The 1896-97 Southern Rhodesian War Reconsidered.

H. Bhila The debate about the Shona war of resistance against colonial rule continues to gather momentum. in

1896.7

There are

three dim.ensions, possibly four to it. First at the level of organisation, Terence Ranger argues that the co-ordination of the war was achieved through a 'millenarian religious leadership,l had much to them;2 but David Beach claims less e:xtenaiveareas Julian Coobing ficancant influence that majot' Shona spirit mediums than Ranger ascribed

ot influence

has denied

that the Mwari cult played any signiat aU or that itexe:t'eised any The thi:t'ddimension of. the debate that 'Ranger

role in the risings ove:t'the Ndebele.3

is ideologic.al.

MadZi.wanyika Tl;;omondo contends

blunders by eXClusively associating Shona resistance with the collective liberation wa:t'et1896~7,.4 rre cogently argues that the ShOna had never acceptedco1onial rule and that the war 'revolt'er re-bellion' because aubm:itt~dtoaiien rule. HI .5 int~od't1ction of cOlonial to the fOUrth aspect of individual In this War as in similar the Maji-Maji rulers curious in ~anzania, either remained to establish neutral motives resistance and Bambata paramounticies. movements, notably some African have been

in Zululand.6 historians

or collaborated

with the aliens.

In each case both contemporary

the Manyika kingdom did not participate. tiOns have been advanced, beCause his Old rival first that

:Basically Mutasa stayed Makoni, ruler secondly court

two explanaout of the war of the Maungwe that the arrest in

and neighbour,

kingdom in the west had joined ora uim.8 POt'tuguese pat'ty

the war,?

in 1890atMutasa's

inspired

fear

!Both views miss the point. is that sOllieAfrican

What has not been appreciated potentates, notably 'an Mtoko of extreme

by historians Budyaand degree

Mutasa of Manyika had already

experienced

of social,pol,itical,military resisting

and economic dislocation}9. colonial mora.llyo,r rule since 1890 and by to prosecute for mine-

!Fuey had been actively

1896 were not in,

'position.

materially

Tn the Ca.se of. the Manyika the scramble between the Mo~a.mbiqueand British in the king's council

South Africa. and in the the elimi-

Oompa.ni.e.s' ct'eated'dies.ension process' undermined his nation . Company rHSA Oo.),the assumed a new. inte.nsity

authority

and prestige. by the British for

After

ottheMozambiq.ueCompany ecramble

South Africa concessions Syndicate - a

land and mineral Portuguese in this

between the African

and the BSACQ.' from 1890 to mini-scramble Tendai Mutasa's ible. !Fhe history to the last quarter for mineral

1894.

It is

context

concessionsa.nd

ia.nd in Manyika - that

non-participation

in the war becomes intellig-

of. the mini-scramble of the nineteenth with the east, century. their century.

for Hanyika dates The Portuguese east

back

century. north

had had trading Zimbabwe since establish the turn of the

contacts

and west of to reregions at

the' sixteenth after seventeenth

They were trying from these

themselves

expulsion

men the Portuguese commercial tical control over

partiCUlar, its

co1.onel Joaquim Carlos Souza

Paiva

de

Andrada and Manuel An'timi.o govern.me,nt

cloeely

associated

with

attemJ?t to rGsu.sci tate as intrDducing

Portuguese polito

Portuguese

Andrada was a 'businessman

African states.ll

As a result, he was in a position to grab

land, give bogus protection treaties and sometimes marry into African royal families in order to claim the right to succeed the ruling king. Because 'of these activities, the Portuguese. government decided to exploit his influence and multiple contacts with African rulers in the region, especially in the kingdom of Manyika, which he claimed as his because he had helped the ruling.king to acceed to the throne. In return for his services, the Portuguese government undertook to educate his sons in Lisbon and gave him an honorific title and a sinecurial position. The 1880s and early l890s are replete with the preda12

tory exploits of Andrada and de Souza, backed, of course, by the Portuguese government. As a result, that government put up claims to large parts of Zimbabwe. These claims were contested by the British g01l'ernment which was also interested in colonizing the area. The British government sought to realize its ambitions by supporting an ad1l'enturer.Cecil John Rhodes, who formed the BSA Coo, for the purpose. The scramble for Manyika between the British government and the BS! Co on the one hand and the Mozambique Company of Andrada. and de Souza and the Portuguese government on the other, resulted in the partition of the kingdom of Manyika in 1890. Andrada obtained a concession to form a company in 1878.13 de la Campagne Generale du Zambeze. The following year he brought out a company in Paris called La SocH~t~. des Foundateurs The cpmpany was liquidated in 1'88:; and Andrade formed two companies,. the-East African Company, which was never floated, and the and soon went into fOllowing year when he
of

:;0 000 mUreis met with extraordinary difficulties because. of wars which a half caste family known as da Cruz, had been waging against the Portuguese in the Zambezi since 1856. The concession expired and Andrada who was in Portugal was unable to obtain an extension of the time allowed or fresh capital .. After considerable negotiations, he started another comp.!:\TIY called the M021ambique Comp,my, wi th a capital of was legally constituted by a decree of

20th December,

1888.

The generous terms of this its agents

concession

en-

a1>ledthe companyto establish regions of the kingdom. notably Valleys.

in the goldferous Rebvuweand Baizi

the ~lutari,

The companyhad stores carried on a system of trading

spread allover within

the country basin

and of

the hydrographic

the rivers river.

Buzi and Arua~gwaand the country It is also said that it had stores

above the Save at Mutasa's court.

