Second Matabele War
Encyclopedia
The Second Matabele War, also known as the Matabeleland Rebellion and in Zimbabwe
as the First Chimurenga
, was fought in 1896–97 between the British troops and the Ndebele people.
In March 1896, the Ndebele
(Matabele) people revolted against the authority of the British South Africa Company
in what is now celebrated in Zimbabwe as the First War of Independence. Mlimo, the Ndebele spiritual leader, is credited with fomenting much of the anger that led to this confrontation. He convinced the Ndebele and the Shona
that the settlers (almost 4,000 strong by then) were responsible for the drought, locust plagues and the cattle disease rinderpest
ravaging the country at the time.
Mlimo's call to battle was well-timed. Only a few months earlier, the British South Africa Company
's Administrator General for Matabeleland
, Leander Starr Jameson
, had sent most of his troops and armaments to fight the Transvaal Republic in the ill-fated Jameson Raid
. This left the country nearly defenceless. The British immediately sent troops to suppress the Ndebele and the Shona, but it cost the lives of many settlers, Ndebele, and Shona alike, took months before British forces were adequate to break the sieges and defend the major settlements, and war raged on until October of the following year.
by surprise immediately after a ceremony called the Big Dance. He promised, through his priests, that if the Ndebele went to war, the bullets of the settlers would change to water and their cannon shells would become eggs. His plan was to kill all of the settlers in Bulawayo
first, but not to destroy the town itself as it would serve again as the royal kraal
for the newly reincarnated King Lobengula
. Mlimo decreed that the settlers should be attacked and driven from the country through the Mangwe Pass on the Western edge of the Matobo Hills, which was to be left open and unguarded for this reason. Once the settlers were purged from Bulawayo, the Ndebele and Shona warriors would head out into the countryside and continue the slaughter until all the settlers were either killed or fled.
But several young Ndebele were overly anxious to go to war, and the rebellion started prematurely. On March 20, Ndebele rebels shot and stabbed a native policeman. Over the next few days, other outlying settlers and prospectors were killed. Frederick Selous
, the famous big-game hunter, had heard rumours of settlers in the countryside being killed, but he thought it was a localised problem. When news of the policeman's murder reached Selous on March 23, he knew the Ndebele had started a massive uprising.
Nearly 2,000 Ndebele warriors began the rebellion in earnest on March 24. Many, although not all, of the young native police quickly deserted and joined the rebels. Armed with Martini-Henry
rifles, Winchester repeaters
, and Lee-Metford
s, as well old and obsolete guns, assegai
s, knobkerries, and battle-axes
, the Ndebele headed into the countryside. As news of the massive rebellion spread, and the Shona joined in the fighting, the settlers headed towards Bulawayo. Within a week, 141 settlers were slain in Matabeleland
, an additional 103 were killed in Mashonaland
, and hundreds of settler homes, ranches and mines were burned.
on their own. Barbed wire was added to Bulawayo's defenses. Oil-soaked fagots were arranged in strategic locations in case of attack at night. Blasting gelatin was secreted in outlying buildings that were beyond the defence perimeter, to be exploded in the event the enemy occupied them. Smashed glass bottles were spread around the front of the wagons. Except for hunting rifles, there were few weapons to be found in Bulawayo. Fortunately for settlers, there were a few working artillery pieces and a small assortment of machine guns.
Rather than wait passively, the settlers immediately mounted patrols, called the Bulawayo Field Force, under such figures as Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham
; these rode out to rescue any surviving settlers in the countryside and went on attack against the Ndebele. Selous raised a mounted troop of forty men to scout southward into the Matobo Hills. Maurice Gifford
, along with 40 men, rode east along the Iniza River. Whenever settlers were found, they were quickly loaded into their wagons and closely guarded on their way to Bulawayo. Within the first week of fighting, 20 men of the Bulawayo Field Force were killed and another 50 were wounded.
In the First Matabele War
, the Ndebele had experienced the effectiveness of the settlers' Maxim gun
s, so they never mounted a significant attack against Bulawayo even though over 10,000 Ndebele warriors could be seen near the town. Conditions inside Bulawayo, however, quickly became unbearable. During the day, settlers could go to homes and buildings within the town, but at night they were forced to seek shelter in the much smaller laager. Nearly 1,000 women and children were crowded into the city, and false alarms of attacks were common. Although they kept up their siege, the Ndebele made one critical error: they neglected to cut the telegraph lines connecting Bulawayo to Mafeking. This gave both the relief forces and the besieged Bulawayo Field Force far more information than they would otherwise have had.
