ANGLO NDEBELE WAR

THE WAR OF DISPOSSESSION 1893-1894

CAUSES

1. The company wanted to destroy the Ndebele kingdom because it

symbolised the independent African state.
2. The British settlers under Doctor Jameson the residence commissioner
and the Ndebele had divergent interest over the Shona people. The Ndebele
regarded the Eastern part of Zimbabwe as part of their tributary state
system whiles the company and the white settler farmers saw the Eastern
part as their source of labour.
3. Jameson thought the solution was on drawing and defining a boundary
where the Western part was Matabeleland and Eastern part Mashonaland
under whites. The problem was that it kept shifting into Matabeleland and
Lobengula was not willing to confine his raids within the Western part.
4. Arrival and settlement of white settlers in Eastern Zimbabwe interfered
with Ndebele tributary. Some Shona chiefs thought that an end to Ndebele
raids. Some stopped paid annual tribute e.g. chief Nemakonde and chief
Chivi and were killed for failure to submit to the Ndebele rule. To the
British such acts were unacceptable because they interfered with the
British activities as the Shona were their main source of cheap labour on
their farms.
5. The BSAC envied Ndebele land and Cattle at the same time they were
hoping to discover gold, they had found little amount of gold in
Mashonaland and the company shares were failing.
6. The existence of large of large and powerful independent Africa State i.e.
Ndebele was greatly resented by the settlers who viewed it as a symbol of
Africa independence. They also thought that it would have a negative
influence of Africans under their control.
7. The Victoria incident- this incident took place following an attempt by
Lobengula to asset his authority over his tributary state system. 1892
incident occurred in and around Masvingo which was a potentially wealthy
agriculture branching and mining. The white settlers were engaged in
farming and mining using Shona as labourers. In May 1893 chief Gomala
used Lobengula cattle to pay a fine to the British when his men had cut
and carried away about 500 yards of telegraph wire. In the meantime,
Chief Bere took belonging to Lobengula. A primitive expedition was sent
by Lobengula with strict instruction to avoid clashes with the settlers.
In July 1893 a raid was carried out, homes burnt, man killed and women and
girls driven in the neighbourhood of Fort Victoria. Farms and mines in Eastern
were deserted of African labour force. As a result, economic activities came to
stand still. Jameson ordered Ndebele to leave the area within two hours but the
Ndebele failed to withdraw on time resulting in skirmishes between them and
the white forces. Eleven Ndebele worries were killed and the rest fled. Sensing
victory the settlers now demanded full scale war in order to destroy the Ndebele
kingdom once and for all.

COURSE OF THE WAR

The Victorian Incident made the war between the Whites and the Ndebele to
break out. The settlers who volunteered to fight the Ndebele were promised 2469
hectares of land each and a herd of cattle. The Whites were aided by Khama with
the soldiers to fight the Ndebele. The war started in October 1893 with the
Ndebele being numerically superior, but using poor weapons such as spears.
The Whites were armed with guns and modern weapons as well as horses which
increased their mobility. The Whites under the command of William Forbes
moved from Iron Hill Mine heading towards Bulawayo. The Ndebele intelligent
units watched the movements of the Whites. The Whites built a laager on 25
October to rest after they crossed the Shangani River. Early in the morning the
Whites were attacked by the Ndebele Amabutho and many Shona collaborators
were killed because they were sleeping outside the laager.

However, the Amabutho were repelled after several hours of fighting. The Whites
moved further and built another Laager near Mbembesi River on 31 October. The
Ndebele also attacked the Whites but they were successfully repelled by the
Whites. Many Ndebele soldiers were killed at this battle. The Whites wanted to
storm Bulawayo and capture the Ndebele king Lobengula responded by setting
his capital on fire and then escaped northwards The Whites captured the city
and then raised their Union Jerk on November 4 1893. Jameson ordered the
pursuit of Lobengula because he thought that if the king was not captured, he
[Lobengula] would continue encouraging the Amabutho to fight on.

THE PURSUIT OF LOBENGULA (ALLAN WILSON’S PARTY)

On 3 November Bulawayo fell to the BSAC Forces and Lobengula fled

northwards. Jameson ordered Forbes and Captain Raaf to pursue and capture
the Ndebele King. On December 3 Major Forbes and his Forces reached
Lobengula’s Shangani Camp.
The BSAC found out that Lobengula had quickly abandoned his camp and they
failed to catch up with him. Fearing to be captured, Lobengula sent two chiefs to
the pursuers with a piece of message pleading for peace. Lobengula’s surrender
message and gold did not reach Forbes and the latter continued searching for
Lobengula. Forbes and his Forces camped at Shangani. Forbes assigned Wilson
and his group of 21 men to go further and find Lobengula’s direction. Allan
Wilson’s Forces caught up with Lobengula’s fleeing Party on the Western side of
the River. Wilson requested reinforcement but Forbes did not comply. Instead he
dispatched Barrow with 20 men without instructing them whether they were a
support unit or another attacking Force. Barrow’s Force joined Allan Wilson’s
group on 4 December and together the White Forces attacked Lobengula’s group.
Lobengula’s group attacked the White Forces. Barrow together with Wilson was
killed, except 3 Whites who fled. Forbes did not assist his colleagues because the
River was dangerously flooded. On December 5, Forbes and the rest retreated
and they never captured Lobengula.

