Mfecane

B

Zulu Wars

In 1817 the Ndwandwe, under Zwide, defeated and broke up the Mthethwa, led by Dingiswayo. Their victory brought them into direct conflict with the small but militarily powerful Zulu chiefdom under Shaka. In the course of the struggle, the Zulu consolidated their position by incorporating some lesser chiefdoms, notably the Qwabe, or forcing others, such as the Bhele, Chunu, and Tembu, to flee south. The Tembu, led by Ngoza, moved destructively through Natal as far as the Mthamvuna River, where they were broken up around 1822 by the Mpondo, under Faku.

In 1819 the Zulu defeated the Ndwandwe and took over their former territory. The Ndwandwe were forced north across the Phongolo River. A group of Ndwandwe refugees, led by Soshangane, fled into what is now southern Mozambique, where they overran the local Tsonga people and became known as the Gaza. Soshangane went on to create the Gaza Empire, which stretched along the coast from Delagoa Bay to the lower Zambezi. In 1826 other Ndwandwe groups attempted to strike back against the Zulu, but were finally destroyed. Many Ndwandwe refugees, led by Zwangendaba and Nxaba, fled towards Gaza. In 1831 they clashed with Soshangane, who forced them north across the Zambezi. There they overran the Rozwi Empire, in what is now Zimbabwe. These Ndwandwe people, who became known as the Jere or the Ngoni, subsequently spread out into present-day Zambia, Malawi, and finally Tanzania, where Zwangendaba founded the Ngoni Kingdom.

C

Ngwane-Hlubi Wars and Clashes in the Interior

During the 1820s the Zulu expanded southward, defeating the Chunu again and forcing them as far south as the Mzimkhulu River. The Ngwane, under Matiwane, were driven westward over the Drakensberg Mountains to the Mohokare (Caledon) River area. There they came into conflict with the Hlubi and the Tlokwa, and from 1821 to 1824 these groups warred fiercely. In 1825 the Ngwane defeated the Hlubi once and for all, but in 1827 they were attacked by the Zulu and driven south towards Britain’s Cape Colony. Colonial forces and local African allies finally scattered the Ngwane in August 1828.

These wars and migrations wreaked havoc on peoples of the interior of what is now South Africa. The situation was complicated further by the arrival of the Griqua people, who were being driven north from the Cape Colony by the expansion of white settlement. Equipped with firearms and horses, the Griqua displaced a number of Tswana chiefdoms on the southern fringes of the Kalahari Desert, including the Tlharo and the Tlhaping. The Rolong community was also forced north into the region, where it clashed with the Taung near the Molopo River. The Taung had been driven northwest from the Mohokare River area by the wars of the Hlubi and Ngwane in the early 1820s.

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The Kololo, a Sotho people, entered the same region in the early 1820s after being driven from their homeland south of the Vaal River by the Ngwane-Hlubi wars. In 1823 the Kololo clashed with the Griqua and turned north into the Kalahari Desert. They eventually crossed the Zambezi and finally settled in what is now western Zambia after overthrowing the powerful Lozi Kingdom in 1840.

D

Founding of the Sotho Nation

The Ngwane-Hlubi wars also drove loosely organized Sotho communities north into the fertile, mountainous lands between the Orange and Mohokare rivers. There, around 1824, a village leader and shrewd diplomat named Moshoeshoe founded the Sotho nation (see Lesotho). Strong fighting skills and mountainous terrain helped the Sotho fend off successive attacks by the Ngwane, Korana, and Ndebele. Sekonyela of the Tlokwa also succeeded in forming a stable chiefdom north of Mohokare River, but it was eventually conquered by Moshoeshoe in 1853.

E

Refugee Peoples

The Qwabe broke away from the Zulu in 1829 and fled south to between the Mzimkhulu and Mzimvubu rivers. There they were attacked and scattered by the Mpondo chiefdom, which had managed to remain intact despite a number of Zulu raids and waves of refugees. Various groups of refugees forged new chiefdoms in the region squeezed between Zulu and Mpondo, notably the Bhaca. Many refugee groups without cattle settled among the Xhosa chiefdoms on the borders of the Cape Colony, and served as dependents. These people became known as the Mfengu, and many eventually migrated into the Cape Colony to serve as peasant landowners and artisans in colonial society.

F

Founding of the Ndebele Chiefdom

In 1822 Mzilikazi, leader of the Khumalo people, fell out with Shaka, the Zulu king, and fled to the northwest. He built up a following from among the indigenous Sotho and Pedi and from refugees from the Zulu wars, like the Ndwandwe. This group became known as the Ndebele. In 1827 Mzilikazi moved southwest to the Magaliesberg mountain range and created a new chiefdom. The Ndebele destroyed the Taung in 1829. In 1832, to avoid Zulu, Griqua, and Korana attacks, Mzilikazi moved farther west, to the Marico River, where he displaced several Tswana chiefdoms. The Ndebele raided successfully in all directions, particularly against the Tswana and Rolong. Starting in 1836, however, the Ndebele clashed with groups of Voortrekkers, white Afrikaners emigrating from the Cape Colony with the intention of settling in the interior. The Ndebele were no military match for the Voortrekkers, who were equipped with firearms and wagons, and after a decisive defeat in 1837 the Ndebele migrated north across the Limpopo River. There they established a new kingdom at Bulawayo, in what later became southern Zimbabwe.