Soshangane
Soshangana KaZikode, born Soshangana Nxumalo, was the founder and first monarch of the Gaza Empire, which, at its peak, spanned from the Limpopo River in southern Mozambique to the Zambezi River in the north. He ruled the Gaza state from 1825 until his death in 1858. Soshangana was also known by the name Manukosi.
Early life
Soshangana was born circa 1780 in present-day KwaNongoma, KwaZulu, to Zikode kaGasa, a chief of the junior branch of the Ndwandwe people. His younger brother was Mhlabawadabuka. The Gasa family occupied the Mkhuze region near eTshanini Mountain, while the senior branch, under Zwide, resided in Magudu near the Pongola Valley. During this period, the Ndwandwe were gaining military power, and Zwide ascended to the Ndwandwe-Nxumalo throne after the death of his father, Langa KaXaba.The Emergence of Northern Nguni Kingdoms
During the wars that engulfed the Nguni states, three powerful chiefdoms emerged. The first was the Ndwandwe confederacy under Zwide, the second was the Swazi state ruled by Sobhuza I, and the third was the Mthethwa confederacy led by Dingiswayo. These large states were governed by paramount chiefs who demanded tributes from numerous smaller states, communities, and clans. While the subordinate states acknowledged the central ruler's authority in matters such as state rituals, initiation rites, tribute payment, and warfare, they retained significant autonomy in their daily affairs.The Ndwandwe state
The Ndwandwe state came into prominence in the middle of the eighteenth century. The people that made up the state originally migrated from the Tembe Kingdom in the interior of Delagoa Bay towards the end of 17th century. In the earlier years, the Ndwandwe occupied the whole northern part of Zululand, and more specifically, from the Pongola River in the north to the southern point of the Black Umfolozi and from Ngome in the north-west, eastward to St. Lucia Bay on the sea. The Ndwandwe rulers then embarked on an expansionist policy by subjugating and incorporating other smaller communities to their neighbourhood. The political authority of the Ndwandwe increased tremendously as they annexed several other communities to their own state, and their borders grew quite extensive. This made the Ndwandwe rulers the first Nguni rulers to control a large state from the various small communities in the region. In achieving this, they did not only make use of military force, they also exploited old institutions and adopted them to serve new purposes. For example, the Ndwandwe rulers, made use of military regiments recruited through traditional initiation of males and females of the same age group.It is likely that Zwide and his predecessors were among the first Nguni rulers to see some political significance in the practice of coordinating circumcision and initiation rites on a state–wide basis. These ceremonies were henceforth organised from the centre and youths from all the territories under the Ndwandwe were made members of national age groups. In periods of war, these age groups were converted into military regiments. Apart from the military utility of the national age-group, they also served to weld different parts of the Ndwandwe confederacy together. In order to enhance their own authority and create an aura of invincibility round themselves, the Ndwandwe rulers relied on a widespread use of magical and religious influence. For example, Zwide made use of a large number of magicians and medicine men to build up and spread news of his power throughout the neighbouring communities. He also made use of diplomatic marriages to cement relationships with some of the other states in the region. His sister married Dingiswayo, the Mthethwa ruler, while his daughters married Sobhuza, the Swazi king, and Mashobana, the Khumalo ruler and father to Mzilikazi, the king of the Ndebele.
The Nguni and Ndwandwe Chiefs
The source and stream of the Ndwandwe/ Nxumalo royalty is steeped right at the beginning of the Nguni people, and the very first Nguni, Chief Ndlovu. Chief Ndlovu ‘s Chiefdom is believed to have started around the year 800-920 A.D., when he broke off from his own group, the Bantu, ‘’Batho’ or the ‘’Ntu’’. The Bantu people divided up into Tswana and Nguni streams. The Nguni left behind the Tswana stream while proceeding south. Ndlovu was the greatest Chief in this part of the continent, in that he founded many nations. He became the father of many nations, the Xhosa, the Zulus, the Ndebele, Ngwane/Swazi, Ndwandwe Thonga, Ndawu, etc. All Nguni speaking tribes and nations, owe their identity and cultural heritage to this great Chief Ndlovu. In turn the Ndwandwe nation also owes their identity to their Chief Nxumalo. When the Nguni subjects address their Paramount Chief, in praise singing, they would say: Wena we Ndlovu! Wena we Ndlovu! Wena we Ndlovu! Bayethe! Bayethe! Bayethe! In the case of Ndwandwe subjects addressing their Paramount Chief, they will say Ndwandwe! and the respond would be Nxumalo!King Zwide II
