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Mlimo, the Ndebele spiritual/religious leader, is credited with fomenting much of the anger that led to this confrontation. He convinced the Ndebele and Shona that the white settlers (almost 4,000 strong by then) were responsible for the drought, locust plagues and the cattle disease rinderpest ravaging the country at the time. Mlimo's call to ...
This resulted in several confrontations of which Mzilikazi won several, until at length the Voortrekkers over powered Mzilikazi. The battle took two years during which the Matabele suffered heavy losses. By early 1838, Mzilikazi and his people were forced northwards and out of Transvaal altogether, across the Limpopo River. He decided to split ...
The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought in 1896 and 1897 in the region later known as Southern Rhodesia, now modern-day Zimbabwe.It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Matabele people, which led to conflict with the Shona people in the rest of Southern Rhodesia.
Northern Ndebele spoken in Zimbabwe and Southern Ndebele (or Transvaal Ndebele) spoken in South Africa are separate but related languages with some degree of mutual intelligibility, although the former is more closely related to Zulu. Southern Ndebele, while maintaining its Nguni roots, has been influenced by the Sotho languages. [1]
The name Chimurenga is coined from the great ancestor of the now Shona, Venda and Kalanga people.The Nambya people are also a part of this group. Their ancestor was known by the name Murenga Musorowenzou (Head of an Elephant), known by the Venda as Thoho yaNdou and Sholo reZhou. [2]
Around 1896 the Shona and the Ndbele had around 10,000 guns between the two groups, and by 1879 the Zulu tribes had around 8,000 guns. The Shona were even taught how to manufacture ammunition as well as repair broken or damaged guns. The guns were also used to attract miners because they were sold at and close to mining camps.
There is a much earlier source for Ndebele hostility to the Shona, going back to the arrival in 1837 of Mzilikazi and his Matabeleland kingdom. Mzilikazi carved out a territory for himself by fighting and dispossessing the local VaRozvi led by Changamire Chirisamhuru , the then patriach.
The battle took place on 1 November 1893. This was the most decisive battle won by the British South Africa Company in the First Matabele War of 1893. The British South Africa Company went over to Ndebele positions and were almost ambushed, yet due to command issues they went another way with Ndebele spearman waiting for them.