African Kingdoms

Swazi / Swaziland (Sotho / Nguni Clan State) (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. South Africa consists of a series of undulating plateaus which cover much of the region and extend northwards into Central Africa's Angola. The Kalahari desert forms a central depression in the Southern African plateau, while scrubland and grasslands cover much of the region's remainder.

Indigenous natives 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 by Bantu speakers who were largely responsible for spreading the African Neolithic and who now dominate large areas of Central Africa and southwards of that.

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 indigenous Swazi (or Swati) state emerged during the rise of the Zulu nation to the south. The Swazi originated as a Bantu-speaking people of the Nguni group. They may earlier have been known as amaSwazi, likely bearing close links to the early Zulu. They broke away from the Nguni group when most of the Nguni were migrating to escape the rise of the Zulu state in the early nineteenth century.

The Swazi may already have had an identity of their own by that point, initially forming their grouping at an earlier date. The late fifteenth century has been mentioned, certainly some time before the rise to power of the Zulu in the early nineteenth century. It was around that time, in the 1400s, that they were arriving in the area, having migrated through today's Mozambique from northern parts of East Africa.

Mswati I of the mid-eighteenth century is considered to be responsible for the real Swazi state building after he consolidated several tribes under his rule. The Swazi were an amalgamation of over seventy clans within the area. Many were of Sotho origin (as was the case with the nearby Basuto), along with others of Nguni origin (seemingly including the Swazi ruling elite) who entered the region in the nineteenth century alongside the largest clan, the Dlamini, named for its founding chief.

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(Information by Peter Kessler and the John De Cleene Archive, with additional information 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 Link: Encyclopaedia Britannica.)

c.1720 - 1744

Swazi chief of the Dlamini clan within the Nguni.

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 Nguni 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

c.1745 - 1780

Son. Ndwandwe chief and Swazi paramount chief.

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.

1780

Mother, and queen regent of Ndwandwe and Swazi.

1780 - 1815

Son of Ngwane. Swazi paramount chief.

1815

Queen regent of the Ndwandwe tribe of Swazi.

1815 - 1836

Son of Zikodze. Swazi paramount chief (circa 1818).

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.

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

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).

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.

1836 - 1840

Queen regent of the Swazi.

1836

Groups of Boer settlers, the descendants of Dutch and German farmers, set off from the Cape Colony to the east in search of new land. One group led by Piet Retief arrives in Zulu territory in early 1837 and, following some brief skirmishing with the Zulu, these 'Voortrekkers' are invited to uMgungundlovu to talk to the king.

The initial small trickle of Boer settlers into the Transvaal soon turned into a flood which the native states were virtually powerless to prevent

1839

A shock Zulu defeat at Blood River temporarily splits the kingdom in two. A victorious force of four hundred Boers aids Mpande in a Zulu civil war against Dingane which results in the latter's overthrow and death. However, the kingdom is unstable and still in a state of shock, and three decades of instability follows.

1840 - 1868

Paramount chief of the Swazi.

1868 - 1875

Queen regent of the Swazi.

1875 - 1889

Paramount chief of the Swazi.

1876 - 1886

Beginning about 1876 a number of Boers from Transvaal seemingly purchase land from the Swazi king, Umbandino, forming the 'Little Free State' in 1886. This is incorporated into Transvaal in 1891.

The desperate but ultimately victorious British defence of the Rorke's Drift station saw the largest number of Victoria Cross medals ever awarded for one day of fighting

1879 - 1883

Five months after two major battles, the British return to Zululand with an army which is twenty-five thousand strong. A series of battles brings both sides to the town of Ulundi, just a few kilometres from Cetshwayo's royal compound.

Cetshwayo is imprisoned and the Zulu kingdom is divided into thirteen 'kinglets', most of which are ruled by a minor chief who is an enemy of Cetshwayo. The Zulu state soon descends into a devastating civil war.

1889 - 1894

Queen regent of the Swazi, and then of Swaziland.

1890 - 1894

In conventions of July and August 1890, and again on 8 November 1893, the Transvaal and British governments confirm the independence of Swaziland.

However, Britain agrees to the creation of the Transvaal 'Protectorate of Swaziland' on 19 December 1894 without it being incorporated into Transvaal. Internal Swazi independence largely remains guaranteed under the regent, Queen Tibati Nkambule, and Swaziland is externally handled in the form of a small semi-independent state.

A British newspaper piece around 1900 depicted the 'savage potentate', probably Queen Lobatsibeni Gwamile Mdluli, being able to cross a stream without getting wet thanks to her loyal servants