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Chief Maqoma (Jongumsobomvu) is the most renowned Xhosa chief and arguably one of Africa’s greatest military leaders of the 19th Century.

He was the Right-Hand Son of Ngqika, ruler of the Rharhabe Kingdom of the Xhosa nation (what was known as the Ciskei). He was a man of considerable intellect and eloquence, striving to maintain traditional social structures and the power of the Xhosa royalty. Faced with an escalating level of military pressure from the Cape, Maqoma and his half-brother Tyali took up arms in a series of Frontier Wars.

In the War of Mlanjeni (1850-53), Maqoma used his skills as a general to lead a guerrilla campaign in the forested Amatola mountains and valleys of Waterkloof. His unconventional tactics frustrated even the most skilled of soldiers.
Maqoma led Xhosa forces in three separate Frontier Wars, fought mostly on Rharhabeland.

He was later captured and imprisoned on Robben Island twice. The first time he was imprisoned with his wife Katyi for 12 years. In 1869 they were released, however only two years later he was sent back to Robben Island after being found guilty of encouraging rebellion among his people. This time, he was imprisoned without his wife, dying two years later in 1873.

More than a century later he was reburied in 1978 in the Ciskei Mngqesha Great Place of the Xhosa kings; commissioned by his descendant, his great great grandson, Chief Lent Maqoma. To most Xhosa, many of whom had attended Steven Biko’s funeral the previous year, it represented the return of an exceptional leader who had ultimately sacrificed his life for the cause of his people. This remains Maqoma’s legacy.

Maqoma’s greatest victory is perhaps the battle for Waterkloof in the Amatola Mountains (1851), when the Xhosa allied with the Khoekhoen gave the British a terrible time in hand-to-hand combat in the steep, densely forested mountains.
More British officers lost their lives during that action than anywhere else on the frontier. He is praised as being “the leopard of Fordyce” in Xhosa oral tradition. This is because the highest-ranking British officer to die in these frontier wars, Lieutenant Colonel John Fordyce, was killed in the Waterkloof battles.

The battles to relieve Governor Sir Harry Smith, who was trapped in Fort Cox by the Xhosa, were the biggest battles ever recorded in South Africa before the Battle of Isandlwana. The battles took place from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve of 1850, forming part of the Eighth Frontier War (1850-1853). This is according to the historian Rob Speirs, who specialises in battle tours along the Eastern Cape. These battles had the highest death toll and was the most protracted war until the 2nd Anglo-Boer War.

A comment from a contemporary chief and descendent, Chief Island Siqithi Maqoma, puts things in perspective when he commented:
“Small wonder that the Eastern Cape has more forts than any other place in Africa — because it was here that the British fought longest and hardest to conquer a people”

The Khoekhoen and Sotho may be pleased to learn that Maqoma had both these extractions running through his blood. His mother Nothonto, was the daughter of Nxiya, who was both of Sotho and Khoekhoen ancestry.

Nommoa, commonly known as Doman, established himself as a resistance leader.

The first European settlement in South Africa arrived 1652 to set up a refreshment station for ships rounding the Cape, with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) needing the Khoi’s cattle to supply these ships to and from the East.

Doman was identified as an ally and a ‘middleman’ between the Dutch and the Khoi. To teach him Dutch so he could serve as an interpreter, in 1657 he was sent Batavia.

Doman returned to the Cape in 1658. However, he did not come back as “one of them” having experienced Dutch way of life as the VOC thought he would. Instead, he started plotting against the VOC, urging other Khoekhoen to take up resistance for the sake of protecting their culture, cattle and way of life.

In 1659 Doman formed a fighting force from different clans, and launched guerrilla attacks on the VOC. This sparked the First Khoekhoen-Dutch War, fought from May 1659 to April 1660.

King Shaka is said to be one of the greatest military leaders in African history, and perhaps all of history. Shaka’s father was Senzangakhona, his mother was Princess Nandi of the Langeni royal family.

While he was both respected and feared for the brutality of his methods and the strictness of discipline, in many ways, it can be said he changed warfare methods. His legacy lived on in the Zulu warriors who fought the British in 1879. This military conflict helped immortalize the Zulu in the minds of Westerners as the ultimate warrior.

The sketch to the left is believed to be the only life sketch of King Shaka, attributed to trader James King, it appeared in Nathanial Isaacs’ “Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa”, published in 1836.

Note: Although this sketch is regarded as the only real-life sketch of Shaka, there are a number of inaccuracies which historians have pointed out, namely the excessive length of the feather on the head as well as the spear, which should be shorter (iklwa, also referred to as ixwa or ikhwa).

Shaka is credited with introducing new innovations to the Zulus, such as:

The iklwa
The assegai was a long pole weapon made of wood with pointed iron at the end. The primary purpose was for it to be thrown like a javelin.
Shaka introduced the iklwa, a weapon with a shorter shaft (c. 0.6m in length) and a longer spearhead (c. 0.3m in length). This weapon gave Shaka’s warriors a huge advantage over opponents when they engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

Barefoot
Shaka reportedly ordered his troops to throw away their sandals and harden their feet with the logic that sandals slow you down. When some warriors did not obey his order, he arranged for his warriors to dance on thorns. Those that did not dance were executed. His orders were obeyed after that!

