Soshangane kaZikode (1780–1858), born Soshangane Nxumalo, was the founder and first king of the Gazankulu Empire, which at the height of its power stretched over modern-day southern Mozambique and parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo provinces in South Africa.
Soshangane ruled over the Gaza state from 1825 until his death in 1858. Soshangane was also known by the name of Manukosi, and his troops where responsible for the massacre of the Janse van Rensburg trek.
Early life
He was born in 1780 in modern-day KwaNongoma, KwaZulu to Zikode kaGasa, a chief the junior branch (iKohlo) of the Ndwandwe. His younger brother was Mhlaba. The Gasa occupied the Mkuze region around the eTshaneni mountain (Ghost Mountain)....
whilst the senior house under Zwide lived in Magudu near the Pongola Valley. Around the same time that the Ndwandwe were growing in military power, Zwide ascended to the Ndwandwe-Nxumalo throne following the death of his father Langa KaXaba.
Ndwande-Zulu Wars
It was at this time that Zwide sought to expand his borders, and in 1818 he destroyed the power of the Mthethwa Kingdom, after he had their paramount chief Dingiswayo KaJobe killed. Zwide and his Ndwandwe forces then destroyed and overran the neighbouring...
Khumalo Kingdom and executed their chief Mashobana KaMangete with the help of Queen Ntombazi, a witch doctor and Langa kaXaba's wife. Mashobana's son and heir Mzilikazi escaped from the Ndwandwe-Nxumalo and sought refuge with Shaka, who had reformed the remnant Mthethwa clan...
under his rule. The Ndwandwe and Zulu would clash for the first time at the Battle of Gqokli Hill in which Zwide and his heir Nomahlanjana were commanders of the Ndwandwe forces, whilst neither side emerged victorious, these two military powers would soon clash again.
In 1820, with Soshangane kaGasa as the commanding general of the Ndwandwe army under King Zwide, the Ndwandwe forces were attacked by the Zulu forces whilst crossing the Mhlatuze River, scattered and confused the Zulu inflicted a resounding defeat on the Ndwandwe, however losses
were heavy on both sides. Following this defeat, Soshangane led a remnant of the army and of the Ndwandwe people northwards and away from Shaka's Zulu hegemony.
The Founding of the Gasa/Gaza Kingdom
Soshangane left with his followers and his younger brother Mhlaba for the eastern Lebombo foothills, till they reached the vicinity of upper Tembe river. Around 1825 Soshangane entered the country between Matsolo and Nkomati river where he
found Zwangendaba Hlatswayo of the Jele clan, a former Ndwandwe subsidiary chief. They briefly formed an alliance, but due to Soshangane's ambition to establish his own kingdom this was short-lived. After trouble arose between Soshangane and his younger brother Mhlaba,
Zwangendaba and his followers left for Vendaland, between Limpopo (Vembe) and Levubu (Ribvubye) rivers being joined by Mhlaba. They lived there for a while, before migrating to the North (Lozwiland), near present-day Bulawayo. He defeated the Tjangamile Dombo of the Lozwi. He...
later left for Manyikaland in the North east where he met Soshangane again in the early 1830s. They fled from Soshangane and Zwangendaba crossed the Zambezi river in 1835, after they split with Soshangane's young brother Mhlaba in 1934. Mhlaba remained in the Zambezi area and...
commonly known as Mhlabawadabuka (Lubimbi). Mhlabawadabuka means the one who split the land, which led to the totem (Kwamulanyika). By 1825 Nxaba Msane, another former Ndwandwe general and subsidiary chief had entered central Mozambique, in the Sofala province.
He ruled Sofala undisturbed for about 10 years, between 1825 and 1835. It was only in 1835 when he was removed by Soshangane. Nxaba left Sofala for Zambia. After defeating Nxaba, Soshangane lived for a while in Musapa in Zimbabwe, where he conquered the Ndau and Manyika.
Some Gazan Nguni lived in various Manyika regions in Zimbabwe, like the Zindi, Samanga, Nyamhuka, Karombe and Murahwa. Soshangane then began to carve out a Nguni empire of conquest known as the Gaza Empire (or Gasa), named after his grandfather Gasa KaLanga, which would later...
significantly expand to cover areas over present day southern Mozambique, parts of Mpumalanga and Limpopo in South Africa. The rise of the Gaza Kingdom was based primarily on military conquests, particularly of the Ronga and Ndau peoples, who would be absorbed into the...