14

The headquarters

of the companywas in Lisbon and was purely amount of French money was

Portuguese although a considerable involved. It was represented

at Masekesa in 14anyika by Baron no treaty existed. bet-

de Rezende.

As far as one can ascertain

ween the African rulers

in the area and the company. and it population treated it with indifference. who It for

would seem that the local

The companyemployed a number of Africans were armed, and evidently acted as soldiers

from the east

coast ~nd bodyguards.15 prospect

would seem, however, that.the gold on any significant it had reserved scale

company did not itself apart

from the RebvuweValley which believed that there was

for itself

bec;B.use it It

plenty tor.

of good quality

gold there.

employed a French prospecvalley.

101., d'Llambly,

to carry

out surveys in this

16

How-

ever, the companyissued mining licences and complies with certain Shillings rulesu .17

to anyone

"whOapplies

The miners had to pay ten

per annum and most of them, a twenty pe!'cent royalty. varied in ex:tent but it would appear that the

The concessions oondi tionswere

alike .. were seoveral parties of miners at work on allu-

vial

deposits
0

in the valleys these parties rich spot on preliminary large

the Chua, Chilllezi, and Nyahombwe wClrl<:itlLg in the Chimez'i several works the large nuggets.

ri verso found a

One

While settling start

would enable them too spent part of thei!'

scale.

washing and 'although washing

helped property

ownerS notably in the most talked of' Braganza in the'Ohimed Valley. Such was the

and R:Lchm.Qndproperties

excitement abQut the EldQradQ in Hanyika that 'news-to-hand from Paris shQWS that the attentiQnQf the financiers ia directed.towards thegQ1dminers Qf Macequece, until now regarded rather indifferently in EUrQpe,.19 Already the gold properties registered in Manyika had exceeded 6 000 claima, 656 beingaUuvial and 5 344 reef, an.d 'many prOspectors. a.re explQ.ring the country in apite of the high grasa maki.ng their Work uneaay :20 However, gold was not the only item that enticed monQpoly capitalists to Manyika. There were large foresta of India rubber in the territory occupied by the Mo~ambique rubber trees had been cultivated salt and limbo. implications
21

Company.

The

forests extended from the coaat to 700 metrea altitude. Africans who traded the produce with the Indian merchants These gold prospecting held its authority Mozambique ingabout to prospect activities

These for

for a long time in the past by

had aerious political Company The Complain-

for the king of Manyika.

The Mo~ambique government. ignored Mutasa.

for gold not from the k:Lng of

Manyika, Mutasa, but from the Portuguese Company and other companies the activities

of the COmpanies and their encroachment

upon his authority,

Mutasa was reported by officials of the

Brit:Lsh South Africa Company to have said 'They are there and 1 don't interfere. I don' tknow the n!.llnber .. 1 have never given anyone a concession. ! am. getting nothing. I ams.ittingwatch'"
. ,22 J.ng ..

It Wo~ld seem that the king had also lost authority over certain portions of his kingdom .. 1f the reports of the BSA Go., offici<'.lscan be relied. 'Q.pOn, ,there were then new territories 'under men indunas of Manic<'.who have rebelled, accO;t;'ding t9 ~~ta$.a~,,,;Uhth.ecovert $.upport and encouragement of 23 tlie.Portuguese' . Regarding his borders Mutasa was reported to have said, 'I have been pressed on all sides by the assegai,.24 His neighbours, encouraged Ganda of Uteve,. Chirara of Zimunya and Makoni of on good term.s with the Portuguese to Mutaisa.. The Portuguese who thOUght them Maungwe were apparently

them to be hostile

that if Mutli.sawere isolatep. fromhisneighbo'U:t'sand from his SUbjects, he would co'ncede wi thout muoh re'si.S1:;arlc~l'.

el;!t,ranged

strongly

ba,cked by the Portuguese claims to these rights'

government, auriferous

the of

MozambiqueCompanybased its Hanyika on what it It called the

parts'

'ancient

of the Portuguese. making the

should be noted that

the Portuguese parts

government was also

claims at this flamebasis. their traders

time to large

of the Shona country'on claims

The Portuguese and adventurers century

based their

on the g:vounds that region posts during known as

had penetrated and introduced

this trading

the early
~'

sixteenth

feiras

in the seventeenth The prospecting

and eighteenth activities

centuries.25 of the Mozambique Company to destroy the independA monopol(APS) was

were 'not the only ones which threatened ence and territorial ist integrity

of the Manyika kingdom. Portuguese Syndicate

company known as the African

also making.a bid to obtain mineral of Manyika. say the least. cession '1'he origins and validity

concessions

froni King Mutasa to

of the APS are confused

26

It

would seem that

the APS claimed to be a conagreement between Mutasa Perry and Thomas a concession.

company as a result

of a verbal

and four men, George Wise, Edward Ross, Rebert Madden, who had come from Johannesburg

to negotiate

These men had heard rumours from a f.1anyika and a Ndau, probably. migrant labourers Manyika. on the Rand, that that there was abundant gold in

The stOl'Y is

both the Manyika and the Ndau guided royal court.

George Wise and his

team as far as the king's

'with the aid of a Zulu interpreter, du.cted n~gotiations for a mineral concession in 'what is known about the history conces,sion itself cpme$ from the of these

George i'iise con-

1888.

Much of and the

negotiations

recollections

of George Wise;

record,ed 'six years a.fter that,\tJ'ise,and his

the event.

1t emerges from the aCCou.nt

colleagues

Were sent

whomWise was working in Johannesburg; cession from the ruler ofl-lanyika.

