Chapter IX · Southern Africa
Southern
Kraals
Zulu · Xhosa · Sotho
Southern Africa
Zulu · Xhosa · Sotho
Chapter IX
At the continent's southern tip, the Nguni and Sotho peoples developed distinct cattle-keeping societies whose political creativity matched their military. Shaka kaSenzangakhona built the Zulu nation into a continental power in under a decade. The Xhosa fought nine frontier wars against British expansion. Moshoeshoe I founded Lesotho on an unassailable mountain, making it the only state in southern Africa to survive the colonial period intact.
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Key dates
1818
Shaka becomes Zulu king — the Mfecane begins
1820
Moshoeshoe I founds the Basotho nation
1838
Battle of Blood River — Voortrekkers vs. Zulu
1879
Anglo-Zulu War — Battle of Isandlwana, Zulu victory
1994
End of apartheid — first democratic election in South Africa
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From the archive
Empires and heroes drawn from the Africanpedia catalogue for this region.
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Chapter IX · Southern Africa
Southern Kraals
Africanpedia