RESULTS

Matabeleland was opened up for white settlement signifying complete

colonization of Zimbabwe. The white settlers were given land grants, thus 6350
acres and 20 gold claims plus part of Ndebele cattle, as a reward for being
involved in the war. Two reserves namely Gwai and Shangani were created by
Ndebele and were dry infertile hot tsetse infested. The rest of the Ndebele cattle
were taken over by the company by virtue of conquest, only 40000cattle were left
to the Ndebele. White settlement brought taxation, forced labour and other forms
of political and exploitation. New communication channels were developed in
Bulawayo. Telegraph line was erected which linked Bulawayo with Cape Town.
Trading stores, Banks and new houses were established. A printed paper was
produced.

Activity

1. Give an account of the pursuit of Lobengula by the BSAC Force after the fall
of Bulawayo [11]

2. Did this pursuit benefit the BSAC? [8]

WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THE ANGLO-NDEBELE WAR?

The Whites played a part in causing the war of dispossession, hence they are to
blame. Jameson kept on shifting the boundary to the side of the Ndebele. More
so the time given to Manyao and Umgandaan was short and it was very difficult
for the Amabutho to move out of Masvingo. The Whites also deliberately delayed
the letter sent by Lobengula soliciting for peace. There was a secret arrangement
between the BSAC and volunteers to destroy the Ndebele state. The Amajaha are
also to blame because they were restless trying to vent out their exasperations.

THE FIRST CHINDUNDUMA/CHIMURENGA 1896-7

CAUSES

 The Ndebele regarded Gwai and Shangani reserves as graveyards.

 The Ndebele cattle were taken by the Whites after the war of dispossession
 Both the Ndebele and the Shona were subjected to taxation e.g. hut tax.
 The use of Shona police angered the Ndebele who regarded the Shona as
inferior
 Both the Shona and the Ndebele were subjected to forced labour in mines
and farms
 Usurpation of chiefly prerogatives, that is, the local chiefs were deprived
of their duties such as land allocation.
 There was loss of independence as the locals were subjected to colonial
rule.
 The Whites were brutal to both the Shona and the Ndebele.
 Natural disasters such as drought, rinderpest and locust made the native
to fight against the Whites as they were misinterpreted by the religious
leaders.
 The Shona were angered by the loss of their trade with the Portuguese.
 Jameson Raid gave the Ndebele an opportunity to attack the isolated White
farms.

COURSE/EVENTS OF THE WAR

COURSE/EVENTS OF NDEBELE RISINGS

The war started in March 1896 when the Ndebele learned that Jameson and the
White Forces were on a military expedition against the Transvaal government. In
few weeks of March many Whites were killed by the Ndebele Amabutho and the
Whites were scattered about the country at farms and mines. In the last week of
March 122 White men, 5 women and 3 children were murdered in isolated
homesteads and camps.

The Amajaha also killed the Shone labourers who worked in farms and mines of
the Whites. The Ndebele were armed with traditional weapons such as arrows,
bows, assegais, axes and knobkerries. By early April White survivors were in
fortified camps at Bulawayo and Gwelo (present day Gweru). The religious
leaders such as Mabwani, Umlugulu and Mkwati influenced the Ndebele to drive
the Whites out of the country as they blamed then for natural calamities such
as drought, rinderpest and locusts.

The religious leaders influenced the Amajaha to deliberately leave the road to the
South open so that the Europeans might have the opportunity of escaping. In
April 02 Major Plummer was appointed to command the Matabele Relief Force.
As from April 28 the Matabele soldiers were driven out of Bulawayo. The
Amabutho had nothing to do, but all they could do was to hold out in the tangle
of granite kopjes that is Matopo Hills.

The Whites tried to starve the Ndebele, but it was difficult because another
uprising began in Mashonaland. Rhodes was determined to make peace with the
Ndebele and then concentrate all the resources against Mashonaland. This led
to the Indaba peace talks

THE INDABA AGREEMENT

The war continued unabated and Rhodes was worried because:

 The fighting was costing the BSAC a lot of money.

 The mines were not working and the BSAC was losing its profits.
 The Whites were fighting war from two fronts i.e. Matabeleland and
Mashonaland.

