Peter Baxter Africa

History of the amaNdebele

An introduction to the History of the amaNdebele

Thumbnail image for An introduction to the History of the amaNdebele March 18, 2011
This entry is part 1 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareOf the many great events of pre-colonial history in Southern Africa, perhaps the most dramatic has been the rise and dispersal of the Nguni line of the Bantu family. Several branches of this family exist, but of those that broke away from the main rootstock, and established satellite communities beyond the borders of South Africa, [...]

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Mzilikazi

Thumbnail image for Mzilikazi March 22, 2011
This entry is part 2 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIt has often been proved by history that the formula for greatness lies in being born in the right place and at the right time, and such was certainly the case with Mzilikazi kaMashobane. Mzilikazi was a man whose particular symmetry of violence, statesmanship and ambition might easily have been consigned to irrelevance had his [...]

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Ndebele Exodus from Zululand

Thumbnail image for Ndebele Exodus from Zululand March 25, 2011
This entry is part 3 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIt was an apprehensive Mzilikazi who slowly emerged from the Ngome forests and cautiously led his people northwards out of Zululand. Incrementally the vulnerable body of women, children and fighting men probed forward, frequently pausing to take stock, fearing at the same time an attack from behind and a hostile reception from the fore. Slowly [...]

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Robert Moffat

Thumbnail image for Robert Moffat March 29, 2011
This entry is part 4 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIn the year 1816 the rather anonymous arrival in Cape Town of a 21 year old missionary echoed similar daily arrivals and departures in a town that had by then been established as an international sea port for more than 160 years. Robert Moffat, a Scotsman and recent inductee into the service of the London [...]

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Robert Moffat and Mzilikazi Meet

Thumbnail image for Robert Moffat and Mzilikazi Meet April 6, 2011
This entry is part 5 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareCoinciding more or less with Mzilikazi’s Bakwena Campaign approval was given by the government of the Cape Colony to a scheme aimed at extending the trade of the colony outwards to the scattered peoples of the interior. Licences were issued and help offered to those who wished to embark on trading expeditions north of the [...]

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Mzilikazi, the Zulu, the Griquas and the Boer

Thumbnail image for Mzilikazi, the Zulu, the Griquas and the Boer April 9, 2011
This entry is part 6 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

Share As Robert Moffat’s wagons slipped over the southern horizon and disappeared Mzilikazi turned back towards enKungwini to face arguably the greatest series of challenges to the long term survival of the amaNdebele that he had confronted thus far. The first of these was the long awaited settling of scores with the Zulu that came [...]

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Crossing the Limpopo

Thumbnail image for Crossing the Limpopo April 19, 2011
This entry is part 7 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareFor the victorious Boer horsemen the sight of the amNdebele streaming north through the mountain passes of the Dwarsberg must have carried with it more than a sense of simple satisfaction. In the tradition of conquest and counter conquest theirs was now the principal claim to a fine country, and the greatest obstacle standing in [...]

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Lobengula

Thumbnail image for Lobengula May 12, 2011
This entry is part 8 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareThe young prince who had so narrowly escaped death at the hands of his father settled into life as a youth in amaNdebele society in a way little different from any other. The date of Lobengula’s birth is obscure, but if, as has been widely recorded, he was the subject of Mzilikazi’s wrath soon after [...]

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The death of Mzilikazi and the arrival of the white man

Thumbnail image for The death of Mzilikazi and the arrival of the white man May 14, 2011
This entry is part 9 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareThe Matabele Mission died in due course of depletion and internal discord, proving only that no man or woman in Matabeleland would dare to commit to anything that competed with the stern residue of Mzilikazi’s rule. However the political importance of the mission was that it introduced the younger generations of Moffat and Khumalo to [...]

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The End of the Matabele Road

Thumbnail image for The End of the Matabele Road June 2, 2011
This entry is part 10 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIn an atmosphere of great apprehension and mistrust the Rudd Concession was signed, upon which Rudd took to his horse and sped south to Kimberly where he placed the document in the hands of an immensely gratified Cecil John Rhodes. Thomson and Maguire remained behind in Matabeleland, although neither were held in particular esteem among [...]

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The Matabele War

Thumbnail image for The Matabele War June 30, 2011
This entry is part 11 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareThe invading force of settler volunteers represented an unimpressive army which, without an unequal portion of confidence, would have been overwhelmed by the knowledge that it marched without supply lines, communications or support, and beyond any meaningful assistance or reinforcement. If it did not conclusively defeat the amaNdebele in the early skirmishes – about half [...]

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The Matabele Rebellion

July 20, 2011
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This entry is part 12 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareHow can the white men punish them? Where are the white police? There are none left in the country.[i] The uprising was mooted to begin on the evening of the full moon of March 28 1896, no hint whatsoever of which reached the ears of white settlers and administrators in the territory. Even long time [...]

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The aftermath of the Matabele Rebellion

August 6, 2011
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This entry is part 13 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareMatabeleland should be treated as a portion of Mashonaland lately occupied by the Matabele – Leander Starr Jameson The trust placed in Cecil John Rhodes by the amaNdebele leaders was the trust of desperation, and it was by no means absolute, and bearing mind that Rhodes was a proven master of negotiation the terms of [...]

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The amaNdebele and modern African imperial history

August 12, 2011
Thumbnail image for The amaNdebele and modern African imperial history
This entry is part 14 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareThe educated rather than the raw native very often becomes a nuisance to his white neighbours…Report of the Land Commission The end of the First World War did indeed usher in a change in British imperial policy. A general revaluation of the moral certainties of old coincided with the emergence of a class of educated [...]

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Rhodesia: The Post-War Land Removals

September 14, 2011
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This entry is part 15 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIn the post-war period the long delay in implementing the mass removals that had been implicit in the land Apportionment Act, and many unofficial conventions since, had steadily accelerated as the demobilisations that followed peace in Europe saw large numbers of European men and their families flooding into the colonies. Vast tracts of land in [...]

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Joshua Nkomo

October 15, 2011
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This entry is part 16 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIn 1949 a meeting was held at the Recreation Hall in Salisbury at which a new president was elected for the Southern Rhodesia African National Congress. This introduced to the centre stage of local politics the founding father of black nationalism and the first authentic voice of the people of Southern Rhodesia. The event within [...]

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Black Political Awakening in Rhodesia

November 7, 2011
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This entry is part 17 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareIn the short history of Zimbabwe ZAPU, or the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union, has tended to be regarded as a predominantly amaNdebele party, which latterly has certainly been the case, but at its founding it was a continuation of the determinedly multi-racial and multi-ethnic nationalist credo that defined the formation of the revived African National [...]

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The Emergence of the Zimbabwe Liberation Struggle

December 18, 2011
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This entry is part 18 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareThe immediate consequence of the split in the nationalist movement was violence on a level hitherto unseen. This was a fight to the death, an equalisation and an unequivocal exposure of the deep ethnic and personal fissures that had lain unseen beneath the surface as the cordial first phase of the struggle came to an [...]

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ZAPU in the Zimbabwe Liberation Struggle

January 6, 2012
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This entry is part 19 of 19 in the series History of the amaNdebele

ShareAs the armed wing of ZAPU withdrew to ponder lessons learned, the detained leadership within Rhodesia settled into what seemed likely to be a sustained period of restriction. For Joshua Nkomo the prospect was particularly dreary. Somewhere between the claims of his apologists of untainted zealotry, and his protagonists insistence on his innate corruptibility, lies [...]

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