African Kingdoms

Nguni (Bantu) (Africa)

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The pre-history of Africa contains a far longer period of human habitation than any other area on Earth, thanks to it being the cradle of humankind's evolution. Central Africa was poorly defined as a region until the creation of colonial-era territories in the eighteenth century. Before that at least parts of it appear to have been virgin territory, with no recent occupation.

The Bantu people originated in West Africa before they migrated across sub-Saharan Africa, generally helping to spread the African Neolithic as they went. The Bantu languages come from a proto-Bantu language which was spoken in the area of today's Cameroon. They are part of the Niger-Congo language family which forms the largest branch of the Southern Bantoid group of languages.

They intermixed with other groups to form the basis of today's Central African Republic (or CAR) and surrounding states, while other Bantu groups reached East Africa and then worked their way southwards from there. Some reached what is now the union of South Africa, eSwatini, and Lesotho from about the fifteenth century (and perhaps even as early as the tenth century), creating small sub-groups which included the Nguni (or Ngoni).

Indigenous natives in the south belong to one of two language families: Khoisan or Bantu. The former were first to be established, having inhabited the region for millennia. They were displaced in many areas around AD 1000 by Wasja-speaking Bantu tribes which were largely responsible for spreading the African Neolithic into this part of Africa.

However, regional archaeological and historical enquiry has been extremely uneven, with Namibia being the least-intensively studied while South Africa is at the opposite end of that scale. Establishing a coherent historical framework of events is an often controversial process with little universal agreement.

The Nguni group established itself from the seventeenth century, primarily coming in from East Africa and creating clans as they went. The Zulu were descended from them, as was a fundamental part of the later Swazi people. They also provided the basis for the Matabele, Mtetwa, Ndwandwe, Pondo, Thembu, and Xhosa.

Nguni were in southern Mozambique in the early nineteenth century, while other groups soon began migrating to escape the rise of the Zulu state, crossing the River Zambezi in 1835 and ultimately reaching Zambia, Malawi, and Tanzania.

Two Nguni dynasties in what is now Malawi were the Jere (or Qeko) and the Maseko (or Gomani). Further Nguni from South Africa overran the Changamire empire in 1830 in what is now Zimbabwe, bringing an end to a dynasty which had ruled since the fifteenth century.

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(Information by Peter Kessler, Mick Baker, and the John De Cleene Archive, from the BBC documentary series, Lost Kingdoms of Africa, first broadcast on 5 January 2010, from Urban Africa; Histories in the Making (Africa's Urban Past), David M Anderson & Richard Rathbone (Eds), from Africana: The Encyclopaedia of the African and African American Experience, Anthony Appiah & Henry Louis Gates (Oxford University Press, 2005), from The New Atlas of African History, G S P Freeman-Grenville (Rex Collins, London, 1991), from Times Atlas of World History (Maplewood, 1979), and from External Links: Encyclopaedia Britannica, and History World.)

fl c.1000?

Eponymous father figure of many Nguni groups.

Mnguni is the forefather of many later South African groups which descend from the Nguni, and this number includes the Zulu. Mnguni is claimed as being a migrant from north-eastern Africa, a claim which would match up with the migration as it is understood of Bantu-speaking people from East Africa into the south.

The Nguni settled into a rich and plentiful land of sweeping grass and game, and they lived quietly and relatively peacefully for about eight hundred years

fl c.1600?

Minor chief of the Nguni.

early 17th C

Son. His son founded the Zulu clan.

The death of Malandala at some point in the early seventeenth century sees the Nguni (or at least this particular branch of them) divided between his two sons, Qwabe and Zulu. According to tradition, the brothers fight, and such is the scale of death wreaked by Zulu and his warriors that they are exiled from Nguni lands.

This suggests that they are defeated, despite the high casualty rate inflicted on their opponents, and so Zulu leads his Zulu followers to the north (into modern Mozambique), where they prosper by trading with the Portuguese (and see feature link for more).

1700s

Dlamini settles his followers near the River Pongola where it cuts through the Lubombo or Lebombo mountains. These early Swazi have journeyed into the area along with the Ndwandwe, a closely-related group. Dlamini himself is of a clan which bears either his name, Dlamini, or that of a predecessor.

The Lubombo or Lebombo mountains form a north-south spine which reaches the River Limpopo and the intersection between the borders of South Africa, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe, while also providing today's eSwatini kingdom with its eastern border

later 1700s

An originating core Swazi group under Ngwane migrates into an area of territory which today forms part of eSwatinti. These Nguni people are lead by the Dlamini clan which seemingly holds all senior positions of power. They conquer the local inhabitants, most of whom are Basuto people.

These Basuto are a separate tribe from the one which forms the Basuto state, and may be related to, or part of, the Makololo who control territory which later forms part of Barotseland.

c.1740s

Mageba's first son is Ndaba, his chosen successor as chief of the small Zulu clan. His other son is Mpangazitha, who marries his cousin. This union results in the creation of the Ntombela clan.

Modern kwaZulu-Natal, the Zulu nation homeland, is a beautiful natural space, and one which is increasingly welcoming visitors from abroad

1790s - 1800s

The Zulu are just one of a patchwork of small chiefdoms in South Africa. Up until now, for around a century, they have lived in relative peace, leading an agricultural existence which has remained untroubled by excessive warfare.

The Zulu chief sends his son, Shaka, away from the tribe. Shaka finds refuge with King Dingiswayo of the regionally-important Mtetwa confederacy of which the Zulu are part. When his father dies, the influential Dingiswayo puts forward Shaka as Zulu king, and the young man seizes the chance to take command of his people and transform their lives.

1816 - 1828

In the space of twelve years Shaka turns the small Zulu chiefdom into an empire which surpasses anything his father or the neighbouring tribes had envisaged. He goes from settlement to settlement, persuading with his spear the northern Nguni chieftains to join the newfound empire.

This time of empire-building is called the Mfecane, or 'the crushing'. Those who refuse to cooperate can chose between death or exile, and the latter flee to the foothills of the Drakensburg Mountains (many of them Nguni, which also causes the Swazi to set up their own Nguni state in the same mountains).

The Zulu under Shaka became the dominant force in the south-eastern corner of Africa, creating a tribal empire from a mixture of persuasion and intimidation, plus a certain amount of warfare

In those mountains they find the hunter-gatherers who are known as the 'sand people' who record their arrival in rock paintings which survive to this day. The same conflicts result in the formation of the Basuto state.

1830

Nguni from South Africa overrun the Changamire empire in what is now Zimbabwe, bringing an end to a dynasty which had ruled since the fifteenth century after having gained control of the remnants of Great Zimbabwe.