Gdce

team of negotiators They lost

w:ith

waggon and oxen for

transport. a tsetse-

some-of their

cattle

when they passed through

fly

iiJ.:festeiI area and were force,d to stOp at a spot aPout eight Fri)m there they picked u,p strongAfi;~r a law withwh~mWi:se proce,ededtp Mutasa's

daysaW/3,y;:fom Ullt~sals.royalcGttrt~ Zulu interpreter hold,

::leaving the rest of the party wIth -the waggon. Wise returned

days at Mutasa t s .stronghold, panied by some of Mutasa's

to the waggon ae~om" O'f blankets

men,to C$.rry the presents

and suridrya;rticles

~~

whiCh vlise and his team had bt'o~ght from GI;l.p-e

144

Wise reported to,his frie'nds that he had seen Mutase. who confirmed that there was much ,gold in\his kingdom and that Mutasa had given three or four small parcels of gold which weighed all. ounce altogether. He also reported that Mutasa was willing to grant them a mineral concession. The team decided that George Wise and Thomas Madden should go to Mutasa to secure a written concession to mineral rights that Mutasa had promised Wise. The tW9 men together with the king's carriers proceeded to Mutasa's court. On their arrival Wise and Madden interviewed the king who, it is alleged, professed his liki~g for the English and hatred of the Portuguese. The king then sent'his men down to the Rebvuwe valley to show Wise and Madden where gold was plentiful'. After a thorough survey of the Rebvuwe Valley; they chose the ground they wanted and went back to Mutasa's court to finalise the deal. With the help of the Zulu interpreter, Wise wrote out subsequently approved and signed. the terms of the mineral concession which Mutasa and his heir apparent, Chimbadzwa, When this had been done, both Wise and Madden returned to where they had left the waggon, only to find their companion Ross, dead, mauled by a lion, the driver of the waggon suffering from fever and the cattle all dead. They immediately decided to return to Johannesbu.rg and leave the waggon where it was. As soon as they arrived in Johannesburg, Wise looked for theconces~ sion so that he could hand it over to Lawley. it. He could not find He m/3.de a verbal report of the concession and Lawley asked

him to write it out of memory. In May 1889~,Wise and Madden went to Na'tal where they met Lloyd and Benningfield .. The latter was connected by marriage interests the AfriCan Portuguese Syndicate. Af'E'er a ,discussion of their experiences, in Manyika, it was decided tna;t Wil:;e" Madden l'lnd 'Benningfie1d shoulli go to see Mutasa and renegotiate the concession. They left for Manyika and, on reaching On the third of Inya~bane in southern Mozambique, hired eighty five men to Carry the l~ggage they hali brought' from Durban. him for the s.econd t:ime. Unfortunately gues, they found their concession had been
145"

November, 1889 they arr:ived at l-l'utasa's stronghold and interviewed fo,r"Wise and his colleaPortuguese prosthat the ground they had previously chosen for

peetors.

An attem!lt to .get the Portuguese

out failed. site,

Mutasa wide

then deci,ded to give them an alternative on each side of the river Mutari, from its In all

four miles

source

down to its covered son,

confluence with the Odzi river. 240 sQl1are miles. including

the concession

As in the previous

case Mutasa and hts

a number elf promineut councillors

and Wise, Madden and the concessionaires

Benningfield

signed it .In exchange for this, of 200 b1ankets. activities

.agreed to pay Mutasa an annuity The gold prospecting ted to

nO

..

of" the syndicate pegs here did not

amounand there. seem to

27

more than mounting signs

and driving

Indeed .this might have been the reason have been any friction Nor did thE) prospecting worth, worry Mutasa. This situation relations arrival did not last

why there

between the APS and the Mozambique Company. activities of the APS, for what they were

long,

however, before by the

the

between the APS and Mutasa were complicated of the BaA Co., in Mashonaland in 1890. fought and militarily only in 1894. defeated

In that

year,

the

BaACo. first it

the Mozambique Co~y battle in which

and then turned

to the APS and fought a long legal

emerged victorions

The commercial interests collision was inevitable'. 28 If

of the Mozambique Companyand sooner or later wet'e to exploit ful~, a the the BSACo., to the

those of the BaA Co., were 'so mixed up that

mineral resources tial

of the Shona country

it

was essen-

'that it should gain control then contro~led

of the only outlet by

to the sea,

the pot't of ~eira.

Mozambique Company. which Was the main wate;!;'

Also, as long as the Pungwe River route,

way to and from Beira remained unde:!:'the control Company, there could no prospect

()f the Mozambique

ot

a ra.pid e"plqita.tion .great expense

. minel'al .weal th of MasA-onala.nd

BSA

no:rth,wards from Gape 'rownwould havfl entailed de;I.ay.29

SUChconsidE;!rations compelled the :BSA Co., to impose a 30 September, 1890. The treaty pro"

These developmentagoaded taking steps that were deaigned pudiate 'gun boat diplomacy'

theMozambiqu.eComp to put preaSUreon Company

.n.y into to re..