Several relief columns were organized to break the siege, but the long trek through hostile countryside took several months. Late in May, the first two relief columns appeared near Bulawayo on almost the same day but from opposite directions -- Cecil Rhodes and Col. Beal arriving from Salisbury
and Fort Victoria
in Mashonaland
300 miles to the north; and Lord Grey and Col. Plumer (of the York and Lancaster Regiment
) from Kimberley and Mafeking, 600 miles to the south. The southern relief forces were nearly ambushed on their approach to Bulawayo, but Selous
discovered the whereabouts of the Matabele and the Maxim guns of the relief forces drove back the attackers. Not long after relief forces began arriving in Bulawayo, Gen. Carrington
arrived to take overall command along with his Chief of Staff, Col Baden-Powell
.
With the siege broken, an estimated 50,000 Matabele retreated into their stronghold of the Matobo Hills near Bulawayo. This region became the scene of the fiercest fighting between the settler patrols and the Matabele. By June, the Shona kept their promise and joined the fighting on the side of the Ndebele. But lacking a clear leader similar to Mlimo, the Shonas mostly stayed behind their fortifications and conducted few raids.
Burnham and Armstrong waited until Mlimo entered the cave and started his dance of immunity. Burnham shot Mlimo just below the heart. The two scouts then leapt over the dead Mlimo and ran down a trail towards their horses. Hundreds of warriors, encamped nearby, picked up their arms and started in pursuit. Burnham set fire to the village as a distraction. The two men hurried back to Bulawayo, with warriors in pursuit.
Upon learning of the death of Mlimo, Cecil Rhodes boldly walked unarmed into the Ndebele stronghold and persuaded the impi to lay down their arms. The extension of the War in Mashonaland continued for another year, however.
with an attack by the Hwata dynasty
on Alice Mine. This was followed by the medium Nehanda Nyakasikana
capturing and executing Mazowe Native Commissioner Pollard.
Other religious figures who led the rebellion included Kaguvi Gumboreshumba
, who was active in the Goromonzi
area and Mukwati, a priest of the Mwari shrine who was active throughout Mashonaland.
In addition to the mediums, traditional leaders played a major role in the rebellion, notably Chief Mashayamombe, who led resistance in his chieftancy in Mhondoro, south of Harare
. He was amongst the first chiefs to rebel and the last to be defeated. He was supplied by many of the surrounding districts, such as Chikomba
(then Charter). Other chiefs who played an important role included Gwabayana, Makoni, Mapondera
, Mangwende and Seke
With the war in Matabeleland ending, Gen. Carrington
was able to concentrate his forces on Mashonaland and the rebels retreated into granite kopjes. With no central command to oppose him, Carrington was able to bring Maxim guns against each stronghold in turn, until resistance ended. Nehanda Nyakasikana
and Kaguvi Gumboreshumba
were captured and executed in 1898, but Mukwati was never captured and died in Mutoko
.
was implemented. The territories of Matabeleland and Mashonaland became Rhodesia
, and both the Ndebele and Shona became subjects of the Rhodes administration. However, the legacy of leaders such as Kaguvi, Mapondera and Nehanda was to inspire future generations.
and it was here that he first met and began a life-long friendship with Frederick Russell Burnham, the American born Chief of Scouts for the British. This would become a formative experience for Baden-Powell not only because he had the time of his life commanding reconnaissance missions into enemy territory, but because many of his later Boy Scout ideas took hold here. Burnham had been a scout practically his entire life in the United States when he went to Africa
in 1893 to scout for Cecil Rhodes on the Cape-to-Cairo Railway
. As Chief of Scouts under Major Allan Wilson
, Burnham became known in Africa as he-who-sees-in-the-dark and he gained fame in the First Matabele War
when he survived the British equivalent of Custer's Last Stand, the infamous Shangani Patrol
.