Formalised military training
Military training included having his troops enduring 50-mile marches for practice over rough and hot terrain, so they wouldn’t be fazed by difficult conditions during battle).
Another innovation was the introduction of the izimpondo zinkunzi known as the ‘bull’s horns’ formation.

The concept of encirclement
Although not unique to Shaka, this tactic was employed by great military leaders, such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Genghis Khan, Khalid bin Waleed, Hannibal, Sun Tzu, Napoleon and Patton.

For example, Hannibal employed this strategy at the Battle of Cannae 216 BC, to inflict Rome’s greatest defeat. The Romans reportedly lost 50,000 men with Carthage losing only 8,000. The Rozvi, former Karanga empire in southern Africa, also used this strategy according to Portuguese records. They used this to drive the Portuguese from their marketplaces in the Zambezi River valley in the 1690s. This was well over a hundred years before Shaka.
What was exceptional about the Zulu’s encirclement was the degree of organisation and the speed at which the formations were executed. These formations were used to deadly effect. A case in point being at the Battle of Isandlwana.

Bull Horn Strategy
A. The enemy, BB. Horns of Zulu army, C. Chest of Zulu army, D. Loins of Zulu army. This is where the older warriors would be positioned. As they typically not able to run that fast, running away from the enemy would not be their primary option. For the sake of their own survival, their preferred option would be to engage any enemy who breached the encirclement.

Shaka would become so feared and well known amongst other tribes in the region, that he earned the name ‘Nodumehleli’ or ‘Nondumethezi’ according to EA Ritter. This means the ‘one who when seated, causes the earth to rumble’. Shaka is generally regarded as the greatest military tactician ever produced in South Africa, if not the whole of Africa.

However, let us not forget that the South African nation has a rich warrior heritage, with brave warriors hailing from all the so-called ethnic groups.

Langalibalele (literally “the sun is boiling hot”, taken to mean “sunny day”), also known as Mtetwa, was king of the amaHlubi from c. 1836 to 1889.

The Hlubi appellation for king is ‘Ngonyama’ (meaning “The Lion”). Langalibalele became king of the amaHlubi after the Zulu king, Dingane, ordered the killing of his elder brother, Dlhomo, for defying him.

During the time of King Shaka, they were said to be known as “a race of intrepid warriors” (because of their elite regiment, Iziyendane).

Conflict with the Zulu King, Mpande resulted in the move into the colonies, first the Natal Colony, then the Cape Colony.
As a result of a clash with the authorities of the Cape Colony relating to the registration of his arms, he was captured and imprisoned on Robben Island in 1874, where he would serve for 11 years of his life

Once a dominant force, yet today their language is endangered. Who are the Hlubi?

The traditional historical view is that the amaHlubi took part in the southward migration of the eMbo group/nation or amaLala from central Africa, reaching the KwaZulu-Natal region in the 13th century.

There is evidence which suggests that after they arrived in Southern Africa, a section of their group splintered off. This group would go on to become the Swazis (still today the dialect is similar).

The Hlubi dialect is currently endangered, with attempts underway by academics to revive the language and having it recognised as an official language

Dabulamanzi was a Zulu commander in the Anglo-Zulu War.

He is most noted for commanding the Zulus at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift, after earlier taking part in the the Battle of Isandlwana, where he led the Undi Corps.

He was the son of King Mpande and the half-nephew of the famous and legendary King Shaka. In the Battle of Gingindlovu, when Lord Chelmsford arrived with a relief force, it was Dabulamanzi leading the right wing of the Zulu army (Somapo being his co-commander).

King Cetshwayo was restored to power in 1883 after returning from England, only to be challenged by Zibhebhu kaMaphitha.
Dabulamanzi fought on behalf of his half-brother Cetshwayo to maintain the unity of the Zulu kingdom, leading the fight against arch-rival enemy Zibhebhu from 1883-1884.

Following Cetshwayo’s death, Dabulamanzi supported the succession of the late king’s son, Dinuzulu. To counter the threat from Zibhebu, an alliance with the Boers was formed. This would lead to Zibhebu eventually succumbing.

Kgosi Sechele (also known as Setshele) was the rule of the baKwêna (Koena or Kwena) in the period 1829-1892.

During this time he led his people in the Battle of Dimawe in 1852 against the Boers. The Boers had established themselves on the borders of the Greater Tswana lands in the then Transvaal region as a result of the Great Trek. The battle turned into a stalemate with Sechele having the upper hand as the Batswana successfully defended Dimawe Hill. Boer General Scholtz wrote, “By nightfall, and with the enemy still holding a rocky hill of caves, I was obliged to withdraw my men and return to the laager.”

In February 1853 an armistice was agreed, with subsequent reconciliation leading to Sechele’s 1860 visit to the Potchefstroom home of the ZAR President Pretorius, where they reportedly toasted the new year together. The boundary at the time of the armistice still remains Botswana’s eastern border with South Africa. Although Sechele is celebrated by the Tswana, the Koena in fact historically form part of the Tswana-Sotho people of South Africa, as well as Lesotho, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Swaziland.

Sechele I is credited as laying the first foundation towards Botswana’s independence.