Pdf on jun 1, 1998, pamela scully and others published carolyn hamilton, editor. This course is a survey of the history of southern africa, the region of the continent which today includes the nations of south africa, zimbabwe, botswana, namibia, mozambique, angola, zambia and malawi. Its a private tour so you wont find it commercially. Mfecane in south africa and the african holocaust in general. South africa the mfecane went from strength to strength. These are some of the issues explored in this collection, which is designed as a response to. The historiographical development of the concept mfecane and the writing of early southern african history, from the 1820s to. Clans fleeing the zulu war zone included the soshangane, zwangendaba, ndebele, hlubi, ngwane, and the mfengu. The zulu nation covered the area marked in black on the map and. The unresolved debate on the mfecane in southern african history has been marked by general acceptance of the proposition that large scale loss of life and disruption of settled society was experienced across the. Map 2 mfecane in the 1823 to 1838 period chapter 2 30 map 3 thompsons map, 1827 44. Since the 1990s, we have faced veritable civil war levels of violent crime. From one angle the mfecane was the nguni diaspora which from the. Political changes from 1750 to 1835 south african history online.
Enlargement of a section of a 1885 map of south africa showing geographical details of zululand and natal rise of the zulu people under king shaka zulu after the mfecane, the black peoples were living in an area shaped like a horseshoe. A time perhaps not as brutal as the original mfecane, where untold numbers of people were slain in brutal conquest, but potentially just as disruptive. Mfecane was the period of widespreading warfare plundening disturbances 1. Accepted idea was that the radical political and social changes among the bantu societies were caused by the expansion of the zulu kingdom under shaka zulu.
These movement to a great extent, determined the present state formations in the. Agu the 19th century africa witnessed a number of cataclysmic upheavals that led to massive population movements and readjustment of the map of the continent. The attacking mthethwa army was driven south after dingiswayo was captured and put to death. The area most affected by the mfecane and zulu expansion was kwazulu natal. Effects of mfecane on the peoples of southern, central and eastern africa the mfecane had a long lasting impact on the history of southern africa.
Coined the term mfecane in the zulu aftermath in 1966. This map illustrates the rise of the zulu empire under shaka 18161828 in presentday south africa. Shaka zulu refined this system and forged the strongest army in southern africa. Kwazulu natal was the part of south africa that suffered most devastation during the mfecane. A n e is a tenacious and stillevolving multiple theme in the historio graphy of the apartheid state. Much of the current historical research on southern africa has fo cused on the. The mfecane is a characteristic product of south african liberal history used by the apartheid state to legitimate south africa s racially unequal land division. Shaka joined the tribe of dingiswayo as a young man. The history of man in south africa covers such a vast period of time that it is difficult to know. Jun 06, 2012 in the 1970s the mfecane has become the most widely used terms in south african history and historical literature. Nov 27, 2009 mfecane in south africa and the african holocaust in general. The confusion among the mthethwa opened the way for a new and even more powerful leader shaka.
Map 2 mfecane in the 1823 to 1838 period chapter 2 30 map 3 thompsons map. The great trek is regarded by afrikaners as a central event of their 19thcentury history and the origin of their nationhood. African resistance to the boers, the rise of the zulu peoples and their expansion northwards at the expense of other bantu groups. The sotho refers to the mfecane as the defecane or lifaquane, which means forced migration. Characterized by violence, racial differences and diversity, south africa s history is inseparably entwined with the history of the african continent. How large a responsibility do shaka and the zulu people bear for the social turbulence in south central and south east africa in the early decades of the 19th century. Other nguni tribes fled and settled in other areas during this time which is known as the mfecane period. The three basotho wars 185868 and the formation of lesotho.
Mfecane was the period of widespreading warfare plundening. Effects of mfecane on the peoples of southern, central and eastern africa. Mfecane was the period of widespreading warfare plundening disturbances, destruction andmigrations in zulu land and in some other parts of south africa. Basotho wars 1858 1868 south african history online. The historiographical development of the concept mfecane. When you have eliminated the javascript, whatever remains must be an empty page. Refugee groups fleeing shakas army caused destruction in the area, and this was followed by further devastation by the zulu warriors. He believed that africans naturally waged barbarous tribal wars until the arrival of. Finally, it contains a brand new introduction south africa 1899, iraq 2003. Political changes from 1750 to 1835 south african history. The history of the continent from an african perspective. The mfecane had a long lasting impact on the history of southern africa. Reconstructive debates in southern african history. From about 50,000bc groups of san people migrate out southern africa eventually giving rise apparently to modern man in the rest of the world.
This also caused conflict over cattle, grain and water, which eventually led to war. Great trek, afrikaans groot trek, the emigration of some 12,000 to 14,000 boers from cape colony in south africa between 1835 and the early 1840s, in rebellion against the policies of the british government and in search of fresh pasturelands. The mfecane was a period of chaos and indigenous tribal warfare in south africa that saw the near depopulation of the region from 1815 to around 1840 timeframe. Mfecane african history britannica encyclopedia britannica. The crushing series of zulu and other nguni wars and. South africa assisted the allied war effort by capturing the two german colonies of german west africa and german east africa, as well as participating in battles in western europe and the middle east. Together with the mfecane, this is the most devastating war in the history of south africa. In south africa itself the mfecane caused immense suffering and. The tswana and pedi lived in the west and the venda, shangaan, tsonga and swazi lived in the north. This area to the east of the drakensbergs and the eastern escarpment benefits from prevailing winds off the indian ocean. The movement of south africa essay in 1994, the antiapartheid movement in south africa, after three decades of resistance, succeeded in ending an oppressive, unpopular regime in order to make way for south africas first democratic government. The early history of south africailovepdfcompressed. The effects of mfecane can be grouped into positive and negative effects.
