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Ndwandwe | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| c. 1780–1825 | |||||||||
  Ndwandwe  Mthethwa Locations of the Ndwandwe and rivalMthethwa empire on a map of present-dayKwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. TheKhumalo clan was wedged between these spheres of influence. | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| nKosi | |||||||||
| Langa KaXaba | |||||||||
• 1805 - 1825 | Zwide kaLanga | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | c. 1780 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1825 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
TheNdwandwe are aBantuNguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa. They owe their name to one of their early chiefs and are also known as the Nxumalo. Today, they can be found inSouth Africa,Eswatini, andZimbabwe.
Ndwandwe chieftaincies were part of theNorthern Nguni migration and settled in the area between thePongola River and theBlack Umfolozi River during the eighteenth century. Over time, the Ndwandwe subjugated and incorporated the surrounding groups. By the later part of the eighteenth century, under the leadership of their king, Yaka, they had established themselves in a dominant position.[1] North of the Ndwandwe lived theNgwane people, while to the south were theMthethwa,Zulu, and other groups.
The Ndwandwe, with the Mthethwa, were a significant power in present-dayZululand at the turn of the nineteenth century, while the Ngwane (who would later become known as theSwazi) were the dominant group to the north.[2][3]Zwide kaLanga (c. 1758–1820/1825), the king of the Ndwandwe from about 1805 to 1820, had several royal settlements, with his main capital on Magudu Mountain south of present-dayPongola.[4]
Under the leadership of Zwide kaLanga, the Ndwandwe destroyed the Mthethwa under their kingDingiswayo, in 1817/1818 when their armies met at Mbuzi Hill south of Magudu. This left Zwide as the most powerful leader in this region.[5] The power vacuum created by the destruction of the Mthethwa was subsequently filled by a lieutenant of Dingiswayo,Shaka Zulu of the Zulu tribe. In a common front against the Ndwandwe, Shaka gathered the remnants of the Mthethwa and other surrounding tribes to wage war against them. In the first encounter of theZulu Civil War (also known as the Zulu-Ndwandwe War) Shaka’s forces survived theBattle of Gqokli Hill in 1818.[6][7]
In 1819, Zwide launched a second expedition against the Zulu, but Shaka changed his strategy by allowing the Ndwandwe army to enter his territory and then engaging inguerrilla warfare. A shortage of supplies forced the Ndandwe to decide to return home. During this retreat in early 1820, while they were crossing theMhlatuze River, the Ndwandwe forces were divided and decisively defeated in theBattle of Mhlatuze River.[8]
This defeat of the Ndwandwe forces, along with the subsequent retaliatory campaigns in which the Zulu destroyed all settlements and killed anyone they encountered, led to the fragmentation of the Ndwandwe nation over the next five years. There are different accounts regarding the fate of King Zwide. According to theoral traditions of Ndwandwe descendants from the Pongola Valley, Zwide was killed not long after the Battle of Mhlatuze River by Shaka's soldiers on the mountain that now bears his name, Zwide, located south of present-day Pongola. This site is not far from where his royal capital was on Magudu Mountain. Shortly afterward, he was buried on the southern slopes of Magudu Mountain in a forest considered sacred by the AmaNdwandwe, where other Ndwandwe leaders are also buried. Another version states that he fled northwards with some of his followers to the upper reaches of theKomati River, where he died in 1825.[9]
Zwide's generals and sons, in an effort to survive, led segments of the Ndwandwe people northwards in the aftermath of their defeat and persecution by Shaka. One of these groups, underSoshangane, established theGaza Empire in present-day centralMozambique, while another, underZwangendaba, settled in present-dayMalawi as thewaNgoni. Others established themselves as chiefs of note in present-dayEswatini andZambia. The remaining majority of the Ndwandwe was absorbed into theZulu Kingdom.[10][11] Thus, theMfecane contributed to the creation and spread of a lasting Ndwandwe legacy across Southern Africa.
The various Ndwandwe groups speakNguni dialects.
