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Political revolution in the northern and southern interior
The document summarizes political changes in southern Africa between 1820-1835, including the rise of two kingdoms: 1) In the northern interior, the Ndebele kingdom was established under the leadership of Mzilikazi, who defeated many Tswana chiefdoms but also absorbed people into his kingdom. 2) In the southern interior, the Basotho kingdom emerged under Moshoeshoe, who attracted thousands of followers to his stronghold at Thaba Bosiu. He used diplomacy to maintain relations with neighbors like the Zulu. The document also discusses the role of Boer settlers, including voortrekkers, and their increasing conflicts with African kingdoms over land. Raiding
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Overview of political transformations in Southern Africa, focusing on revolutions from 1820 to 1835.
Ndebele kingdom's emergence under Mzilikazi, its raids, stability in Rustenburg, and eventual migration to present-day Zimbabwe.
Formation of Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe amidst settler pressures and their establishment in Thaba Bosiu for protection.
Moshoeshoe's diplomatic strategies to maintain peace with powerful neighbors like the Zulu and Ndebele after conflicts.
Impact of Dutch settlers (Boers) and their movements, including the Great Trek, and their interactions with African kingdoms.
Background on the Griqua and Kora, their origins, and interactions with African chiefdoms through trade and conflict.
Griqua's alliances with Thlaping and their involvement during conflicts initiated by the Ndebele under Mzilikazi.
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Political revolution in the northern and southern interior
- 1. POLITICAL REVOLUTION INTHE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN INTERIOR, 1820-1835 Grade: 10 Term: 3 Topic: 4 – TRANSFORMATIONS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA AFTER 1750 Sub-Topic: POLITICAL REVOLUTION IN THE NORTHERN AND SOUTHERN INTERIOR, 1820-1835 1M.N.SPIES
- 2. The rise ofthe Ndebele kingdom under Mzilikazi –Northern Interior M.N.SPIES 2
- 3. The rise ofthe Ndebele kingdom under Mzilikazi –Northern Interior M.N.SPIES 3
- 4. Mzilikazi establishes theNdebele • Mzilikazi of the Khumalo crossed the Drakensberg Mountains from Natal and arrived on the Highveld in about 1823. • He moved into the Rustenburg area in about 1826. • He raided cattle in the region, and absorbed people into the 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 each other, raiding and famine. • Some large towns had already been abandoned. • The remaining Tswana chiefdoms could offer no serious resistance to the Ndebele, and were quickly defeated. 4M.N.SPIES
- 5. Mzilikazi in theNorthern interior • Mzilikazi was a ruthless fighter, and destroyed many smaller chiefdoms. • But he also absorbed migrant people who had been displaced and were poor. (A number of people who became Ndebele were originally Setswana-speakers.) • Between 1827 and 1837, Tswana chiefs who lived in the• Between 1827 and 1837, Tswana chiefs who lived in the Rustenburg-Zeerust area were allowed to retain their independence, but they had to pay tribute to Mzilikazi, in order to recognise his supremacy. • Mzilikazi can be seen as someone who stabilised life in the Rustenburg area rather than only as a fighter who destroyed chiefdoms. 5M.N.SPIES
- 6. Mzilikazi in theNorthern interior • The Griqua and Kora raided the Ndebele throughout the 1830's. • Trekboers from the Cape Colony added to the pressure on Mzilikazi.pressure on Mzilikazi. • Eventually, in the 1840's, Mzilikazi and his followers left the region and re-established themselves in the south-western area of what is present-day Zimbabwe. 6M.N.SPIES
- 7. The emergence ofthe Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe – Southern Interior M.N.SPIES 7
- 8. The emergence ofthe Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe – Southern Interior • No formal boundary lines marked Basotho territory. • Rather, the Basotho kingdom was wherever those who recognised the king's authority were settled. • Rather, the Basotho kingdom was wherever those who recognised the king's authority were settled. • In the 1820's, small groups of trekboers began moving into the Caledon River Valley. • There were many other groups in the area including other African kingdoms that had been disrupted during the time of troubles. 8M.N.SPIES
- 9. The emergence ofthe Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe – Southern Interior • Under the impact of settler pressure and the rise of new African kingdoms, thousands of people moved northwards across the Drakensberg Mountains from what is present-day northern moved northwards across the Drakensberg Mountains from what is present-day northern Natal. • Moshoeshoe and his followers soon also found themselves under attack. • Moshoeshoe realized that his people needed a stronger fortress to protect themselves from attack. M.N.SPIES 9
- 10. The emergence ofthe Basotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe – Southern Interior M.N.SPIES 10
- 11. Moshoeshoe moves toThaba Bosiu • In 1824, Moshoeshoe and his followers fled to Thaba Bosiu (Mountain at Night), a flat-topped hill with steep sides that served as a great natural stronghold. • When other groups saw that Moshoeshoe could offer them protection, more joined him. • Many people had been driven from their homes during• Many people had been driven from their homes during the 'time of troubles' and were attracted to Moshoeshoe's kingdom because of its stability. • Moshoeshoe gave people land, and in return he expected them to help protect his kingdom. • In this way, Moshoeshoe attracted many followers and by the mid 1830's, his kingdom had become the most powerful in the Caledon River region. 11M.N.SPIES
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- 14. Moshoeshoe the diplomat •Moshoeshoe tried to avoid war, so that his kingdom could grow stronger and maintain the support of his people, and of course so that he could avoid the possibility of beingthat he could avoid the possibility of being defeated. • Here are two examples of how he used diplomacy to avoid war: 14M.N.SPIES
- 15. Moshoeshoe the diplomat 1. Hesometimes sent gifts of cattle to the strong Zulu king,strong Zulu king, Shaka. He hoped that the Zulus would leave him in peace. M.N.SPIES 15
