1815–1840 period of civil conflict in southern Africa
The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met.(July 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
An early painting of the first migration of the Fengu, one of the affected peoples of the Mfecane
The Mfecane, also known by the Sesotho names Difaqane or Lifaqane (all meaning "crushing," "scattering," "forced dispersal," or "forced migration"),[1] is a historical period of heightened military conflict and migration associated with state formation and expansion in Southern Africa. The exact range of dates that comprise the Mfecane varies between sources. At its broadest, the period lasted from the late eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century, but scholars often focus on an intensive period from the 1810s to the 1840s.[2] The concept first emerged in the 1830s and blamed the disruption on the actions of King Shaka, who was alleged to have waged near-genocidal wars that depopulated the land and sparked a chain reaction of violence as fleeing groups sought to conquer new lands.[3][4] Since the latter half of the 20th century, this interpretation has fallen out of favor among scholars due to a lack of historical evidence.[5][6]
Traditional estimates for the death toll range from 1 million to 2 million;[7][8][9] however, these numbers are controversial, and some recent scholars revise the mortality figure significantly downward and attribute the root causes to complex political, economic, and environmental developments.[10][11][12][13] The Mfecane is significant in that it saw the formation of new states, institutions, and ethnic identities in southeastern Africa. The Mfecane's historiography itself is also historically significant, with different versions having been employed to serve a range of political purposes since its inception as a historical concept.[3][14][15]
^"General South African History Timeline: 1800s". South African History Online. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
^Epprecht, Marc (June 1994). "The Mfecane as Teaching Aid: History, Politics, and Pedagogy in Southern Africa". Journal of Historical Sociology. 7 (2): 113–130. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.1994.tb00164.x.
^ abEpprecht, Marc (June 1994). "The Mfecane as Teaching Aid: History, Politics and Pedagogy in Southern Africa". Journal of Historical Sociology. 7 (2): 114. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.1994.tb00164.x.
^Wright, John (1989). "Political Mythology and the Making of Natal's Mfecane". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 23 (2): 286. doi:10.2307/485525. hdl:10539/10253. JSTOR 485525 – via JSTOR.
^Epprecht, Marc (June 1994). "The Mfecane as Teaching Aid: History, Politics, and Pedagogy in Southern Africa". Journal of Historical Sociology. 7 (2): 115. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.1994.tb00164.x.
^Wright, John (1989). "Political Mythology and the Making of Natal's Mfecane". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 23 (2): 287. doi:10.2307/485525. hdl:10539/10253. JSTOR 485525 – via JSTOR.
^Hanson, Victor (18 December 2007). Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-307-42518-8.
^Walter, Eugene Victor (1969). Terror and resistance: a study of political violence, with case studies of some primitive African communities. Oxford University Press.
^Wright, John; Cobbing, Julian (12 September 1988). "The Mfecane: Beginning the inquest". Wits Institutional Repository African Studies Institute – Seminar Papers.
^Epprecht, Marc (June 1994). "The Mfecane as Teaching Aid: History, Politics and Pedagogy in Southern Africa". Journal of Historical Sociology. 7 (2): 113–130. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6443.1994.tb00164.x.
^Omer-Cooper, J.D. (June 1993). "Has the Mfecane a future? a response to the Cobbing critique". Journal of Southern African Studies. 19 (2): 273–294. doi:10.1080/03057079308708360.
^Saunders, Christopher (1 December 1991). "Conference report: Mfecane afterthoughts". Social Dynamics. 17 (2): 171–177. doi:10.1080/02533959108458518. ISSN 0253-3952.
^Eldredge, Elizabeth A. (1992). "Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa, C. 1800-30: The 'Mfecane' Reconsidered". The Journal of African History. 33 (1): 1–35. doi:10.1017/S0021853700031832. ISSN 0021-8537. JSTOR 182273. S2CID 153554467.
^Wright, John (1989). "Political Mythology and the Making of Natal's Mfecane". Canadian Journal of African Studies. 23 (2): 286. doi:10.2307/485525. hdl:10539/10253. JSTOR 485525 – via JSTOR.
