POLITICAL REVOLUTION IN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN

INTERIOR, 1820-1835

Grade: 10Term: 3

Topic: 4 – TRANSFORMATIONS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA AFTER 1750

Sub-Topic: POLITICAL REVOLUTION IN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN INTERIOR, 1820-1835

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The rise of the Ndebele kingdom under Mzilikazi –Northern Interior

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The rise of the Ndebele kingdom under Mzilikazi –Northern Interior

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Mzilikazi establishes the Ndebele• Mzilikazi of the Khumalo crossed the Drakensberg

Mountains from Natal and arrived on the Highveld inabout 1823.

• He moved into the Rustenburg area in about 1826.

• He raided cattle in the region, and absorbed people intothe Khumalo, giving them a new identity as the Ndebele.the Khumalo, giving them a new identity as the Ndebele.

• By the time Mzilikazi arrived in the Rustenburg area,Tswana chiefdoms were already weak from fighting eachother, raiding and famine.

• Some large towns had already been abandoned.

• The remaining Tswana chiefdoms could offer no seriousresistance to the Ndebele, and were quickly defeated.

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Mzilikazi in the Northern interior• Mzilikazi was a ruthless fighter, and destroyed many

smaller chiefdoms.

• But he also absorbed migrant people who had beendisplaced and were poor. (A number of people whobecame Ndebele were originally Setswana-speakers.)

• Between 1827 and 1837, Tswana chiefs who lived in the• Between 1827 and 1837, Tswana chiefs who lived in theRustenburg-Zeerust area were allowed to retain theirindependence, but they had to pay tribute to Mzilikazi, inorder to recognise his supremacy.

• Mzilikazi can be seen as someone who stabilised life inthe Rustenburg area rather than only as a fighter whodestroyed chiefdoms.

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Mzilikazi in the Northern interior

• The Griqua and Kora raided the Ndebelethroughout the 1830's.

• Trekboers from the Cape Colony added to thepressure on Mzilikazi.pressure on Mzilikazi.

• Eventually, in the 1840's, Mzilikazi and hisfollowers left the region and re-establishedthemselves in the south-western area of whatis present-day Zimbabwe.

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The emergence of the Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe –

Southern Interior

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The emergence of the Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe –

Southern Interior

• No formal boundary lines marked Basothoterritory.

• Rather, the Basotho kingdom was wherever thosewho recognised the king's authority were settled.

• Rather, the Basotho kingdom was wherever thosewho recognised the king's authority were settled.

• In the 1820's, small groups of trekboers beganmoving into the Caledon River Valley.

• There were many other groups in the areaincluding other African kingdoms that had beendisrupted during the time of troubles.

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The emergence of the Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe –

Southern Interior

• Under the impact of settler pressure and the riseof new African kingdoms, thousands of peoplemoved northwards across the DrakensbergMountains from what is present-day northernmoved northwards across the DrakensbergMountains from what is present-day northernNatal.

• Moshoeshoe and his followers soon also foundthemselves under attack.

• Moshoeshoe realized that his people needed astronger fortress to protect themselves fromattack.

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The emergence of the Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe –

Southern Interior

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Moshoeshoe moves to Thaba Bosiu

• In 1824, Moshoeshoe and his followers fled to ThabaBosiu (Mountain at Night), a flat-topped hill with steepsides that served as a great natural stronghold.

• When other groups saw that Moshoeshoe could offerthem protection, more joined him.

• Many people had been driven from their homes during• Many people had been driven from their homes duringthe 'time of troubles' and were attracted toMoshoeshoe's kingdom because of its stability.

• Moshoeshoe gave people land, and in return he expectedthem to help protect his kingdom.

• In this way, Moshoeshoe attracted many followers and bythe mid 1830's, his kingdom had become the mostpowerful in the Caledon River region.

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Thaba Bosiu

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Thaba Bosiu

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Moshoeshoe the diplomat

• Moshoeshoe tried to avoid war, so that hiskingdom could grow stronger and maintainthe support of his people, and of course sothat he could avoid the possibility of beingthat he could avoid the possibility of beingdefeated.

• Here are two examples of how he useddiplomacy to avoid war:

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Moshoeshoethe diplomat

1. He sometimes sent gifts of cattle to the

strong Zulu king, strong Zulu king, Shaka. He

hoped that the Zulus would leave him in

peace.

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Moshoeshoe the diplomat

In 1831, after he defeated the Ndebele, he treated them kindly. He sent a

messenger to the Ndebele chief with a gift of fat oxen

and this message:chief with a gift of fat oxen

and this message:'Moshoeshoe salutes you. Supposing that hunger has

brought you into this country, he sends you these

cattle, that you may eat them on your way home.'

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Role of the Boers in the political revolution, 1820-1835

• You learnt that when Europeans firstcame to southern Africa, they settled inthe Cape.

• The Dutch set up a colony in the Cape by• The Dutch set up a colony in the Cape bythe middle of the 17th century, and theBritish took it over at the beginning ofthe 19th century.

