Southern Africa in 1750

Grade: 10Term: 3

Topic: 4 – TRANSFORMATIONS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA AFTER 1750

Sub-Topic: SOUTHERN AFRICA IN 1750

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Southern Africa in 1750

• By 1750, most of the people in southern Africalived in small chiefdoms ruled by a chief.

• Chiefdoms were not isolated from oneanother.another.

• They traded and interacted with one another,and with the nomadic Khoisan.

• From time to time, chiefdoms went to warwith one another.

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TERMINOLOGY

• Nomad: A member of a people that travel fromplace to place to find fresh pasture for its animalsand have no permanent home.

• Nomadic: Living the life of a nomad; wandering

Transformation: Periods of substantial change.• Transformation: Periods of substantial change.

• Debate: A discussion in which reasons are givenfor or against an idea.

• State: A politically organized body of peopleunder a single government.

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AFRICAN FARMERS

• African farmers made tools out of iron; they grewcrops and kept livestock.

• They chose to settle in regions with a warm climate,fertile soil and reliable rainfall in summer.

• African farming societies were highly flexible and• African farming societies were highly flexible andfull of changes.

• People could move and join another chiefdom ifthey wished.

• Chiefdoms came and went, and political powerchanged constantly.

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THE MID-18TH CENTURY

• In the mid-18th century, the southern part ofAfrica had not yet been very affected byEuropean colonialism.

• Only some parts of the Cape had been• Only some parts of the Cape had beencolonized by the Dutch and there was a smallPortuguese presence in Delagoa Bay (modern-day Maputo in Mozambique).

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Transformation in southern Africa: Political changes, 1750 - 1820

• From about 1750, southern African societiesunderwent a period of transformation.

• Transformation refers to periods of substantialchange.change.

• Historians used to refer to this period oftransformation in southern Africa as the'Mfecane' or the 'Difaqane'.

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‘Mfecane’

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TIME OF TROUBLE

• Many historians now use the term 'the time oftroubles' when referring to this period ofsouthern African history.

• The 'time of troubles' could be described as a• The 'time of troubles' could be described as aperiod in which a series of major political andsocial upheavals, wars and migrations tookplace.

• During this time, new chiefdoms or stateswere created.

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Historical debates on the 'time of troubles'

• The series of wars that occurred during the 'timeof troubles' used to be blamed on the Zulukingdom under Shaka.

• This suggested that Shaka and the Zulu Kingdomwere the only ones responsible for causing thewere the only ones responsible for causing thewars and the subsequent changes thatdominated this period.

• This has been debated, though, and more recentresearch suggests that the causes of the 'time oftroubles' are far more complex.

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Some of the causes now given for the time of troubles include the impact of the following

two developments on African societies in the interior and eastern regions of southern Africa:

1. Some chiefdoms grew more powerful(including the Zulu kingdom under Shaka, butalso including other kingdoms).also including other kingdoms).

Some kingdoms began to rule over otherkingdoms and new states began to emerge.This increased tension among chiefdoms andspurred wars.

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ZULU WARRIORS

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2. The frontiers of European colonialsettlement and trade from the Cape Colonyin the south began to expand and thePortuguese trading post at Delagoa Bay inthe east extended its economic activities.

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the east extended its economic activities.

This placed pressure on indigenouspopulations who now had increasingcompetition for resources.