A new interpretation of the military settlements of the northern Nguni

ABSTRACT

The migration of the various northern Nguni groups during the nineteenth century is associated with a period of increased and extensive conflict throughout southern Africa. Central to the success of the nineteenth-century northern Nguni kingdoms was the utilisation of a social organisational system known as the regimental system. These regiments were housed in military settlements that would form the core of the various kingdoms’ administrative and military systems. From examining the various military settlements of the northern Nguni kingdoms, two different settlement variations can be observed. The first variant was utilised by the Zulu and Matabele with the second one used by the Ngoni and Swazi. This study advances a new hypothesis relating the nature and origins of these two variants. It is argued that they are more than reflections of the separate historical development of each northern Nguni kingdom and that they result instead from regional developments that occurred within the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The communities that utilise each variant can be linked both historically as well as geographically, with a very distinct geographical divide detectable between them. The hypothesis presented here therefore argues that these variants are reflective of at least two different and simultaneous regimental systems with different corresponding military settlements.

RÉSUMÉ

La migration des divers groupes nguni septentrionaux au cours du dix-neuvième siècle fut associée à une période de conflits accrus et étendus dans toute l’Afrique australe. L'utilisation d’un système d’organisation sociale connu sous le nom de système régimentaire était au cœur du succès des royaumes nguni du nord au dix-neuvième siècle. Ces régiments étaient logés dans des établissements militaires qui en vinrent à constituer le cœur des systèmes administratifs et militaires des différents royaumes. L’examen des différents établissements militaires des royaumes nguni du nord permet d’observer deux variantes. La première variante a été utilisée par les Zoulous et les Matabélés, tandis que la seconde a été utilisée par les Ngonis et les Swazis. La présente étude propose une nouvelle hypothèse concernant la nature et les origines de ces deux variantes. Elle soutient que ces variations ne sont pas une simple réflexion du développement historique distinct de chaque royaume Nguni du nord: elles sont plutôt le résultat de développements régionaux qui se produisirent dans la province sud-africaine du KwaZulu-Natal. Les communautés qui utilisent chaque variante peuvent être reliées à la fois historiquement et géographiquement, une division géographique très distincte étant détectable entre elles. Par conséquent, l’hypothèse présentée ici soutient que ces variantes reflètent au moins deux systèmes régimentaires différents et simultanés, avec différents établissements militaires correspondants.

KEYWORDS:

• Nguni
• southern Africa
• military settlements
• ikhanda
• regiments
• ibutho

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Renier H. van der Merwe

Renier H. van der Merwe is a researcher in archaeology and remote sensing stationed at the Origins Centre, located at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. His research interests include the military systems of the northern Nguni as well as using remote sensing, GIS and three-dimensional modelling in the understanding and visualisation of sites and settlements. He is currently part of the Mapping Africa’s Endangered Archaeological Sites and Monuments (MAEASaM) project, which aims to identify and catalogue archaeological and historical sites in Africa to assist in the identification and monitoring of any threats related to them.

Kent D. Fowler

Kent D. Fowler is a Faculty of Arts Social Science Research Professor, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Senior Fellow of St John’s College at the University of Manitoba, Canada. His research interests are the farming societies of southern Africa, economics, ethnoarchaeology, ceramic technology, archaeometry and spatial organisation. He has conducted research in South Africa and eSwatini since 1997 and ran a long-term ceramic ethnography project demonstrating the ways technical know-how in Zulu pottery-making is linked to people’s daily and seasonal routines, social networks and social identities. Research on the Zulu kingdom began in 2013 and has thus far examined pottery economics, cattle provisioning and settlements linked to King Dingane’s capital at uMgungundlovu.

Karim Sadr

Karim Sadr is Professor of Archaeology in the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. His research interest includes lithic artefacts, pastoralism, GIS and LiDAR. His recent research has focused on the use of LiDAR in understanding the newly discovered Late Iron Age site of Kweneng.