- 16. 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.' M.N.SPIES 16
- 17. Role of theBoers in the political revolution, 1820-1835 • You learnt that when Europeans first came to southern Africa, they settled in the Cape. • The Dutch set up a colony in the Cape by• The Dutch set up a colony in the Cape by the middle of the 17th century, and the British took it over at the beginning of the 19th century. 17M.N.SPIES
- 18. THE TREKBOERS • Fromthe 1820's, a small number of Dutch- speaking farmers (called boers in Afrikaans) began crossing the Orange River to graze their cattle and sheep in the fertile Caledon Valley. Moshoeshoe accepted these trekboers, and according to Basotho practice, he gave them the Moshoeshoe accepted these trekboers, and according to Basotho practice, he gave them the right to use the land where they had settled. They lived peacefully alongside the Basotho. Moshoeshoe was careful not to sign any documents or to accept any gifts from these trekboers so that they could never claim to have bought the land. 18M.N.SPIES
- 19. THE VOORTREKKERS • SomeBoer farmers did not accept British rule, and hundreds of Boer families and their servants moved away from the Cape in the late 1830's. • These Voortrekkers moved into various parts of southern Africa.southern Africa. • The large movement of Boers from the Cape became known as the 'Great' Trek. The Boers were at first not very powerful; the African kingdoms in southern Africa were much stronger. 19M.N.SPIES
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- 21. • The Boersoften fought among themselves and fought wars against African kingdoms. • The Boers and the African farmers did not only have relationships of conflict, though. • They also traded with one another, and the Boers often paid tribute to the African kingdom in the area where they had settled. M.N.SPIES 21 where they had settled. • Sometimes they even fought side by side with the African kingdoms against a common enemy. • In the mid-1830's, thousand of Voortrekkers and their servants left the Eastern Cape in protest against British rule and in search of land. • They left in several groups, each under their own leader.
- 22. The Boers andMoshoeshoe • The Boers moved north across the Orange River, through the western part of Moshoeshoe's kingdom. • Some continued northwards, others went into Natal.Natal. • Moshoeshoe allowed some of the boers to stay as guests in the Caledon Valley until they were ready to move on. • Like any visitors, Moshoeshoe's expectation was that they would not stay permanently. M.N.SPIES 22
- 23. • Most ofthe time, the Boers and the Basotho lived peacefully with each other and relied on each other. • Trading between the Basotho and the Boers in the interior increased. • In exchange for grain and cattle, the Basotho got large stores of guns and gunpowder. • The Boers became dependent on the Basotho for M.N.SPIES 23 • The Boers became dependent on the Basotho for their wheat and maize. • Friendly relations existed between the Boers and the Basotho until the 1840's, when the Boers began to claim the land they occupied as their private property. This led to conflict.
- 24. DID YOU KNOW •Before Europeans arrived in South Africa, there was no private ownership of land. • Everyone lived on or near the land that they used. • The land belonged to the community.• The land belonged to the community. • The head of the kingdom was trusted to look after the land on behalf of the ancestors, the people living in the kingdom and those yet to be born. • There was enough land for everyone. M.N.SPIES 24
- 25. Kora and Griquaraiders • As discussed earlier in this topic, the Kora and Griqua interacted with other chiefdoms in southern Africa. • In this unit, we learn more about who• In this unit, we learn more about who the Griqua and Kora were, and their role in the political changes between 1750 and 1820. M.N.SPIES 25
- 26. THE GRIQUA • TheGriqua were descendants of Dutch settlers and indigenous people, including Khoisan and slaves, who had escaped from the Cape Colony. • They settled in the area north of the Orange River in the early 19th century.the early 19th century. • Small groups of Griqua often launched cattle raids into the surrounding African kingdoms. • They opened up trade between the Cape Colony and the interior. • African farmers traded sorghum and maize for clothing and firearms. M.N.SPIES 26
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- 28. THE KORA • TheKora were also settled in the area north of the Orange River. • Some of them were of European and Khoi descent, and had left the CapeKhoi descent, and had left the Cape Colony because they had lost their land. • Others were descendant of the original Khoi inhabitants of the Orange River area. M.N.SPIES 28
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- 30. The Griqua andThlaping during the 'time of troubles' • The Thlaping were a southern Tswana chiefdom. • During the 'time of troubles', there was some intermarriage between the Griqua and the Thlaping.Thlaping. • Also during this period, the Griqua established many trading alliances in the area. • In 1823, the Griqua fought in the battle of Dithakong. Dithakong was where the Thlaping had their capital. M.N.SPIES 30
- 31. • The Thlapingwere attacked by other smaller African chiefdoms nearby. • The missionary Robert Moffat was working among the Thlaping, and he asked the Griqua to help the Thlaping fight off the attackers. M.N.SPIES 31 fight off the attackers. • This they did successfully. • The Griqua were strategic fighters who were able to adapt and change depending on the circumstances threatening them.
- 32. • Then, in1826, the Ndebele under Mzilikazi entered the area and sparked more fighting. • In the wars that followed, the Ndebele absorbed some of the southern Tswana chiefdoms and some Tswana chiefdoms reluctantly paid tribute to Mzilikazi. • The fighting disrupted the Griqua's trade. • They helped Tswana chiefdoms to fight against the Ndebele. M.N.SPIES 32 • They helped Tswana chiefdoms to fight against the Ndebele. • A combined Thlaping, Rolong and Griqua force tried unsuccessfully to drive Mzilikazi out of the area. • When some Voortrekkers arrived in the area, they became allies of the Griqua. • Together with the Thlaping they were finally able to drive Mzilikazi out.