Muta~

the treaty impOsedo:tl. him by the aSA Co. the Mozambique

In a' t,pical

sent a militaryexpe

dition to Mutasa'sclturt on 8th November, 1890 under the pretext that Mutasa hl;l.d ceded his entire kingdom tOll, PortuguelO.e prazero, Gouveia. As soon as the BSA Co., heard about this they also sent court. They tOoK the Portugu~se a party Of armed men to Mutasa'S

party by surprise, dispersed it and arrested its leaders including Gouveia, the Baron 'Rezende who was the managing director of the Mozambique Company and Paiva de 4ndrada, the concessionaire. The property of the Mozambique Company was confiacated without compensation.3l This incident marked the end of the Mozambique Company kingdom river. in what later became the BSA Co. section of the Manyika in 1890. The Hozambique Company administered vast terriThe BSA Company was left to fight its second opponent, Syndicate. that the BSA Co. was treapassingon The APS contended

tories of what was called Manica and Sorala south of the Zambezi the African Portuguese

its concession not only without King Mutaaa'a permission but against his wishes and in spite of his protests; that the BSACo. was acting in a high-handed and hia subjects, to retire the BritiSh from the land. government and oppressive manner towards Mutasa who desired that the BSA Co. might be ordered The APS also wanted the BSA Co. and to recognise

the concession treaty they had b.ought from Bennin.gfield in 1889.32 On the other hand, the British government and the BSA Co. arg-ued that the cance.j3sion treaty whiCh the APS sought to esta.blishwas.undated as.waj3thetransrerendorsed upon it from Be,nningfieldtothe APe; thattheeorreSpOfiJ.ience between the AP6 '.andthe British goV"er-ltm.ent.in tlecem'ber1890 did not bear the signatttreofan interpreter. It was aJ,.so pointed out that until the Mutasa petition of 1893. the APS had made no attempt to asign a date to the Concession to remedy the deficiency in 1893. ln the absence British government and that the APe was attempting extorted from Mutasa the eVidence, by a declaration

of any corroborative to give<anYCredence

refused

to what l<tutasa

Wa$ $uPposed' to'have assetted

in 1893~ Fil.'rthermore,the Br:!"tish

g.oiternlllent .do.ubted. how much l-tutasaUWdet'stood th~phra$ei:ll9gY' of

the original

English

document before Chimanyika.33

it

was ultimately

translated posi ...

into Mutasa's dialect,

Such were the basic

tions of the APSon the one hand and the BSACo., government on the other .. The competition implications between these

and the British

two companies had serious and, in the long term by the Shona in with the

for Manyika internal to participate

politics

on Manyika ability

in an uprising

1896-7 against
superior

the regime of the BSACo.

Confronted

military

force of the BSACo., Mutasa gave conflicting treaty with Benningfield. team of negotiators He a

answers in 1890 about the concession admitted having given Benningfield verbal agreement. to prospect he asserted that

and his

and dig for gold. treaty

In .the same breath because of the contract.34 elsewhere in

the concession

had lapsed

Benningfielc:l had not fu1.filled In all fairness,

the conditions contemporaries

Mutasa like his

Southel'n .Africa, of concessions

could not be expected relating

to comprehend the notions granting of a trade and pri-

to mineral rights, of banking,

monopoly, of privileges vat.e ownership of land. notions altogether.

leasehold,

freehold

These were alien

and incomprehensible viewed the whole

Mutasa in all

probability

qu.estion of concessio~s of land' for use by his

in mueh the same way as he viewed grants subjects, land which would revert Sinc'e Benningfie1d to the left, Manyika

king ",hen the OCC1:lpant vaCated it ..

in 1889 Mutase. mU6t have concluded that alleged treaty and, lahd cOncession. that ,conflicting statements Until

he Was through with the on the

One can only speculate

Mutase made to the BSACo. to S\l.p:portthe BSACo., led him

1893. Mutasa Was inclined gradUally ACCording

but the pehllviQur Of the l(itter ClaimJ;j .of the APS.

to

support

the

agreement of Se;ptember 14th, wa,s, as a;J.;r;-eady men~ l893 he had only li)nbo and atew Mutasalsrefusal thee, BSA Co., cap1;l1 to give !!inaudiand G,. Se~mor

ad'lised to go tht-ough a Manyika for the Taylor brothers theBSA

domestic $ervantwho

wasworkins

. The strained natUre of relatione between Mutasa and Co., and the gradual insinuation by the AF$ into Mutasa.s son and fa'lour.was CLear1.y demonstrated heir apparent.Chimbadzwa, tation of the APS. in 1.893 when Mutasa's

'lisited Cape Town and Nab-l at .the invito the BSA Co. sOUrces,

T.lw visit. according

was oppoeed by Mutasa. The same sOUrces suggest that Chilllbadzwa was on1.y abLe to leave for this trip when the king was in a etate of inebriation. This line of reasoning is not con'lincing. If the king was opposed to the whole idea then he would not have accepted the presents which Chimbadzwa brought back from Natal. Neither would the king have found it nec1!!ssaryto demonstrate his dissatisfaction them in 1893. with the BSA Co. officials by refUsing to see

The conclusion

one can draw from this ie that Chimbadzwa.s

proposed visit to Natal and Cape Town aroused considerable debate in the king.s council between those who fa'loured the BSA 00., apparently led by one councillor, Matika, and those who supported the. APs.38 Whatever contrary views or reservations the king had. or might have eXpressed during the discussion. it would Seem that he fina1.1.ysanctioned the trip in his full senses. the trip Was crowned with success. presents Mutasa promised from the BSA Go. Apparently. Chimba.dzwa brought back many

for himself and the king, rifles, beads and liquor. the APS that he would not accept any more presents He was so happy with the APS that he offered to informe.d ahout the activities
of the

keep the TaylO'r hrotherswell BSA CO'.