Nguni Gaza Kingdom. Soshangane then began a campaign to create a new language and culture named after himself. This began primarily with the formation of a regimented system in which different classes of the Gasa/Gaza kingdom were separated.
The conquered Ndau and Ronga peoples were regimented under the Mavulandlela regiment and taught Nguni/Ndwandwe battle tactics.
In 1828 Shaka sent a punitive expedition to liquidate his rival to the North, however suffering from malaria & food shortages they were easily defeated and Soshangane consolidated his empire. Soshangane's army overran the Portuguese settlements at Delagoa Bay, Inhambane and Sena,
and he extracted tribute from the Europeans, primarily the Portuguese. After the death of Soshangane around 1856, Soshangane's empire was embroiled in succession disputes between his sons Mzila and Mawewe.
The final ruler of independent Gazankulu state was Soshangane's grandson Mdungazwe kaMzila who in 1895 was defeated by the once tributary Portuguese leading the Nguni Gazan empire entered into decline.
Soshangane is one of a number of outstanding figures that rose to prominence during the Mfecane.
List of Soshangane's ancestors (Ndwandwe/Nxumalo lineage)
✍🏽Nxumalo
✍🏽Ndwandwe kaNxumalo
✍🏽Mkhatshwa kaNdwandwe
✍🏽Manukuse KaMkhatshwa
✍🏽Makweya kaManukuse
✍🏽Gasa kaMakweya
✍🏽Zikode KaGasa
✍🏽Soshangane KaZikode (founder of the amaShangane tribe)
Since It Is My Birthday Month, I Give Respect To Those Who Came Before Me. I Wouldn’t Be Alive If Sacubana Ngwenya Never Lived. Hopefully I Will Find My Blood In These Twitter Spaces Too. If You Are A Ngwenya In Zim And Of Sotho Heritage, You Will Love This…
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History of Umdeni kaSacubana
According to the history that was presented to us by ubaba uBlackie Ngwenya, the Ngwenyas were Mzilikazi’s favorites such that when he died, his son Lobengula assigned the Ngwenyas (AbeSuthu) to guard King Mzilikazi’s grave.
This infuriated the other Khumalos to an extent that they had to scheme against the Ngwenyas (Sotho people). Their scheme was to burn Mzilikazi’s grave and blame it on the Ngwenyas/ abeSuthu.
conditions without complaining. When the Europeans came to colonize Africa, they did not just do that with the force they meted on Africans. Colonization was expedited by the use of religion, and in particular, Christianity.
It seems Christianity has done the most in affecting the conscience of the black person in Africa. African traditional religions have been washed away, and especially with Christianity, they are viewed as pagan and heathen in nature.
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The Hadza, or Hadzabe (Wahadzabe in Swahili),are a Tanzanian indigenous ethnic group mostly based in southwest Karatu District of Arusha. They live around Lake Eyasi in the central Rift Valley and in the neighboring Serengeti Plateau.
There are, as of 2015, between 1,200 and 1,300 Hadza people living in Tanzania, however only around 400 Hadza still survive exclusively based on the traditional means of foraging.
Additionally, the increasing impact of tourism and encroaching pastoralists pose serious threats to the continuation of their traditional way of life.
MaPulana, are a low veld Sotho-Tswana ethnic group found in the northeastern part of the Mpumalanga and southeastern Limpopo provinces. Their language is called Sepulana (SeKutswe and Pai) and is considered dialect of the Northern Sotho language group.
The area where the MaPulana live is called Mapulaneng, it stretches from Crocodile River in the south to the Swazi border (Mapulana of Mashego ) from Crocodile to Olifants River (Limpopo) in the north, Lebombo Mountains in the east and also includes the whole town of Hazyview,
White River, Mpumalanga (Lepunama), Sabie, Graskop, Hoedspruit, Barberton, Lydenburg and Dullstroom in the west. In Sepulana, Mapulaneng means "Place of the Mapulana people"; the tribe derive their name from their founding leader, Lepulana who later changed his name to Chiloane.