Rhodes decided to talk with the Natives. The Ndebele also wanted peace with the
White because the villages, crops and grain stores were being burned by the
Whites. In August 1896, Rhodes and the Ndebele Indunas had a meeting and
agreed the following:

 Rhodes promised that the Ndebele could return to their lands if they
agreed to stop fighting.
 Rhodes chose 10 Indunas who would be paid a monthly salary.
 The trial of the Ndebele officials who committed crimes in the war.
 Mwari cult officials should be punished for their role in the war.
 The Ndebele weapons were to be submitted to the settler government.
 Rhodes would give the Ndebele grain, food as well as seeds.

By this agreement the Ndebele lost freedom and independence. Their arms were
lost to the Whites and leaders were tried and sentenced to death. The Whites
therefore benefited at this agreement.
THE SHONA UPRISING JUNE 1896

The war started in June in Mashayamombe area. Euro-centric historians argue

that the Shona rose against the Whites because they feared to be punished by
the Ndebele, thereby overlooking the real causes of the first Chimurenga. In few
weeks the White farmers, miners, traders and prospectors were killed by the
Shona. The Shona used guerrilla warfare and inferior weapons such as spears
against the Whites who used Maxim guns and Dynamites.

The Whites established laagers for protection against spears. The Shona could
attack the Whites and retreated in the caves. Such battle tactic made it difficult
for the Whites to quickly defeat the Shona. The Shona were united by religious
leaders such as Mkwati, Kaguvi, Nehanda, Bonda and Chifamba.

However, some the Shona did not fight against the Whites, but for the Whites.
Such collaborators include Chirimuhanzu, Zimuto and Matiki. The Whites were
aided by Britain and Botswana to fight the Shona. This made the Whites to have
upper hand during the zenith of the Chimurenga. The Whites finally used the
scotched earthy policy to starve the natives and those who hid in the caves were
dynamited, for example, Makoni in his Gwindingwi. The capture of religious
leaders such as Kaguvi and Nehanda made the Shona to surrender in 1897.

THE CHIMURENGA AND RELIGIOUS LEADERS

The spirit mediums were behind the Ndebele-Shona risings. The spirit mediums
like Nehanda, Kaguvi and Mkwati coordinated the war. The religious leaders
motivated the fighters e.g. Umlugulu and other spirit mediums prophesied that
the Whites were doomed and would be driven out of the country.

Mlimo’s messages influenced the fighters to expect supernatural help from Mlimo
(God). Thus religious leaders maintained morale among the fighters. The
religious leaders in Matabeleland also planned the timing of the Ndebele
uprising. It coincided with the Jameson Raid of 1896 when the Police Force was
on a military expedition against the Transvaal. The religious leaders influenced
the Maungwe passage to be left open for the Whites to use it in escaping.
However, this led to the defeat of the locals as this route was used by the Whites
to bring in reinforcement from outside. Mkwati, Kaguvi and Siginyamatshe
played an organizing role during the war e.g. Siginyamatshe organised in an area
South of Bulawayo, Nehanda in Mazoe, Kaguvi in Chegutu.

The religious leaders commanded the soldiers to fight the Whites e.g. the rising
in Matabeleland started in March under the High Command of Umlugulu. The
religious leaders such as Mkwati tried to unify the Shona and the Ndebele
against the Whites. They gave medicines to the soldiers which would give them
some psychological advantages during the war.

RESULTS

 The Natives were defeated.

 Many natives died, but the number of the Whites was few.
 Trade and agriculture was disrupted.
 A system which was to check African ill-treatment was established.
 Hut tax was reduced
 Effective control of the colony began.
 Many locals turned to Christianity to follow Western culture.
 More reserves were created.
 A land commission was established.
 There was railway expansion from Mafeking to Harare and from Beira to
Harare, and Bulawayo line reached Harare in 1897.
 Britain decided to monitor and control the operation of the BSAC in
Rhodesia by stationing the Commandant General and the British High
Commissioner.
 The Chimurenga had effect of delaying the development of modern politics
in this country.
 Peace settlement called the Indaba Agreement was negotiated between
Rhodes and the Ndebele Indunas.

REASONS FOR SHONA-NDEBELE DEFEAT

 The use of inferior weapons such as bows and arrows, etc.

 Superior weapons used by the Whites such as guns made the Natives to
be easily defeated.
 Lack of unity among the Natives, the locals fought separately i.e. the Shona
alone while the Ndebele alone.
 Collaboration with the Whites made the defeat of the Natives inevitable.
 The Natives lacked strategy as vital routes through which the Whites
received reinforcement were left open.
 The Whites received aid from Botswana, Britain and South Africa.
 Economic crises made the Natives to surrender.