The king's reaction to mounting pressure from hoth the BSA Co and the APS -was to lean to whichever side interf'ered lell,st in the internal affairs of his kingdO'm. His refusal to see Ca1.decott.and Fort. in 1.893 and Chimbadzwa.s visit to Gape Town and NataL must be seen in this light, and aLso as a triumph for the pro-APS faction led hy Ghimbadzwa within the kings's council.39 From this time until February, 1894 when the Taylor brothers were arrested and tried by the BSA Co., the influence of the APS was at its height. pute. The Taylor brothers pubLicised themselves as the rightful owners of the land concession which was in di!3They told the Manyika that the BSA Co., were tl'esspasaer$

in Manyika and that they would cheat the Manyika out of their land. It was not difficult for an ordinary Manyika to see logic It was in this argument, especially since~he had seen or heard about the Taylor brotl}ers having brought presents to the king. common knowledge among the Manyika that George Taylor, was Mutasa's mate and had received a wife from the king, the most signal mark of honour the king could bestow. Umtali, Fort, described Mutasa. The BSA Co's loss of prestige Mutasa, he asserred, was: can be seen in the language in which the acting resident of greedy, venal and double dealing because he knowingly granted the same concession to two parties; he received presents from each .and always leaned to the side which piled him with presents and soft speeches. 40 Fort also obeerved that since the Taylor brothers had been residing with Mutasa the Manyika had become: Exceedingly independent and even insolent, saying that the English had no busine.ss there .and that the BSA Co. had no right to govern them.41 The deteriorating nature of relations between the BSA Co. and Mutasa and the growing influence of the APS upon him can also be seen in the petition which the king sent in 1893 to the Secretary o.f state for the COlonies in London.42 Mutasa there asserted his paramountcy as ruler of the Manyika and proceeded to de;ny that LObengula, king of the Ndebele, whose imtJis generally ~aided. the Sholla co~ntry, had an;yjurisdiction over him. He expressed his grievances against the maltreatment of his subjects by the BSA Co .. and the threats which they had made to burn down and destroy his roya;L court., There can be no dOUbt that most of Mutasa's griev .. nces Were genuine, especially those relat~ ing to the behaviour of the police. This 1/ias one of the main causes. of the.1896-7 Shona UI1ris:i,ng.

because he had signed a concession in 1889 with the BSA C'o. It was also acknowledged, that Lobengula' s vague claims of sovere'ignty over the 'entire Shona country, Mi:myilta included, would be'used by the BSA Co. to expel the APS from Manyika. The unpopularity of the BSA Co. in Manyka was further demonstrated by what was called the 'Chikanga Affair' ot January 1894.43 The 'Chikanga Affair' deserv~s to be treated in detail because it brings out clearly th~ manner in which ,the monopoly companies brought pressure to bear on Mutasa or his ward rulers, and eventually seriously undermined the king's'authority and image before his subjects. charge of a ward. Chikanga was one of Mutasa's daughters in She She was married to a man called Fambesa.

refused to comply with the demands of the acting resident magistrate in Umtali on 9th January, 1894, that she should supply labour for the mines. It is notul;11ikelythat she was encouraged to refuse by the APS agents, the Taylor brothers. The 'Cnikanga Affair', rose out of a system of quasicompulsory labour. It had been a custom whenever African labour was required either by the BSA Co. or private indicidu;O,s, for the magistrate to send a message to one of the neighbouring rulers demanding the number of labourers required who would be paid at the usual r,ate. The BSA 00., sought to justify this s;ystem of labour on the grounds that they effectively occupied the country and afforded protection to Mutasa and other African rulers from the Gaza-Nguni raids; it seemed, they argued, a fair bargain that the Africans should assist in the development of~the country and recognize ,their obligation to send in labour when required. On his retllrnto Umtali in January 1894, the magistrate, Ch,ik.anga giving her had ask~d for. not sent by that There had be~p a made lately about the scarcity of labour in this district, more so this year than any other year previously. I have put it down to natives being interfered with by other people telling them not to do this and not deaJ.influence with Mutasa

to

do that

magist:r-ate.

44

This Was' a clear l'eference to

Chikan,garelused orders.' eettler warrant

to comply with th~ magistrat~'s arranged privately with a leading a

'thereuPl>n the lliltt~r to enli!lta tor burgher

force

and at

the same time issued of the APS, his action

the arrest

of the

representative later justi,fi,ed

'W.H . 1'aylor . Th~magistrate

on the

to beabsolut~ly

firm with Chikanga. nQt to have Thie

l>rdersbeing

obeyed because

been known to many hundreds by them as a sign haveendag~red

of Manyika.

\IIQUldhaV'ebeen construed

of weakness and fear. th~ lives white and property in the

In the long rul'l., this\lll>uld

commul'l.ityof some one hundred

settlers

accompanied by his to the royal

burgher residence

police for

men the

proceeded

of compellin.g Chikanga to supply was met at the entrance who was also to the

the required royal

labour. by

The party

reaidence

Fambesa, her husband, manded their business,

Mutasa'.s

induna.

When he deord~red his fled

the magistrate

immediately

arrest . Falllbesa lIlanaged to struggle to the royal l'esidence . ~eanwhile, to the local As a r~Bult

away and much alarmed, a considerable

number of goatS.
by order

and sheep belonging of the magistrate. attempted arrest

peopl~ had been si~zed of this action as well

as the

of' Fambesa. considerable

excitement

prevailed to stop Fambesa and to my house

among the Manyika, and one of the poli<:e men attempting Fambesa after shortlY after his escl1ipe had his revolver taken

from him. rifle

re-appeared

ait'med with a. Martin-Henry he refused to allow

ammunition in a bandolier; approach his to, /See my wife a lot'

the polic~ into

wife because he .did

not want to 'take armed menl.

demanded.

Acoord-

ing
police tely and happeIied

revolver

from one of the What immedia-

the

dence.

One thing is certain.

