1. HOW MZILIKAZI BECAME A KING

A thread....

The Khumalo originated with Khumalo kaMntungwa who settled around the Mkhuze river in Northern KwaZulu-Natal. Mzilikazi was born of Mashobane kaMangethe who is also called "Matshobane kaZikode".

2. The Khumalos were caught in the power struggle between the then Zulu chief, Shaka (Sgidi kaSenzangakhona) & the Ndwandwe chief, Zwide who was Mzilikazi's maternal grandfather. Zwide got Mzilikazi's father killed. As a result Mzilikazi was elevated to be chief of the Khumalo.

3. Fearing for his own life after his father's death, Mzilikazi decided to forge an alliance with Shaka for his protection & the Khumalo clan. Shaka was a rising star at that time, building his Zulu empire through raids, subjugation & assimilation of smaller ethnic groups.

4.Mzilikazi was loved by Shaka & after the destruction of the Ndwandwe around 1818 he was given the authority of a territorial subchief on the northern territory of the new Zulu kingdom. He was also elevated to king Shaka's advisory council.

5. Mzilikazi's fame as a fearless warrior grew. Shaka loved him & trusted him. However, his trust was misplaced. Mzilikazi dreamed of being a king himself. He got tired of subservience & plotted to free himself & his people from Shaka's tentacles.

6. Shaka sent Mzilikazi's regiments to attack the Sotho chief Ranisi (Somnisi). They vanquished the Sotho & drove away their beautiful herds. King Shaka heard of the successful raid & as per protocol waited for Mzilikazi to parade & hand over the loot to his king.

7. Mzilikazi took the beautiful cattle to his kraal & remained stone silent. The silence became too loud until King Shaka sent his emissaries & envoys to enquire why the cattle were not being surrendered to him & to urge Mzilikazi to correct his mistake.

8. These men were senior dignitaries from the capital Gibixhegu & came dressed in their full battle uniform. They marched into Mzilikazi’s kraal with their shields and assegais, with the long black feathers of the widow bird, isakabuli, adorning their head-rings.

9.Mzilikazi was well prepared to respond to them, and when they arrived he asked what they wanted. The men replied that they were there to ask when the cattle from the victory over Chief Ranisi were going to arrive at Gibixhegu.

10.With an arrogant smile Mzilikazi said there would be no cattle going back to Shaka, unless he personally wanted to come and take them in battle.The noblemen were astonished! One of their members pleaded with Mzilikazi to do the noble thing & obey Shaka’s laws.

11. In response, Mzilikazi had the party arrested, and he cut the shiny black feathers from their head-rings & they returned to Gibixhegu heavily embarrassed. This incident marked the emergence of new Mzilikazi, the king & founder of a new nation to be later called the Ndebele.

12. Knowing that war was coming, Mzilikazi moved his few people & herds of cattle to Entubeni. King Shaka deployed two regiments but they failed to overcome Mzilikazi. Mzilikazi & his growing kingdom thereafter, successfully crossed the Drakensburg mountains.

13. They moved across the Vaal River into an area above the Magaliesberg mountain range, near modern day Pretoria. Here Mzilikazi with his followers founded a settlement called Mhlahlandlela on the Aapies River. Local Sotho-Tswana groups were forcibly subdued into the new state.

14. King Shaka died in 1828 before settling his score with Mzilikazi. In 1832 a Zulu army attacked Mhlahlandlela, forcing Mzilikazi to move further to settle on the Groot Marico River, near Zeerust, where he dominated & subjugated the indigenous Sotho-Tswana people.

15. In 1835, the Voortrekkers (Boers) established themselves less than 100 kilometres from Mzilikazi's territory. Tensions simmered. In 1837 Potgieter aided by Rolongs & Griquas invaded Mzilikazi, defeated him & left with thousands of cattle.

16. It is said that Mzilikazi's friend Robert Moffat then advised him to move to the fertile area north of the Limpopo River to avoid further confrontation with the Boers & the collapse of his kingdom. The Boers had superior fire power that could vanquish Mzilikazi’s armies.

17. Mzilikazi then migrated north & eventually settled in the Zimbabwe plateau where he established his kingdom made up of multiple ethnicities of Nguni /Sotho/Tswana /Swazi & various Zimbabwe plateau peoples he conquered & assimilated into the new Ndebele state.......THE END