^Etherington, Norman (2004). "A False Emptiness: How Historians May Have Been Misled by Early Nineteenth Century Maps of South-Eastern Africa". Imago Mundi. 56 (1): 68. doi:10.1080/0308569032000172969. JSTOR 40233902. S2CID 128461624 – via JSTOR.
The Mfecane, also known by the Sesotho names Difaqane or Lifaqane (all meaning "crushing," "scattering," "forced dispersal," or "forced migration"), is...
However, the notion of the mfecane or difaqane has been disputed by some scholars, notably Julian Cobbing. The Mfecane was initiated by Zwide and his...
number of battles. King Shaka's reign coincided with the start of the Mfecane/Difaqane ("upheaval" or "crushing"), a period of devastating warfare and...
Sotho people have split into different clans over time as a result of the Mfecane (a series of wars and migrations that took place in the 19th century) and...
colonialists in the Cape and increased militarization of the Zulu resulted in the Mfecane (the crushing). The Zulu expanded by assimilating the women and children...
so and were fairly prosperous. This equilibrium came to end during the Mfecane period, 1823–1843, when a succession of invading peoples from South Africa...
territory under their leader, Shaka. Shaka's warfare indirectly led to the Mfecane ('crushing'), in which one to two million people were killed and the inland...
historian to attempt to discredit conventional historical beliefs about the 'Mfecane' - a period of wars during the 1820s and 1830s that resulted in the emergence...
Nguni tribes and clans, setting in motion what became known as Difaqane or Mfecane, a mass-migration of tribes fleeing the remnants of the Ndwandwe fleeing...
Rustenburg (/ˈrʌstənbɜːrɡ/; Afrikaans pronunciation: [ˈrœstənbœrχ], Afrikaans and Dutch: City of Rest) is a city at the foot of the Magaliesberg mountain...
during the chaos of the Mfecane wars, many people were forced to migrate to safer areas of Southern Africa. During the Mfecane wars the scattered tribes...
of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Transvaal Civil War Mineral Revolution...
most famous issue was Mzilikazi and Mbulazi, an influential figure in the mfecane, and founder of the Northern Ndebele nation of Zimbabwe (mthwakazi) Until...
inhabitants because the thinking went, they had all fled in the face of the Mfecane. The Boers believed that the land was deserted and abandoned and therefore...
of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Transvaal Civil War Mineral Revolution...
of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Transvaal Civil War Mineral Revolution...
of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Transvaal Civil War Mineral Revolution...
of Muizenberg Battle of Blaauwberg Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 1815–1910 Mfecane 1820 Settlers Great Trek Boer Republics Transvaal Civil War Mineral Revolution...
earlier. The Mthethwa were amongst the first Nguni Chiefdoms to use guns. Mfecane Zululand Muzi Mthethwa (1995), "The History of abakwaMthethwa, Research...
2007. "Background to the Mfecane". countrystudies.us/south-africa U.S. Library of Congress. 20 November 2006. "Zulu Rise & Mfecane". bbc.co.uk The Story...
established in the wake of Mzilikazi's depopulation of the region during the mfecane. Various small to medium-sized businesses, overnight facilities, farm houses...
tableau Gukurahundi Herero and Nama genocide Ikiza Maji Maji Rebellion Mfecane Americas (history) Beothuk extinction Canadian residential schools Conquest...
later alternative form of note were conformed around the "1830s concept of Mfecane", trying to hide and ignore the intrusion of Europeans on Bantu lands,...
the massive political and social upheaval within southern Africa, the mfecane, lasting until the 1830s. IsiNgqumo is an argot spoken by the homosexuals...
clans grew more autonomous. Maravi was invaded by Ngoni people fleeing the Mfecane and was frequently raided by the neighboring Yao people (East Africa),...
generals), who left the Zulu Kingdom in the early 19th century, during the Mfecane, arriving in present-day Zimbabwe in 1839. Although there are some differences...
indigenous people and later historians came to call the Mfecane. In the Transvaal, the Mfecane severely weakened and disrupted the towns and villages of...
Global Information