Immediately after Fort went for-

ward with a revolver in his hand, a volley was fired by. the police and Fambesa fell mortally wounded,dying almost immedia~ly. The BSA Co., with its labour demands and intervention in Manyika politics alienated the rulers and pushed them into the hands 01: the APS. The incident of Fambesa, deplorable in itself, indicated in a special degree the evils caused by concession seeking, a system by which the live.s and property of the indigenes were sacrificed to the pecuniary greed 'of monopolist companies. trator and high commission, pointed out that:if Her Majesty's-government is to continue the policy of recognizing rival concession seekers, then we mUst contiriue to look forward to a repetition of similar proceedings until-there are no more concessions to be obtained 45 The 'Chikanga Affair' was intricately linked with the case of the Taylor brotl1ers.Fambesa l-fanyikawere the Taylor brothers. thers were arrested in February openly told the magistrate As a result bf this both brothat the aniy aliens he recognized as having permission to be in Commenting on the 'Chikanga Affair', W. G. Cameron, general adminis-

1894 on three indictmentst on

two of which they were a.cquitted but convicted on the third to the effect that:both Taylors at divers times ano with various acts and words endeavoured to bring and did bring the government of the territory of J.1ashonalandinto hatred and.contempt and did excite and did raise discontent aIllong Her territory; 'between whereby the endangered 46 sureties for any communication
.100

each and The net the

to guarantee' that they would not approach Mutasa1s court or hold with him or his indunas for one year. result of this injuction was tbat the agents of t~leAPS were denied aCcess to Mutasa's court, thus practiCally preventing syndicate from paying its annual tribute to king.

15;3

The arrest

of the Taylor brothers relations with Mutasa. for Mutasa's

was a turning The magistrate sudden reversal to cordiality.

point in of The

I'll

the syndicate's

Umtali advanced four reasons policy arrest

towards the BSACo., from hostility of the Taylors, according

to him removed the doubt in the own powers. They also realized,

minds of the Manyika as to their it was contended, the 'hollowness

of the African

Portuguese power of

Syndicate's

pretensions

and recognized

the undisputed

the lISACo~'

SecondlY the glamour of presen1;s which the Syndicate time been forgotten; Mutasa's 'passion to see

had sent in 1893 had by this for presents was reviving

and he turned to the BSACo. again

if anything was to be had from thel1l'. This interpretation It only shows that of Mutasa's action misses the point. the magistrate It never understood Mutasa throughmade Mutasa the

out his dealings

with him.

was not the gifts It

that

side with the APSor the BSACo. territorial intergrity of his

was the need to preserve which guided his

kingdom intact

course of action. presents

He turned to the BSACo not because he wanted the shooting of Fambesa, he knew that as

but because after

the end had come and he might as well make his peace as quickly possible. He realized that not only was the power of the syndiI,tilliam Taylor, had already

cate broken, but its left

representative,

the country while Herbert

Taylor had resigned about to leave

his

appointment too.

under ~he syndicate

and 'Wasshortly

the country

The attitude

of Mutasa when he. met the magistrate pa:rt of the hj.story it

at the of his

end aT May 1891+,forms such an integral relationship to relate With great it

to the BSACo., and the APS that as it emerges from the acting

seems pertinent account. (If Taylor,

magistrate's

reluctance

and only at the urgent. persuasion

did the king consent to. crass Fort and others to the effect could

the Odzi ri1l'er in the west to where Almost his first words were they

we:re waiting for him. he was.a friend

of the BSACo., and that

his kingddm for gold.

He then expressed his willingfollowers, enjoined them any complaints

ness to pay hut-tax

huts. The

regime, Mutasa was presented with a set oonditions and statements to endorse. Nothing so'far had happened to Change into friendship the sullenoppoaition of the :SSA Go. in 1893. Mutasa1s f:inal surrender to the BSA Co. had $er10U6 repercussions Chimbadzwa. for the subsequent devel:opment of Manyika politics. his son, Chimbadzwa\'s support of the AI'Swas matched by his aygettingMutasato SUPPort its oause, It oonstituted a parting of the ways between Mutasaand hatred for the BSA Go. he e~1bited to the officials

of

the :aSA Go. had put a wedge between father and son. The dissension within the royal family whioh resulted from this episode offered the BSA Co. an excellent opportunity to drive father and son eVen further apart. The BSA Co. did not want Ghimbadzwa to sucoeed his father to the throne 'because when Ghilllbadzwa comes into power he will endeavour to OaUse trouble and misohief and is evidently endeavouring to ooncentrate his views through his father,.47 The BSA Co. made sure Mutasa followed their line. obviously had no alternative. He It is not olear how the BSA Co.,

aohieved its goal but what i$ olear is that, from then onwards, Mutasa began to groom another son, Chiobvu, for the throne. Chiobvu was a staunoh supporter of the BSA Co.'s pretensions. It is likely that this difference explains more than anything else, Chimbadzwa's and Chiobvu's 1895 disputes over the right to sucoeed their father to the throne.48
1 t

As far as Manyika customary

law of suooession was concerned, Chimbad?wa was the heir ,apparent. would" seem that Mutasa flurrendered to the BSA Co he with Chimbadzwa, as e1.'ente leading to Chimbadzwa's and 'Natal in 1893 indicated. AOQording to the portion' king's subjeots born after Mutasa, had the ch~ldren born before Manyika kingship. In a quarrel that ensued between the two, Chimbadzwa oapt_ured a large number of oattle belonging to Chiobvu. The event oame ,to the notice of the native commissioner who ordered the trial of Chimbadzwa. called upon He was found guilty and ordered to return He was alsQ was the fireJarlnS in possession" ill; all the cattle he had forcibly taken from Chiobvu. surrender the number of fifty. He wa.simprisoned and

angry with him that in spite

he refused

to intercede

on behalf

of his

son

of the pleading

of' Chimbadzwa's mother. sentence Chimbadzwa picked yet which also medium, ,and invol-