During their joint scouting patrols into the Matobo Hills, Burnham began teaching Baden-Powell woodcraft
, inspiring him and giving him the plan for both the program and the code of honor of Scouting for Boys. Practiced by frontier
smen of the American Old West
and Indigenous peoples of the Americas
, woodcraft was generally unknown to the British
, but well known to the American scout Burnham. These skills eventually formed the basis of what is now called scoutcraft
, the fundamentals of Scouting. Both men recognised that wars in Africa
were changing markedly and the British Army
needed to adapt; so during their joint scouting missions, Baden-Powell and Burnham discussed the concept of a broad training programme in woodcraft for young men, rich in exploration
, tracking
, fieldcraft
, and self-reliance. It was also during this time in the Matobo Hills that Baden-Powell first started to wear his signature campaign hat
like the one worn by Burnham, and it was here that Baden-Powell acquired his Kudu horn, the Ndebele war instrument he later used every morning at Brownsea Island
to wake the first boy scouts and to call them together in training courses.
, who had in 1894 proclaimed his independence of company rule, led a rebellion in the Guruve
and Mount Darwin
areas of Mashonaland Central
. He led a force of initially under 100 men, but had over 600 under his command by mid-1901. He was captured in 1903 and died in jail in 1904 after a hunger strike
.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
as the First Chimurenga
Chimurenga
Chimurenga is a Shona word for 'revolutionary struggle'. The word's modern interpretation has been extended to describe a struggle for human rights, political dignity and social justice, specifically used for the African insurrections against British colonial rule 1896–1897 and the guerrilla war...
, was fought in 1896–97 between the British troops and the Ndebele people.
In March 1896, the Ndebele
Ndebele people (Zimbabwe)
The Ndebele are a branch of the Zulus who split from King Shaka in the early 1820s under the leadership of Mzilikazi, a former general in Shaka's army....
(Matabele) people revolted against the authority of the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
in what is now celebrated in Zimbabwe as the First War of Independence. Mlimo, the Ndebele spiritual leader, is credited with fomenting much of the anger that led to this confrontation. He convinced the Ndebele and the Shona
Shona people
Shona is the name collectively given to two groups of people in the east and southwest of Zimbabwe, north eastern Botswana and southern Mozambique.-Shona Regional Classification:...
that the settlers (almost 4,000 strong by then) were responsible for the drought, locust plagues and the cattle disease rinderpest
Rinderpest
Rinderpest was an infectious viral disease of cattle, domestic buffalo, and some other species of even-toed ungulates, including buffaloes, large antelopes and deer, giraffes, wildebeests and warthogs. After a global eradication campaign, the last confirmed case of rinderpest was diagnosed in 2001...
ravaging the country at the time.
Mlimo's call to battle was well-timed. Only a few months earlier, the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
's Administrator General for Matabeleland
Matabeleland
Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people...
, Leander Starr Jameson
Leander Starr Jameson
Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, KCMG, CB, , also known as "Doctor Jim", "The Doctor" or "Lanner", was a British colonial statesman who was best known for his involvement in the Jameson Raid....
, had sent most of his troops and armaments to fight the Transvaal Republic in the ill-fated Jameson Raid
Jameson Raid
The Jameson Raid was a botched raid on Paul Kruger's Transvaal Republic carried out by a British colonial statesman Leander Starr Jameson and his Rhodesian and Bechuanaland policemen over the New Year weekend of 1895–96...
. This left the country nearly defenceless. The British immediately sent troops to suppress the Ndebele and the Shona, but it cost the lives of many settlers, Ndebele, and Shona alike, took months before British forces were adequate to break the sieges and defend the major settlements, and war raged on until October of the following year.
Rebellion
Mlimo planned to wait until the night of March 29, the first full moon, to take BulawayoBulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
by surprise immediately after a ceremony called the Big Dance. He promised, through his priests, that if the Ndebele went to war, the bullets of the settlers would change to water and their cannon shells would become eggs. His plan was to kill all of the settlers in Bulawayo
Bulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
first, but not to destroy the town itself as it would serve again as the royal kraal
Kraal
Kraal is an Afrikaans and Dutch word for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within an African settlement or village surrounded by a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form.In the Dutch language a kraal is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate...
for the newly reincarnated King Lobengula
Lobengula
Lobengula Khumalo was the second and last king of the Ndebele people, usually pronounced Matabele in English. Both names, in the Sindebele language, mean "The men of the long shields", a reference to the Matabele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.- Background :The Matabele were related to...