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THE TREKBOERS• From the 1820's, a small number of Dutch-

speaking farmers (called boers in Afrikaans)began crossing the Orange River to graze theircattle and sheep in the fertile Caledon Valley.Moshoeshoe accepted these trekboers, andaccording to Basotho practice, he gave them theMoshoeshoe accepted these trekboers, andaccording to Basotho practice, he gave them theright to use the land where they had settled. Theylived peacefully alongside the Basotho.Moshoeshoe was careful not to sign anydocuments or to accept any gifts from thesetrekboers so that they could never claim to havebought the land.

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THE VOORTREKKERS

• Some Boer farmers did not accept British rule,and hundreds of Boer families and their servantsmoved away from the Cape in the late 1830's.

• These Voortrekkers moved into various parts ofsouthern Africa.southern Africa.

• The large movement of Boers from the Capebecame known as the 'Great' Trek. The Boerswere at first not very powerful; the Africankingdoms in southern Africa were much stronger.

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THE VOORTREKKERS

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• The Boers often fought among themselves andfought wars against African kingdoms.

• The Boers and the African farmers did not only haverelationships of conflict, though.

• They also traded with one another, and the Boersoften paid tribute to the African kingdom in the areawhere they had settled.

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where they had settled.

• Sometimes they even fought side by side with theAfrican kingdoms against a common enemy.

• In the mid-1830's, thousand of Voortrekkers andtheir servants left the Eastern Cape in protestagainst British rule and in search of land.

• They left in several groups, each under their ownleader.

The Boers and Moshoeshoe

• The Boers moved north across the Orange River,through the western part of Moshoeshoe'skingdom.

• Some continued northwards, others went intoNatal.Natal.

• Moshoeshoe allowed some of the boers to stayas guests in the Caledon Valley until they wereready to move on.

• Like any visitors, Moshoeshoe's expectation wasthat they would not stay permanently.

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• Most of the time, the Boers and the Basotho livedpeacefully with each other and relied on each other.

• Trading between the Basotho and the Boers in theinterior increased.

• In exchange for grain and cattle, the Basotho gotlarge stores of guns and gunpowder.

• The Boers became dependent on the Basotho for

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• The Boers became dependent on the Basotho fortheir wheat and maize.

• Friendly relations existed between the Boers and theBasotho until the 1840's, when the Boers began toclaim the land they occupied as their privateproperty. This led to conflict.

DID YOU KNOW

• Before Europeans arrived in South Africa, therewas no private ownership of land.

• Everyone lived on or near the land that theyused.

• The land belonged to the community.• The land belonged to the community.

• The head of the kingdom was trusted to lookafter the land on behalf of the ancestors, thepeople living in the kingdom and those yet to beborn.

• There was enough land for everyone.

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Kora and Griqua raiders

• As discussed earlier in this topic, the Koraand Griqua interacted with otherchiefdoms in southern Africa.

• In this unit, we learn more about who• In this unit, we learn more about whothe Griqua and Kora were, and their rolein the political changes between 1750and 1820.

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THE GRIQUA

• The Griqua were descendants of Dutch settlers andindigenous people, including Khoisan and slaves,who had escaped from the Cape Colony.

• They settled in the area north of the Orange River inthe early 19th century.the early 19th century.

• Small groups of Griqua often launched cattle raidsinto the surrounding African kingdoms.

• They opened up trade between the Cape Colonyand the interior.

• African farmers traded sorghum and maize forclothing and firearms.

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THE GRIQUA

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THE KORA

• The Kora were also settled in the areanorth of the Orange River.

• Some of them were of European andKhoi descent, and had left the CapeKhoi descent, and had left the CapeColony because they had lost their land.

• Others were descendant of the originalKhoi inhabitants of the Orange Riverarea.

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THE KORA

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The Griqua and Thlaping during the 'time of troubles'

• The Thlaping were a southern Tswana chiefdom.

• During the 'time of troubles', there was someintermarriage between the Griqua and theThlaping.Thlaping.

• Also during this period, the Griqua establishedmany trading alliances in the area.

• In 1823, the Griqua fought in the battle ofDithakong. Dithakong was where the Thlapinghad their capital.

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• The Thlaping were attacked by othersmaller African chiefdoms nearby.

• The missionary Robert Moffat wasworking among the Thlaping, and heasked the Griqua to help the Thlapingfight off the attackers.

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fight off the attackers.

• This they did successfully.

• The Griqua were strategic fighters whowere able to adapt and change dependingon the circumstances threatening them.

• Then, in 1826, the Ndebele under Mzilikazi enteredthe area and sparked more fighting.

• In the wars that followed, the Ndebele absorbedsome of the southern Tswana chiefdoms and someTswana chiefdoms reluctantly paid tribute toMzilikazi.

• The fighting disrupted the Griqua's trade.• They helped Tswana chiefdoms to fight against the

Ndebele.

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• They helped Tswana chiefdoms to fight against theNdebele.

• A combined Thlaping, Rolong and Griqua force triedunsuccessfully to drive Mzilikazi out of the area.

• When some Voortrekkers arrived in the area, theybecame allies of the Griqua.

• Together with the Thlaping they were finally able todrive Mzilikazi out.