After having served his anqther qUa~rel with his ved his ,sisters, father.:

This incident

Muredzwa, the Manyika spirit

Chikanga, co.incided with the outbreak resistance. chief wife, The quarrel originated

of the 1896-7 Shona war of that Mutasa's died.

from the fact

Chikahanwa, mother to Chimbadzwahad recently two sisters accused one 'of Mutasa's

Chimbadzwaand his

wives,

mother to Chiobvu, of having bewitched and caused the death of their mother. They demanded that The king refused Mutasa should either banish or that 500

execute her. in December, people left north.

to do either,

with the result including

1896,

Chimbadzwaand his

two sisters,

Manyika for the neighbouring a year later.

kingdom of Barwe in the

They only returned It

can thus be seen that influenced There is

the rivalry Mutasa's

between the BSACo. in

and the APS indirectly tIle 1896-7 uprising. assertion the issue truth,.

non-participation

some validity with his

in Terence Ranger's

that Mutasa quarrelled of participation

son, Chimbadzwa. over is not the whole than that:

in the war, but this

The issues

involved were far more complicated back into the rivalry

they went deeper and further ri val mono:po1ist companies.

of the two that Mutase.

There was a possibility

.might iu~ve joined the other Shona ru1ers his influence

had Chi.mbadzi,Ja not lost

W'i th the king and. had the Manyika not been divided crucial time . betW'een ESP.Co. and more clearly

and feUding e.mong themselve.s at this From the early

days of the 'rivalry

to have seen the future both father

and son W'anted their. of the second the heir

The rise $u~gest$ that on policy,

since

the old king himThe fact a:pparent

the second son. the heir

of the heir a1'1'ato

natural disaster in the forJllo o! raging famine eXacerbated the situation. It was reckoned that a.!ter the famine in 1896 the entire kingdom had less than 200 heado! cattle and that the. number of sheep and goats had been greatlY redUCed, many having been killed or traded .away tor g.rain on account of the famine. Commenting on why Mutase. didn<ltjo;i,.nthe others in th.e resistance movement the native commiss:i.,<lner had thii:;to say: Mutasa has been blamed f<lrluk.ewarmness in recent troubles we have had with tb.ese Mashonas. I am of the opinion that if he to put a strong had sufficient food and people he would have been able and wining force in the field against his old enemy Makoni and that he foresaw that he would be cutting himself off from. all supplies if he came to open warfare with Makoni.49 The important point to note in the native commissioner's observation is that Mutasa lacked manpower at this time. As to which side he would join, there is no doubt he would have fought the BSA Co. against which he had many grievances, humiliating him before his people, grabbing his land and forcibly demanding labour from his subjects. There is nothing to suggest that Mutasa would fight Makoni in 1896 or as Terence Ranger suggests, that he stayed out of the fight because his old rival Makoni had gone into the war. As for trade even the BSA Co. would not have permitted it had it b.een conducted as between one sovereign ruler and another. and livestock was l,ittle pre-colonial boundaries of flux and it went to war with speculator, to distort histif any option. people had left his In the capital kingdom as already stated and settled elsewhere.

as many as 124 buts were uninhabited, seventy four of which belonged to Chimbadzwa's people. ,The king was very much aware of his weak position and made representations regarding its actions. report of 11arch, 1901, to the effect that:157 to the :aSA Co. His views were aptly summarised in a

The paramount chief Mutasa ea~led on us on the 29th inst. to complain that his natives The chief reason for we.regradually leaving his kraal and settling all overthedi.striet. this complaint is no doubt that he considers he is losing power over his people and consequentlY-his dignity, but he states it leaves him 'Withno men to carry his messages and ti~l his lands and, therefore, theee.:'to return.5
.,~

asked me to order

It can>thus be seen that the weakened economic state his kingdolll,,%pnsequentupon famines, as well as the dissension amonghis.subJect$ resulting from the rivalry between the
BSA

of Co.

and the AI'S made it impossible for Mutasa to raise j.o:t:n'his fel:Low ... menin the war of liberation. i;ion and non-collaboration the state concerned. failed. to participate in resistance

an army and

This study demonsof of

tl::'ates howimportant it is to approach tl1.e question of collaborato the imposition colonial rule from the point of view of the internal in wars of l'esistance lexicon, politics

It was not in every case that African rulers because they Were, to stoogeS.

U.Se Ii woirdout. ofourcontelllporary

F 0 0 T NOT

E S

lRanger, T. 0., Revolt in Southern Rhode~ia (London, Heine.mann, Paperback edition ,1979) x.... xii 2Beach, D. N., "Chimurenga" The Shona lHping of 1896"97.' Journal of African Histor1 (JAH:),20,; (1979) 395.. 420 3cobbing,Julian flTheAbrentPriepthood: AMtherLook Risingp of 1896,,1897" J!lH:, XVItI,I(1977) 64.. 84 at the

4Tsomondo, Madziwanyika, !'ShonaReaction and Resistance to the European Colonization of Zimbabwe", Journal of Southern African Affairs, II, (1977) 15

6Maji-maji Research Project: Collected Papers. Dar es Saalam, University College, Department of History, (1968) 8. For the so-called Bam'bata rebellion see Marks, Shula,Re1uctant Rebellion: The 1901-1908 Disturbance~ in Natal (Oxford, OUP, 1970) 7Ranger, T. 0., Revolt in Southern Rhodesia, 197 8Hole, High MarShall, The Making of Rhode.sia (London, .Frank Oass, 19(7) 171

l\taugham, R .F., Zambezia: A General Descri of the Zambezi from with its Histor, ic .London, John. Murray, 19