. Mlimo decreed that the settlers should be attacked and driven from the country through the Mangwe Pass on the Western edge of the Matobo Hills, which was to be left open and unguarded for this reason. Once the settlers were purged from Bulawayo, the Ndebele and Shona warriors would head out into the countryside and continue the slaughter until all the settlers were either killed or fled.
But several young Ndebele were overly anxious to go to war, and the rebellion started prematurely. On March 20, Ndebele rebels shot and stabbed a native policeman. Over the next few days, other outlying settlers and prospectors were killed. Frederick Selous
Frederick Selous
Frederick Courteney Selous DSO was a British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character. Selous was also a good friend of Theodore...
, the famous big-game hunter, had heard rumours of settlers in the countryside being killed, but he thought it was a localised problem. When news of the policeman's murder reached Selous on March 23, he knew the Ndebele had started a massive uprising.
Nearly 2,000 Ndebele warriors began the rebellion in earnest on March 24. Many, although not all, of the young native police quickly deserted and joined the rebels. Armed with Martini-Henry
Martini-Henry
The Martini-Henry was a breech-loading single-shot lever-actuated rifle adopted by the British, combining an action worked on by Friedrich von Martini , with the rifled barrel designed by Scotsman Alexander Henry...
rifles, Winchester repeaters
Winchester rifle
In common usage, Winchester rifle usually means any of the lever-action rifles manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, though the company has also manufactured many rifles of other action types...
, and Lee-Metford
Lee-Metford
The Lee-Metford rifle was a bolt action British army service rifle, combining James Paris Lee's rear-locking bolt system and ten-round magazine with a seven groove rifled barrel designed by William Ellis Metford...
s, as well old and obsolete guns, assegai
Assegai
An assegai or assagai is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron.-Iklwa:...
s, knobkerries, and battle-axes
Battle axe
A battle axe is an axe specifically designed for combat. Battle axes were specialized versions of utility axes...
, the Ndebele headed into the countryside. As news of the massive rebellion spread, and the Shona joined in the fighting, the settlers headed towards Bulawayo. Within a week, 141 settlers were slain in Matabeleland
Matabeleland
Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people...
, an additional 103 were killed in Mashonaland
Mashonaland
Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
, and hundreds of settler homes, ranches and mines were burned.
Siege of Bulawayo
With few troops to support them, the settlers quickly built a laager of sandbagged wagons in the centre of BulawayoBulawayo
Bulawayo is the second largest city in Zimbabwe after the capital Harare, with an estimated population in 2010 of 2,000,000. It is located in Matabeleland, 439 km southwest of Harare, and is now treated as a separate provincial area from Matabeleland...
on their own. Barbed wire was added to Bulawayo's defenses. Oil-soaked fagots were arranged in strategic locations in case of attack at night. Blasting gelatin was secreted in outlying buildings that were beyond the defence perimeter, to be exploded in the event the enemy occupied them. Smashed glass bottles were spread around the front of the wagons. Except for hunting rifles, there were few weapons to be found in Bulawayo. Fortunately for settlers, there were a few working artillery pieces and a small assortment of machine guns.
Rather than wait passively, the settlers immediately mounted patrols, called the Bulawayo Field Force, under such figures as Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham
Frederick Russell Burnham
Frederick Russell Burnham, DSO was an American scout and world traveling adventurer known for his service to the British Army in colonial Africa and for teaching woodcraft to Robert Baden-Powell, thus becoming one of the inspirations for the founding of the international Scouting Movement.Burnham...
; these rode out to rescue any surviving settlers in the countryside and went on attack against the Ndebele. Selous raised a mounted troop of forty men to scout southward into the Matobo Hills. Maurice Gifford
Maurice Gifford
Hon. Maurice Raymond Gifford CMG was a British military officer.-Biography:Born at Ampney Park, Gloucester, he was the son of Robert Francis Gifford, 2nd Baron Gifford, and the brother of Edric Gifford, 3rd Baron Gifford. On the completion of his education he entered the Merchant Service, and...
