Non User
Index: > A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z	Business Non User Industries Finance Tax

Home > Mfecane

There are varying theories on the origins of this catastrophic, bloody migration of many different tribes in the area. Populations had increased greatly in Zululand. The introduction of corn from the Americas through the Portuguese in Mozambique was a factor. Corn produced more food than indigenous grasses on the same land, and thus could sustain the larger population, at the price of greater water usage. It also allowed Shaka to raise a standing army, growing crops not being a part of their duties.

By the end of the 1700s much of the arable land was now occupied. Declining rainfall, and ten-year drought in the early 1800s meant that a battle for land and water resources began in earnest. Battles between Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa clan in the south near the Tugela River and Zwide of the Ndwandwe from the north near the Pongola River probably marked the start of what became the Mfecane. After the Mthethwa were beaten by Zwide, and Dingiswayo killed, the power vacuum was filled by the Zulus, under the ambitious leadership of Shaka. Shaka conquered smaller clans in the area, and the Battle of Gqokli HillThe 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. It was Shakas first major battle was with Zwide, who could see that his southern neighbour wou marked the start of his conquest of the Ndwandwe.

Shaka assimilated conquered tribes, but usually just the women and young men. The rest were either killed or escaped. Escapees quickly learned the tactics of the Zulus, and in turn descended upon more distant clans unfamiliar with the new order.

To the east, escapees were assimilated into the XhosaThe Xhosa people live in South Africa. The name supposedly refers to one of their legendary chieftains of old. They refer to themselves as the amaXhosa and their language is known as isiXhosa another prefix-oriented Bantu language. Although they are distr in present day Eastern Cape ProvinceThe Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bisho. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, as well as the eastern portion of the Cape Province. It is the traditional home of the amaXhosa tribe, a, becoming the Mfengu. They were subjected to successive waves of attack, and were pressed from the West by the British.

Soshangane, one of Zwide's generals, fled to Mozambique with the remainder of the Ndwandwe after their defeat by Shaka at the battle of Mhlatuze River . They oppressed the Tsonga living there, some of whom fled over the Lebombo Mountains into the Northern Transvaal.

The Ngwane people lived in present-day Swaziland, settled in the southwest, and warred periodically with the Ndwandwe. Ngwane leader Sobhuza led his people to higher elevations around 1820 to escape Zulu attacks. In this period the Ngwane became known as the Swazi, and Sobhuza established the Swazi kingdom in what is now central Swaziland.

A Zulu general Mzilikazi broke away from Shaka and established the Ndebele kingdom in the Orange Free State/Transvaal area. When white trekboers in the Great Trek moved into the area in 1837, defeats in several clashes convinced Mzilikazi to move north of the Limpopo River and establish his kingdom there, known historically as the Matabele Kingdom in Rhodesia/ Zimbabwe.

Politics	Business	Finance

Topics: Mfecane Shaka Kingdom Ndwandwe River Area Zulu Battle Conquered...

---

MfecaneMfecane ( isiZulu), also known as the Difaqane or Lifaqane ( Sesotho), is an African expression used about chaos and disturbances. It probably means something like "the Crushing", and originates from the events leading to the rise to power of chief Shaka.