159

12A.ndrada,IIReJ:a.tioriol ~aS~illl;'<'l\rchivo Historico Ultralllarino .. A.llU Lisbon) 1 Reparticao, pasta 2: Instructions for the new governor of Manicaop.cit.; IICon6u1 O'neill to Marquis of Salisb\U'1.Koza!llbiqlle $O. vi;i.i 1888n in Confidential Print 5904. A.fricaSOl,lthN'o 2: Correspondence Respecting the. AQtion of rro'la~gal in. Kashonaland and in the Districts of the Shire in ;take N:fl;ltl. (1890) 76,.. Q 13"Petrie to the Marquis of Salisbury, 1. viii 1889" .in Confidential Print 5904 Africa South, NO.2. opocit. 14National Affairs: Archives of Rhodesia (NAR) CT/1/5 Mozambique Company's A.R. Colguhoum to Secretary BSACompany 30 xii 1890

'15Ibid

--..
....

),6. MAR 1)18/5/3 Mministrato!'. Encloeu!'e .2

BS,! Co to Denis Doyle,

17 xi 1890.

17Ibid . 18
The ,-.aniea Mining Journe.L (May 1900)

..

14J

19Ibid
20Ibid 21Ibia

LY
f!+J
Co., Mashonaland, to Denis Doyle,

22NAR D'1:8/5/; !\d,mini$trator13SA

1890 encl.

i;

Portuguese Co., Kimberley. i.

1891;

Secretary,

27 ... NAR CT1/2/3 G. Seymour Fort, The Afriean Portuguese Syndicate's 'Claim in Manica: Memorandum to High Commissioner, ,0.'\1i,1894 28NAR CT/l/12/1 G. F.Thomas
29Ibid

to Rhodes. 22.vh1891

30NAR C'1'1/12/8Colguhoun to cecil John Rhod.es 19.LX.1890; NAR C'1'1/12/1Hugh Marshall ROle, Actingsecret$.ry, 'J3SACO., to Secretary, C,ape Town ..23.VlI .1892; NAR p'l'8/5/'Administrator toP. DoYle, l?XI.l890. Xn addi .. tion to the specified. items, Mutasa received rifles, ;powder caps, white calico, coloured. .ca.licoand what wl;lscalled uEuropean clothing" (c.oat.s,trousers, hats,shirts) a.nd ruglil ,1NAR cT1!fl/1/7-B currie, Foreign Office, ere) to:BSA Co., -yendon, 20.Vt.1891 NAR CT1/l1/1/? .. 8 J. R. Sanderson, Fa to BSA co., London '"W.viH.1891 32NAR CT1/2/3 The Petition of Mutasa, King of Manica, South East Africa to the Rt. Honourable Secretary of State for Colonies 3.i.1894; . NAR CT1/2/;Graham Vigne, Mallet (solicitors for APS) to R.E. -sir Loch, Cape Town. 3.xi.1894 33NA.R CT1/~('

Fa, Edward Fa.irfield to African Portuguese Syndicate

-a8'. iii .1894

RhodlilS,ManagingD:tvectolt ,

35:aenne1"haSlSei;t. Rose and Sheeman, Luoy.,Ad'Ven'P'U~e$. in.Ml!ts~ona;tAAd (New. York. Macmillan, 1893) 180 Cl;l,ldeQot1; to Administratol:' 9.5I;ii.189:; Pl:'O',testof the. agent. of .th.eAf1"ican.1?ortuguese lIet'pel'tJ.'J?aylol:' , to Civil Commis.siOnel',:aSA Co., .Acting Magistrate, Mining Commisaioner to Resident to

1/l?/8 Colquhoun to Rhodes, 19.xi.1890 1/2/; G. Seymour Fort to Captain Scott Turner 23.viii.1894 CT 1/2/"$ G.Seymour F01"t to High Commissioner, Cape Town
.;O.'ITi.1894

39G SeYlllO!lr Fort, llr~emorandumll, 0;l'.cit.

161

4()!bid. 411bid. 4ZC'f 1/Z/3 The Fetiti()nof Mutasa, King of Manica, South East Af1'iclil, to tb;e Rt. Ronourab1e Secretary of State for Colonies ,.i.1894 '

43CT1I2/3 Fort.

,flMelllo):'andunr'.op.cit. 1/Z/30lilldeoott t~ Fort 14.i.1894 , Alsl;>,see Evi~enceo,f JilllTholllas, The Fingo interpreter who delivel'ed the message in hie evidence at the trial of the Taylors on 28 February, 1894. OT l/2/3 Fort to A. H. Duncan IX.1894 CT 1/2/2 lierbertTaY1l;>r t~ Civil Commissioner 9.i.1894. For a detailed accoun.tof the "Affair" see CT 1/2/3 Fort to Duncan 9.i.18c91j. tf.)

aT

<.5

1j.4, ' G. S. Fort's

"memorandum" Print 879/42 'Cameron to

45public Record'Office; Confidential Marquis of Ripon. 9.xxii1894

46

Fort'

"Memorandum"op.ci

t.

47NUA 1/1/1 Native (CMC>, Salisbury.

Commissioner J. 11i. 1901

(Ne)

to chief

Native

Commissioner

48

NUll. .Z/1/1 NC to ONC 21.xii 1896 N 1/1/11 NO to CNe 19.ix.1897

50~IUA 1/1/1

NO Umtal;i to CNe SaUsbury

1.iii.1901