Mfecane

E129216

Mfecane was a period of widespread warfare, migration, and social upheaval in early 19th-century southern Africa that reshaped the region’s political landscape.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Mfecane canonical 3
Mfecane (Difaqane) upheavals 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (58)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical event
period of migration
period of warfare
social upheaval
endTime circa 1840
hasAlternativeName Difaqane
Lifaqane
hasAspect centralization of political power
forced migration
military conquest
slave raiding and capture
transformation of social structures
hasConsequence creation of new chiefdoms and states
facilitation of later European colonial expansion into depopulated areas
formation of the Gaza state
formation of the Ndebele Kingdom
formation of the Sotho kingdom under Moshoeshoe I
formation of the Zulu Kingdom
large-scale population displacement
reconfiguration of political boundaries in southern Africa
widespread depopulation of some regions
hasKeyFigure Dingiswayo
Moshoeshoe I
Mzilikazi
King Shaka Zulu
surface form: Shaka Zulu

Soshangane
Kalanga
surface form: Zwide kaLanga
hasKeyGroup Gaza Nguni
Hlubi
Kololo
Mthethwa Paramountcy
surface form: Mthethwa

Ndebele people
surface form: Ndebele (Matabele)

Ndwandwe
Sotho-Tswana peoples
surface form: Sotho-Tswana communities

Eswatini
surface form: Swazi

Zulu Kingdom
isSubjectOf historiographical debates about causes and scale
languageOfName Zulu
mainCause access to Delagoa Bay trade
competition over land and resources
expansion of powerful chiefdoms
population pressures
shifts in trade routes
state formation processes
meaningOfName crushing
scattering
occursInCentury 19th century
region Highveld
eastern South Africa
present-day KwaZulu-Natal
present-day Lesotho
present-day Mozambique
present-day Swaziland (Eswatini)
Zimbabwe
surface form: present-day Zimbabwe

Southern Africa
surface form: southern Africa
startTime circa 1815
early 19th century
timePeriodOverlaps early phase of European colonial expansion in southern Africa

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (4)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Zulu Kingdom notableEvent Mfecane
Zulu people historicalEvent Mfecane
King Shaka Zulu involvedIn Mfecane
this entity surface form: Mfecane (Difaqane) upheavals
Kololo involvedIn Mfecane