Nxumalo Zwide was born around 1750s. He was the son of chief Langa of the Ndwandwe clan. His mother was Ntombazi. Zwide‘s generals of war were Soshangana, Mzilikazi Khumalo, Nxaba Msene, and Zwangendaba of the Jele tribe. The greatest task of building the Ndwandwe confederacy fell on Zwide who came to the throne in 1790. He proceeded to build on foundations laid by his grandfather and father by making use of old customs and practices. He reached the peak of his rule at the same time as Dingiswayo of the neighbouring and rival Mthethwa Confederacy. Zwide made use of magical and religious influence, for example he made use of a number of magicians and medicine men to build up and spread news of his power throughout the neighbouring communities. He also made use of his diplomatic marriages to cement relationships with other states in the region. His sister married Dingiswayo the Mthethwa ruler, while his daughter Thandiwe married Sobhuza, the Swazi king and Mashobana the Khumalo ruler. However, Zwide was astute enough not to allow such dynastic alliances to stand in the way of his expansionist policy. Despite the fact that Sobhuza was his in-law, Zwide attacked his capital because Sobhuza laid claim to the fertile arable land of the Ndwandwe in the Pongola valley. The Ndwandwe army emerged victorious and expelled Sobhuza from Pongola, driving him and his followers in a northerly direction where Sobhuza later laid the foundation of the Swazi nation. By 1818, Zwide made the Ndwandwe tribe along the Mfolozi River very strong. In the same year, 1818, war broke out between the Ndwandwe tribe and the Mthethwa tribe. In that war Zwide ambushed Dingiswayo and killed him, after which he defeated the Mthethwa tribe.After capturing and killing Dingiswayo, Zwide sent his messengers to Shaka, asking Shaka to pledge his allegiance to him. “Now that I have removed your head” Zwide had boasted, “why don’t you just bring the whole body before me, or I will toss the body into the river Thukela”. Shaka had been expecting this, but had summoned enough courage to reply to Zwide: “The body had two heads like the great river-snake Nkanyamba. You were just too foolish to see the other head”. Shaka immediately incorporated the Mthethwa with his own tribe and built a powerful army, but it was yet smaller than that of Ndwandwe. In 1818 Zwide sent his army to attack the Amazulu, but Shaka, a clever general, tricked them. The Zulu army was small and weak, but Shaka knew that the Ndwandwe army did not carry food on its raids. When the Ndwandwe’s forces entered the Zulu kingdom, they found no food because the Zulu army had burnt or buried it. The Zulu army had also gone hiding- with all the kingdom’s cattle. One night, the Zulus attacked the Ndwandwe where they had set up camp in the Zulu kingdom, killing many of the Amabutho as they slept.
This forced the Ndwandwe to give up the attack and return home. Although the Amazulu had managed to repel the Ndwandwe, they had not defeated them. The Ndwandwe were still a threat to the neighbouring chiefdoms. The Zulus joined forces with their neighbours, and in 1819, the Amabutho under the command of Shaka were strong enough to meet the Ndwandwe in battle. They fought on the banks of the Mhlathuzi River, and although the two armies were evenly matched, the Zulu triumphed. Zwide fled with the remnant of his followers, eventually settling in the upper Nkomati valley in the eastern Transvaal present day Mpumalanga Province. In 1826 Zwide’s successor, Sikhunyana, led an Ndwandwe force back to attack the Zulu, only for it to be utterly decimated in a short engagement.
Five of Zwide‘s son `Nomahlanjana, Mbejwa, Sixobana, Nombengula and Dayingubo perished in the battle field. Nomahlanjana was Zwide‘s heir. Zwide with his two remaining sons Sikhunyana and Somaphungu and two daughters Thandile and Fikile managed to escape northwards to the present Mpumalanga Province and settled along the Nkomati River. His two daughters were later married to Sobuza I. Thandile gave birth to Mzamose and Mavuso II, while Fikile‘s son was Ndwandwe. Zwide died in 1825 in the present Mpumalanga province.
Soshangana’s real name was Manukuza II. He named himself Soshangana because. Bryant states that Soshangana Nxumalo was the son of Zikode Nxumalo the son of Gasa Nxumalo the originator of the branch and his mother was Ngubuviya Ntyayintyayi. It is claimed that Soshangana and his followers were an independent people since immemorial. According to Bryant, it could be stated without doubt that Soshangana was a member of the Ndwandwe clan, at that point in time staying in the present northern KwaZulu-Natal and one of the formidable Nguni tribes, along with the Mthethwa Empire of Dingiswayo, the Ngwane of Sobhuza I, the Hlubi of Mpangazitha and the Ngwane of Matiwane. It could be accepted that Soshangana was a cousin/brother of the sovereign king of the Ndwandwe people, Zwide.
Soshangana was the leader of the Nguni group who fled away from Shaka Zulu the king of the Zulu nation in the 1820s. Soshangana / Manukuza and his group decided not to become incorporated into the Zulu Kingdom after the Ndwandwe king Zwide, whose subject suffered a defeat. In 1819 Zwide was the ruler of the royal house of Ndwandwe, while Soshangana was Ndwandwe military commander and the leader of the Gaza branch. The Gaza branch was constituted of members of the Likhohlwa part of the original royal house living in the Ndwandwe area at a place called eTshaneni, the Ghost Mountains on the Mkuze plain. It is also here where Gaza and other important leaders of Gaza branch were buried.