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Soshangane'''Soshangane''' was a General of the Zulu King Shaka who broke away from Shaka's hegemony and carved out a Nguni empire of conquest (Gaza people|Gasa or Gaza) in what is now modern-day Mozambique. Allied with the rival Ndwandwe in 1819, Soshagane fled after defeat by Shaka. He moved north into Mozambique, absorbing or conquering numerous followers. A punitive expedition sent by Shaka to liquidate his rival was seen off in 1828, and Soshagane consolidated his empire. [ The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 5 ] Shoshanganes army overran the Portuguese settlements at Maputo Bay|Delagoa Bay, Inhambane and Sena[ The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 5 ], and he extracted tribute from the Europeans. After the death of Soshangane around 1856, Soshagane's empire was embroiled in succession disputes. The final ruler Ngungunhane, (in the portuguese colonial writing, Gungunhana), was defeated by the once tributary Portuguese in 1895, and the Nguni Gazan empire collapsed. Soshagane is one of a number of outstanding figures that rose to prominence during the Mfecane.
Gaza kingdom
Gaza kingdom was established in the highlands of the middle Sabi River in Mozambique in the 1830s by Soshangane, the Ndwandwe general who left Zululand after war with Shaka during the Zulu-Nguni wars known as the Mfecane. Soshangane was a general for Ndwandwe, He extended his control over the area between the Komati (Incomati) and the Zambezi rivers, incorporating the local Tsonga and Shona peoples into his Kingdom
The waves of armed groups disrupted both trade and day-to-day production throughout the area. Two groups, the Jere under Zwangendaba and the Ndwandwe (both later known as Ngoni) under Soshangane, swept through Mozambique. Zwangendaba’s group continued north across the Zambezi, settling to the west of contemporary Mozambique, but Soshangane’s group crossed the Limpopo into southern.
The Shangaan are a mixture of Nguni (a language group which includes Swazi, Zulu and Xhosa), and Tsonga speakers (Ronga, Ndzawu, Shona, Chopi tribes), which Soshangane conquered and subjugated.
Soshangane insisted that Nguni customs be adopted, and that the Tsonga learn the Zulu language. Young Tsonga men were assigned to the army as 'mabulandlela' (those who open the road). Soshangane also imposed Shaka's military system of dominion and taught the people the Zulu ways of fighting.
Soshangane’s army overran the Portuguese settlements in Mozambique, at Delagoa Bay, Inhambane and Sena, and during the next few years, he established the Nguni kingdom of Kwa Gaza, which he named after his grandfather, Gaza, He also gave them his name Amashangana from Soshangane.
The Gaza Kingdom comprised parts of what are now southeastern Zimbabwe, as well as extending from the Save River down to the southern part of Mozambique, covering parts of the current provinces of Sofala, Manica, Inhambane, Gaza and Maputo, and neighbouring parts of South Africa.
Another army, under the command of Dingane and Mhlangana, was sent by Shaka to deal with Soshangane, but the army suffered great hardship because of hunger and malaria, and Soshangane had no difficulty, towards the end of 1828, in driving them off.
During the whole of this turbulent period, from 1830 onwards, groups of Tsonga speakers moved southwards and defeated smaller groups living in northern Natal; others moved westwards into the Transvaal, where they settled in an arc stretching from the Soutpansberg in the north, to Nelspruit and Barberton areas in the southeast, with isolated groups reaching as far westwards as Rustenburg.
After the death of Soshangane in 1856, his sons fought over the chieftainship. Soshangane had left the throne to Mzila, but Mawewe felt that he should be chief. Mawewe attacked Mzila and his followers, causing them to leave Mozambique and flee to the Soutpansberg Mountains in the Transvaal.
Mzila stayed with João Albasini at Luonde. Albasini, who had been appointed by the Portuguese Vice-Consul to the Zuid Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR) in 1858, employed many of the Tsonga men as 'indhuna' (headman), and defenders of his fort-like home at the foot of the Piesangkop near the modern town of Makhado (formerly known as Louis Trichardt).
Aided by Albasini and traders at Lourenço Marques, Mzila gained the upper hand, returning and defeating Mawewe in 1862. Mawewe fled to Swaziland, where he sought the help of King Mswati I, finally settling in northern Swaziland on the border with Gazaland. Ngungunyane, who succeeded Mzila, was defeated by the Portuguese in 1895, which caused the collapse of the Gaza kingdom.
References
Category:Year of birth missing
Category:1856 deaths
Category:South African military personnel
Category:Mozambican military personnel
Category:19th century African people
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