Political revolution in the northern and southern interior

1. POLITICAL REVOLUTION IN THE
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
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2. The rise of the Ndebele kingdom
under Mzilikazi –Northern Interior
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3. The rise of the Ndebele kingdom
under Mzilikazi –Northern Interior
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4. Mzilikazi establishes the Ndebele
• 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.
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5. Mzilikazi in the Northern 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.
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6. Mzilikazi in the Northern 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.
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7. The emergence of the Basotho
kingdom under Moshoeshoe –
Southern Interior
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8. The emergence of the 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.
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9. The emergence of the 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.
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10. The emergence of the Basotho
kingdom under Moshoeshoe –
Southern Interior
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11. Moshoeshoe moves to Thaba 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.
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12. Thaba Bosiu
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13. Thaba Bosiu
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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:
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15. Moshoeshoe
the 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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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.'
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17. Role of the Boers 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.
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18. THE TREKBOERS
• From the 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.
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19. THE VOORTREKKERS
• Some Boer 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.
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20. THE VOORTREKKERS
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21. • The Boers often 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.
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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 and Moshoeshoe
• 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.
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23. • Most of the 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
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• 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.
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25. Kora and Griqua raiders
• 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.
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26. THE GRIQUA
• The Griqua 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.
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27. THE GRIQUA
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28. THE KORA
• The Kora 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.
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29. THE KORA
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30. The Griqua and Thlaping 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.
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31. • The Thlaping were 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.
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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, in 1826, 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.
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• 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.