, along with 40 men, rode east along the Iniza River. Whenever settlers were found, they were quickly loaded into their wagons and closely guarded on their way to Bulawayo. Within the first week of fighting, 20 men of the Bulawayo Field Force were killed and another 50 were wounded.
In the First Matabele War
First Matabele War
The First Matabele War was fought in 1893-1894 between the British South Africa Company military forces and the Ndebele people. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, avoided outright war with the British settlers because he and his advisors were mindful of the destructive power of the European weapons...
, the Ndebele had experienced the effectiveness of the settlers' Maxim gun
Maxim gun
The Maxim gun was the first self-powered machine gun, invented by the American-born British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. It has been called "the weapon most associated with [British] imperial conquest".-Functionality:...
s, so they never mounted a significant attack against Bulawayo even though over 10,000 Ndebele warriors could be seen near the town. Conditions inside Bulawayo, however, quickly became unbearable. During the day, settlers could go to homes and buildings within the town, but at night they were forced to seek shelter in the much smaller laager. Nearly 1,000 women and children were crowded into the city, and false alarms of attacks were common. Although they kept up their siege, the Ndebele made one critical error: they neglected to cut the telegraph lines connecting Bulawayo to Mafeking. This gave both the relief forces and the besieged Bulawayo Field Force far more information than they would otherwise have had.
Several relief columns were organized to break the siege, but the long trek through hostile countryside took several months. Late in May, the first two relief columns appeared near Bulawayo on almost the same day but from opposite directions -- Cecil Rhodes and Col. Beal arriving from Salisbury
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
and Fort Victoria
Masvingo
Masvingo is a town in south-eastern Zimbabwe and the capital of Masvingo Province. The town is close to Great Zimbabwe, the national monument from which the country takes its name.- History :...
in Mashonaland
Mashonaland
Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
300 miles to the north; and Lord Grey and Col. Plumer (of the York and Lancaster Regiment
2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment
The 2nd Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment was formed by the redesignation of the 84th Regiment of Foot in 1881.-History:...
) from Kimberley and Mafeking, 600 miles to the south. The southern relief forces were nearly ambushed on their approach to Bulawayo, but Selous
Frederick Selous
Frederick Courteney Selous DSO was a British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist, famous for his exploits in south and east of Africa. His real-life adventures inspired Sir H. Rider Haggard to create the fictional Allan Quatermain character. Selous was also a good friend of Theodore...
discovered the whereabouts of the Matabele and the Maxim guns of the relief forces drove back the attackers. Not long after relief forces began arriving in Bulawayo, Gen. Carrington
Frederick Carrington
Major General Sir Frederick Carrington KCB, KCMG , was a British soldier and friend of Cecil John Rhodes...
arrived to take overall command along with his Chief of Staff, Col Baden-Powell
Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell
Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, Bt, OM, GCMG, GCVO, KCB , also known as B-P or Lord Baden-Powell, was a lieutenant-general in the British Army, writer, and founder of the Scout Movement....
.
With the siege broken, an estimated 50,000 Matabele retreated into their stronghold of the Matobo Hills near Bulawayo. This region became the scene of the fiercest fighting between the settler patrols and the Matabele. By June, the Shona kept their promise and joined the fighting on the side of the Ndebele. But lacking a clear leader similar to Mlimo, the Shonas mostly stayed behind their fortifications and conducted few raids.
Assassination of Mlimo
The turning point in the war came when a Zulu informant provided information on the whereabouts of Mlimo. The scout Burnham and native commissioner Bonnar Armstrong were dispatched to find Mlimo's sacred cave, which was used as a shrine, and to capture or kill him. Burnham and Armstrong traveled by night through the Matobo Hills and approached the sacred cave. Not far from the cave was a village of about 100 huts filled with many warriors. The two scouts tethered their horses to a thicket and crawled on their bellies, screening their slow and cautious movements with branches held before them. Once inside the cave, they waited until Mlimo entered.Burnham and Armstrong waited until Mlimo entered the cave and started his dance of immunity. Burnham shot Mlimo just below the heart. The two scouts then leapt over the dead Mlimo and ran down a trail towards their horses. Hundreds of warriors, encamped nearby, picked up their arms and started in pursuit. Burnham set fire to the village as a distraction. The two men hurried back to Bulawayo, with warriors in pursuit.
