The Zulu Aftermath: A Nineteenth-Century Revolution in Bantu Africa, Longmans, 1978: ISBN 058264531X; outstanding example of the traditional view.Norman Etherington, The Great Treks: The Transformation of Southern Africa, 1815-1854, Longman, 2001: ISBN 0582315670; refutes accounts of the Mfecane
Carolyn Hamilton, The Mfecane Aftermath: Reconstructive Debates in Southern African History, Indiana University Press, 1995: ISBN 1868142523