Eldredge michigan state university during the i820s the entire region of southern africa was affected directly or indirectly by tremendous demographic upheaval and revolutionary social and political change. Jun 21, 2018 south africa faces a time of strife that we would like to ignore. The mfecane is thought to be a massive upheaval and devastation of nguni tribal chiefdoms in the second decade of the 19th century in what is now kwazulunatal and the eastern cape of south africa. In the cape colony it greatly increased pressures on the eastern frontier as refugees known as mfengu crowded in on the peoples of the transkei. Mfecane is an nguni word which means crushing and was used by the nguni to describe the violent wars that tore apart central and southern africa between 1820 and1835. The mfecanedifaqane problem from the documentary record. The debate on the mfecane that erupted following the publication in. Mfecane and southern africa c 3 what was the mfecane and. Brief history of south africa, from prehistoric to post. Also during that period saw the growth of trade and the establishment of several european colonies. This worksheet answers questions about the mfecane war in south africa such as when did mfecane war started, why mfecane war, what is mfecane war and its causes, why mfecane spread so far, and more. A hotly contested issue in the debate on south africas mfecane which enlivened. Mfecane historiography has separated the advent of the fingo.
The causes of the mfecane were emerging by the end of the eighteenth century, when population levels increased rapidly, and ecological resources were sometimes scarce. Mfecane refers to a period of political disruption and population migration in south africa to other areas during 1820sand 1830s europeans called mfecane as wars of calamity by 1825, two and half millions starring homeless people wondered about south africa. A guide for interpreting the mfecane s role in history was the mfecane a figment of historians imagination as julian cobbing contends. South africa faces a time of strife that we would like to ignore. The total south african casualties during the war was about 18,600. The mfecane and its effects publish your masters thesis. Nguni, cluster of related bantuspeaking ethnic groups living in south africa, swaziland, and zimbabwe, whose ancestors inhabited a broad band of upland territory extending from the great fish river, in what is now eastern cape province, northward to kosi bay, near the border of kwazulunatal.
Mfecane war south african history consists of a series of events that took place during the early 19 century in south africa. Effects of mfecane on southern and central africa free. The mfecne resulted in the death of so many people and destruction of property. It took another fifty years for the struggle between afrikaners and british to be settled with the formation of the union of south africa in 1910 and a further eighty six years. Statebuilding in natal the northern nguni lived in modern day natal and zululand. The ndebele moved in 1840 to what is now south western zimbabwe. A combination of local factorspopulation growth, the depletion of natural resources, and devastating drought and famineled to revolutionary changes in the political, economic, and social structure of bantuspeaking communities in southern africa in the first half of the nineteenth century. Grade 10 transformations in southern africa after 1750. History 8b mfecane, mines and mandela professor burke fall 2006. From the tales of the war and their fame in nguniland. First theory presented on the mfecane was written by historian george mccall theal. The argument requires careful reference to the maps.
The mfecane movement in south africa essay theories. Dec 11, 2011 in the 1970s the mfecane has become the most widely used terms in south african history and historical literature. The rise of the zulu empire under shaka forced other chiefdoms and clans to flee across a wide area of southern africa. The mfecane influenced southern africa from the cape colony to. The zulu kingdom and the mfecane saint marys university.
Many of its effects were negative and destructive, others were positive and constructive. Eventually war between the mthethwa and the ndwande broken out in 1817. In south africa itself the mfecane caused immense suffering and devastated large areas as refugees scrambled to safety in mountain fastnesses or were killed, thus easing the way for white expansion into natal and the highveld. The war degenerated from a white mans battle between the british and the boers into a regional conflict that affected all the inhabitants of the land, civilians included. Mfecane was unquestioned fact of southern africa until the 1980s. Some astonishingly selective use or actual invention of evidence produced the myth of an internallyinduced process of blackonblack destruction centring on shakas zulu. This map illustrates the rise of the zulu empire under shaka 18161828 in present day south africa. Explore the fascinating and extraordinary history of south africa, from its earliest inhabitants to the post apartheid era. Mfecane also known by the sesotho name difaqane or lifaqane was a period of widespread chaos and warfare among indigenous ethnic communities in southern africa. Causes of the mfecane essay example 867 words cram. The crushing series of zulu and other nguni wars and forced migrations of the second and third decades of the 19th century that changed the demographic, social, and political configuration of southern and central africa and parts of eastern africa. The mfecane led to the creation of strong centralised new states that is, the zulu under shaka, ngwane under sobhuza, ngoni states, ndebele and kololo. Map 3 thompsons map, 1827 44 map 4 mfecane in the 1839 to 1876 period chapter 3 70 map 5 harriss map, 1839 76 map 6 mfecane in the 1877 to 1904 period chapter 4 106 map 7 theals map, 1891 127 map 8 mfecane in the 1905 to 1928 period chapter 5 143.
Mfecane and southern africa c 3 what was the mfecane and how did it affect southern a\ufb01iea what was the social structure of american slavebased. Aug 30, 2011 the mfecane was a period of chaos and indigenous tribal warfare in south africa that saw the near depopulation of the region from 1815 to around 1840 timeframe. With hundreds of pages, and multimedia, the bbc investigates the events and characters that have made african history from the origins of. From about 500ad bantu speaking people from central and eastern africa had migrated into south. Mfecane refers to a period of political disruption and population migration in southern africa which occurred during the 1820s and 1830s.
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