Upon learning of the death of Mlimo, Cecil Rhodes boldly walked unarmed into the Ndebele stronghold and persuaded the impi to lay down their arms. The extension of the War in Mashonaland continued for another year, however.
War in Mashonaland
War broke out on 17 June 1896 at MazoweMazowe
Mazowe is a village in Mashonaland Central province in Zimbabwe....
with an attack by the Hwata dynasty
Hwata dynasty
-HWATA DYNASTY:Three brothers, Shayachimwe, Nyakudya and Gutsa who were of the Shava Dynasty and Museyamwa totem, migrated northwards from Buhera in the south of Zimbabwe in late eighteenth century. Between 1760 and 1780, the three brothers were invited by elder brother, Chief Seke Mutema to...
on Alice Mine. This was followed by the medium Nehanda Nyakasikana
Nehanda Nyakasikana
Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana was a svikiro, or spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people. As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona, she provided inspiration to the Hwata Dynasty for their revolt against the British South Africa Company colonisation of Mashonaland and Matabeleland .She was a Hera...
capturing and executing Mazowe Native Commissioner Pollard.
Other religious figures who led the rebellion included Kaguvi Gumboreshumba
Kaguvi
Kaguvi or sometimes, Kagubi , was a nationalist leader in pre-colonial Zimbabwe Shona Rebellion against European rule in 1896-1897.The name is also given to a man who claimed to be the original Kaguvi's spirit's medium, called Gumboreshumba...
, who was active in the Goromonzi
Goromonzi
Goromonzi is a rural community in Zimbabwe, southeast of the country's capital city of Harare. It covers an area of and has a population of 178,000. The people who live in the region are principally from the Shona tribe. The village serves as a trading centre for commercial, communal and...
area and Mukwati, a priest of the Mwari shrine who was active throughout Mashonaland.
In addition to the mediums, traditional leaders played a major role in the rebellion, notably Chief Mashayamombe, who led resistance in his chieftancy in Mhondoro, south of Harare
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
. He was amongst the first chiefs to rebel and the last to be defeated. He was supplied by many of the surrounding districts, such as Chikomba
Chikomba
Chikomba is a district of Zimbabwe. Chikomba has a high number of land mines in its areas. Chikomba has applied for elevation from district to town status...
(then Charter). Other chiefs who played an important role included Gwabayana, Makoni, Mapondera
Kadungure Mapondera
Chief Kadungure Mapondera helped to lead the Shona people of Southern Africa against British colonial forces in the 1890s. He eventually surrendered to his enemies and was tried and sentenced to imprisonment.1901 Mapondera Rebellion ;...
, Mangwende and Seke
With the war in Matabeleland ending, Gen. Carrington
Frederick Carrington
Major General Sir Frederick Carrington KCB, KCMG , was a British soldier and friend of Cecil John Rhodes...
was able to concentrate his forces on Mashonaland and the rebels retreated into granite kopjes. With no central command to oppose him, Carrington was able to bring Maxim guns against each stronghold in turn, until resistance ended. Nehanda Nyakasikana
Nehanda Nyakasikana
Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana was a svikiro, or spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people. As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona, she provided inspiration to the Hwata Dynasty for their revolt against the British South Africa Company colonisation of Mashonaland and Matabeleland .She was a Hera...
and Kaguvi Gumboreshumba
Kaguvi
Kaguvi or sometimes, Kagubi , was a nationalist leader in pre-colonial Zimbabwe Shona Rebellion against European rule in 1896-1897.The name is also given to a man who claimed to be the original Kaguvi's spirit's medium, called Gumboreshumba...
were captured and executed in 1898, but Mukwati was never captured and died in Mutoko
Mutoko
Mutoko is a small town in Mashonaland East province, Zimbabwe. It was established as an administrative station in 1911. It lies 143 km from Harare. It is named after the local Chief Mutoko....
.
Legacy
The rebellion failed completely and did not result in any major changes in BSAC policy. For example, the hut taxHut tax
The hut tax was a type of taxation introduced by British colonialists in Africa on a per hut or household basis. It was variously payable in money, labour, grain or stock and benefited the colonial authorities in four related ways: it raised money; it supported the currency ; it broadened the cash...
was implemented. The territories of Matabeleland and Mashonaland became Rhodesia
Rhodesia
Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...
