Consequences For The Nguni Tribes
Around 1821, the Zulu general Mzilikazi 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 Boers, 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 continued in modern Zimbabwe.
At the Battle of Mhlatuze River in 1818, the Ndwandwe were defeated by the Zulu led by Shaka. Soshangane, 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, Soshangane 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 son of Nonyanda ka Sguda Jele (according to the information given by the original Gumbi clan of Kwazulu Natal and not kaHlatshwayo as stated by other researchers), 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.
Read more about this topic: Mfecane
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