1. HOW MFECANE TRANSFORMED THE ZIMBABWE PLATEAU

A thread...

Mfecane ( Difaqane or Lifaqane in Sesotho) was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous ethnic communities in southern Africa during the period between 1815 and about 1840.

2. It is in this period that there were wars involving King Shaka ( Sgidi kaSenzangakhona ) (1787–1828) who revolutionised Nguni warfare & expanded the Zulu kingdom
Notable people who clashed with Shaka include Zwangendaba, Soshangane & Mzilikazi.

3. There is a general misconception that King Mzilikazi was the first Nguni leader to enter the Zimbabwean plateau during this period. In fact he was the last one to do so after other Nguni - Sotho groups traversed & weakend the declining Rozvi Empire.

4. These Nguni-Sotho groups include the Ngoni (Nguni) of Zwangendaba, Swati/Nguni of Nyamazana, the Kololo a Sotho group under Sebetwane & the Shangani of Soshangane. The group led by Mzilikazi were the last to traverse & eventually settled in the Zimbabwe plateau.

5. Zwangendaba attacked and raided the Shona settlements. It was at a time when the Rozvi Empire was nearing its collapse due to power struggles & weak leadership. The Zwangendabas are accused of destroying the structures & settlements at Great Zimbabwe.

6.Nyamazana Dlamini who was Zwangendaba’s niece was left in charge to consolidate the newly founded Zwangendaba kingdom in the Zimbabwe plateau whilst Zwangendaba crossed over into Zambia, then Malawi and finally Western Tanzania.

7. Queen Nyamazana is the one who finished off the Rozvi Empire by killing the last Rozvi king Tohwechipi Chirisamhuru. According to Phathisa Nyathi she is the one who called her new territory Mthwakazi before the arrival of Mzilikazi.

8. Sebetwane of the Kololo group & Nxaba of the Ngoni (Nguni) also invaded the Zimbabwean plateau leaving a trail of destruction to the Rozvi Empire before Queen Nyamazana consolidated her control of the south western Zimbabwe plateau.

9. Soshangane also invaded the Zimbabwean plateau & established the Gaza empire which stretched from the Limpopo river in southern Mozambique up to the Zambezi river in the north. Soshangane invaded the Rozvi in Chipinge area thus accelerating the state collapse.

10. Soshangane established his capital in the highlands of the middle Save River in the Zimbabwean plateau in the 1830s., The capital was later moved by his grandson Ngungunyane Mdungazwe Nxumalo to Mozambique. The Gaza empire was overthrown by the Portuguese in 1897.

11. The Shangani people are now predominantly found in Chiredzi. However, they are also in Mwenezi, Beitbridge, Zaka, Mberengwa & Chipinge. In Chiredzi they fall under chiefs Tshobani, Sengwe & Gudo. Shanganis are also found in South Africa, Mozambique & Swaziland.

12. When Mzilikazi arrived in the Zimbabwe plateau, serious damage had already been done to the Rozvi Empire. Queen Nyamazana & her people submitted themselves to him after negotiations between Mzilikazi & Nyamazana. To consolidate the new union Mzilikazi married Nyamazana.

13. In the meantime Zwangendaba continued with his great trek from South Africa via Mozambique, Zimbabwe & Malawi until he settled in Tanzania in Mapupo, near Ufipa where he consolidated his status as the king of all the Ngoni located accross Southern Africa.

14. Upon his death the Ngoni split into three groups, one settling in Malawi, one in Songea (Tanzania) and a third group migrated north to Mbogwe(Tanzania).

15. Some of the Ngoni were already established in Zambia under Zwangendaba’s son Mpeseni (Mpezeni) whilst others settled in Malawi & are divided into the Maseko Ngoni originally Swati & the Jele Ngoni originating who were originally Zulu. There are also others in Mozambique.

16. Zwangendaba's brother Somkhanda kaZiguda Jele remained with the Gumbi clan in Kwazulu Natal in areas of Pongola whilst his young brother permanently settled in Tanzania.

17. In the meantime, after leaving a trail of destruction to the Rozvi Empire, Sebetwane moved to present day western Zambia where he successfully absorbed the Lozi & established a Sotho - Lozi empire (Barotseland).

18. In conclusion, Mzilikazi & his relatively small group easily settled permanently in the Zimbabwe plateau because the ealier raids & destruction by the other Nguni-Sotho groups had already scuttled, weakend & destroyed the Rozvi Empire.

19. The Nguni-Sotho raiders, Shangaanis & Mzilikazi were called 'madzviti' (usurpers/plunderers) by the local Shona groups because of the raids, looting, & untold suffering they inflicted on the local communities which contributed to the ultimate demise of the Rozvi Empire.

20. SOURCES :
- Zimbabwe's Cultural Heritage : Phathisa Nyathi
- Building friendships between the Shona & Ndebele of Zimbabwe : Cyprian Muchemwa ( PhD Thesis /Durban University of Technology)

21. - Lexicographical Practice and Lexicological Research: The Case of Shangani in Zimbabwe : Peniah Mabaso,
-Re-thinking the Colonial Encounter in Zimbabwe in the Early 20th Century : Prof. S J. Ndlovu- Gatsheni
- The Ngoni of Malawi (A History Revisited) : Sunduzwayo Madise

22. - Becoming Zimbabwe. A History from the Pre-colonial Period to 2008: Brian Raftopoulos, A. S. Mlambo
-The Ndebele Nation: Reflections on Hegemony, Memory and Historiography : Prof. S. J Ndlovu - Gatsheni.

THE END