, and both the Ndebele and Shona became subjects of the Rhodes administration. However, the legacy of leaders such as Kaguvi, Mapondera and Nehanda was to inspire future generations.
Birthplace of Scouting
Soon after the outbreak of the war, Baden-Powell was assigned to Matabeleland as Chief of Staff to Gen. CarringtonFrederick Carrington
Major General Sir Frederick Carrington KCB, KCMG , was a British soldier and friend of Cecil John Rhodes...
and it was here that he first met and began a life-long friendship with Frederick Russell Burnham, the American born Chief of Scouts for the British. This would become a formative experience for Baden-Powell not only because he had the time of his life commanding reconnaissance missions into enemy territory, but because many of his later Boy Scout ideas took hold here. Burnham had been a scout practically his entire life in the United States when he went to Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
in 1893 to scout for Cecil Rhodes on the Cape-to-Cairo Railway
Cape-Cairo railway
The Cape to Cairo Railway is an uncompleted project to cross Africa from south to north by rail. This plan was initiated at the end of the 18th century, during the time of colonial rule, largely under the vision of Cecil Rhodes, in the attempt to connect adjacent African possessions of the British...
. As Chief of Scouts under Major Allan Wilson
Allan Wilson (army officer)
Allan Wilson , was born in Scotland. He is best known for his leadership of the Shangani Patrol which resulted in his death and made him a national hero in Rhodesia....
, Burnham became known in Africa as he-who-sees-in-the-dark and he gained fame in the First Matabele War
First Matabele War
The First Matabele War was fought in 1893-1894 between the British South Africa Company military forces and the Ndebele people. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, avoided outright war with the British settlers because he and his advisors were mindful of the destructive power of the European weapons...
when he survived the British equivalent of Custer's Last Stand, the infamous Shangani Patrol
Shangani Patrol
The Shangani Patrol was a group of white Rhodesian pioneer police officers killed in battle on the Shangani River in Matabeleland in 1893. The incident achieved a lasting, prominent place in Rhodesian colonial history.-Setting and Battle:...
.
During their joint scouting patrols into the Matobo Hills, Burnham began teaching Baden-Powell woodcraft
Woodcraft
Woodcraft is a recreational/educational program devised by Ernest Thompson Seton in 1902, for young people based on camping, outdoor skills and woodcrafts. Thompson Seton's Woodcraft ideas were incorporated into the early Scout movement, but also in many other organisations in many countries.In the...
, inspiring him and giving him the plan for both the program and the code of honor of Scouting for Boys. Practiced by frontier
Frontier
A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
smen of the American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
and Indigenous peoples of the Americas
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
, woodcraft was generally unknown to the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
, but well known to the American scout Burnham. These skills eventually formed the basis of what is now called scoutcraft
Scoutcraft
Scoutcraft is a term used to cover a variety of woodcraft knowledge and skills required by people seeking to venture into wild country and sustain themselves independently. The term has been adopted by Scouting organizations to reflect skills and knowledge which are felt to be a core part of the...
, the fundamentals of Scouting. Both men recognised that wars in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
were changing markedly and the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
needed to adapt; so during their joint scouting missions, Baden-Powell and Burnham discussed the concept of a broad training programme in woodcraft for young men, rich in exploration
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
, tracking
Tracking (hunting)
Tracking in hunting and ecology is the science and art of observing animal tracks and other signs, with the goal of gaining understanding of the landscape and the animal being tracked...
, fieldcraft
Fieldcraft
Fieldcraft is a term used especially in American, Canadian and British military circles to describe the basic military skills required to operate stealthily and the methods used to do so, which can differ during day or night and due to weather or terrain...
, and self-reliance. It was also during this time in the Matobo Hills that Baden-Powell first started to wear his signature campaign hat
Campaign hat
A campaign cover is a broad-brimmed felt or straw hat, with a high crown, pinched symmetrically at the four corners .It is associated with the New Zealand Army, the Royal Canadian...
like the one worn by Burnham, and it was here that Baden-Powell acquired his Kudu horn, the Ndebele war instrument he later used every morning at Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole...
to wake the first boy scouts and to call them together in training courses.
1901 Mapondera Rebellion
In 1901, Chief Kadungure MaponderaKadungure Mapondera
Chief Kadungure Mapondera helped to lead the Shona people of Southern Africa against British colonial forces in the 1890s. He eventually surrendered to his enemies and was tried and sentenced to imprisonment.1901 Mapondera Rebellion ;...
, who had in 1894 proclaimed his independence of company rule, led a rebellion in the Guruve
Guruve
-Districts and areas:*Roundhouse*Delaware Mine*Natasha Valley...
and Mount Darwin
Mount Darwin, Zimbabwe
Mount Darwin or Karanda is a town in Mashonaland Central province in Zimbabwe. It is named after the biologist Charles Darwin. It is located 156 kilometres north of Harare.- History :...
areas of Mashonaland Central
Mashonaland Central
Mashonaland Central is a province of Zimbabwe. It has an area of 28,347 km² and a population of approximately 998,265 , representing about 8.5% of the total Zimbabwe population.- Background :Bindura is the capital of the province...
. He led a force of initially under 100 men, but had over 600 under his command by mid-1901. He was captured in 1903 and died in jail in 1904 after a hunger strike
Monuments
In his will, Rhodes directed that he be buried in the Matobo Hills; when he died in the Cape in 1902 his body was brought to Bulawayo by train and wagon. His burial was attended by Ndebele chiefs, who asked that the firing party not discharge their rifles, as this would disturb the spirits. Then, for the first and probably the only time, they gave the white man the Ndebele royal salute "Bayete". Rhodes is buried alongside Jameson and the 34 settler soldiers killed in the Shangani PatrolShangani Patrol
The Shangani Patrol was a group of white Rhodesian pioneer police officers killed in battle on the Shangani River in Matabeleland in 1893. The incident achieved a lasting, prominent place in Rhodesian colonial history.-Setting and Battle:...
.
See also
- First Matabele WarFirst Matabele WarThe First Matabele War was fought in 1893-1894 between the British South Africa Company military forces and the Ndebele people. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, avoided outright war with the British settlers because he and his advisors were mindful of the destructive power of the European weapons...
- Pioneer ColumnPioneer ColumnThe Pioneer Column was a force raised by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company in 1890 and used in his efforts to annex the territory of Mashonaland, later part of Southern Rhodesia ....
- British South Africa Company MedalBritish South Africa Company MedalThe British South Africa Company Medal . In 1896, Queen Victoria sanctioned the issue by the British South Africa Company of a medal to troops who had been engaged in the First Matabele War. In 1897, the Queen sanctioned another medal for those engaged in the two campaigns of the Second Matabele...
- LobengulaLobengulaLobengula Khumalo was the second and last king of the Ndebele people, usually pronounced Matabele in English. Both names, in the Sindebele language, mean "The men of the long shields", a reference to the Matabele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.- Background :The Matabele were related to...
- Nehanda NyakasikanaNehanda NyakasikanaNehanda Charwe Nyakasikana was a svikiro, or spirit medium of the Zezuru Shona people. As one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona, she provided inspiration to the Hwata Dynasty for their revolt against the British South Africa Company colonisation of Mashonaland and Matabeleland .She was a Hera...
- KaguviKaguviKaguvi or sometimes, Kagubi , was a nationalist leader in pre-colonial Zimbabwe Shona Rebellion against European rule in 1896-1897.The name is also given to a man who claimed to be the original Kaguvi's spirit's medium, called Gumboreshumba...
- Kadungure MaponderaKadungure MaponderaChief Kadungure Mapondera helped to lead the Shona people of Southern Africa against British colonial forces in the 1890s. He eventually surrendered to his enemies and was tried and sentenced to imprisonment.1901 Mapondera Rebellion ;...
Further reading
- History of Rhodesia, by Howard Hensman (1900) PDF
- The Story of Baden-Powell, by Harold Begbie (1900)
- Scouting on Two Continents, by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O., Autobiography. LC call number: DT775 .B8 1926. (1926)
- Taking Chances, by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, D.S.O., LC call number: DT29 .B8. (1944)
- The Matabele campaign, 1896; being a narrative of the campaign in suppressing the native rising in Matabeleland and Mashonaland, by Col. Robert Baden-Powell, ISBN 0-8371-3566-4