SLAVE TRADE

Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean Sea-Board and Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Slave trade in east Africa

Slave trade refers to the selling and buying of human beings as commodities. Africa experienced two types of slave trade.

1.     The Indian Ocean slave trade which was conducted by Asians.

2.     The Trans Atlantic Ocean slave trade conducted by European merchants.

Main peoples involved:

·         Arab traders

·         European merchants

·         African chiefs e.g. Mirambo and Nyungu ya Mawe

·         The Nyamwezi

·         The Kamba

·         The Yao

·         Baganda

·         Banyoro

·         Khartoumers

A SKETCH MAP OF EAST AFRICA SHOWING THE AFRICAN PARTICIPANTS IN SLAVE TRADE 

The Reasons for the Expansion of Slave Trade in the Indian Ocean Sea-Board from the 18th Century

Explain the reasons for the expansion of slave trade in the Indian ocean sea-board from the 18th century

Expansion of the Indian Ocean slave trade

Slavery was practiced since ancient times in Africa. In East Africa slavery was introduced during trade contacts with the Middle East and Far East as early as 2 AD. However slavery was only practiced on a small scale. Slaves were used as farm laborers, domestic servants, guards or soldiers but they were also entitled to some rights. Furthermore slave trade expanded in East Africa during the 18th century.

Reasons for the expansion of slave trade in East Africa during the 18th century

·         Great demands for slaves as soldiers and domestic servants in the Muslim nations of Arabia. Thus the slaves had to come from non Muslim regions like the interior of East Africa. There were major slave markets in Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Pemba, Kilwa,Mikindani and Mombasa.

·         Slaves were needed as porters, they ferried goods such as ivory and gold from theinterior of Africa to the coast, especially to the American, Indian and British traders whotook part in it.

·         Portuguese slave traders supplied slaves to the Portuguese coffee and sugar plantations in Brazil. In the first half of 18th century Portuguese expanded their plantations. So their source of slaves in West Africa and Mozambique became inadequate hence they came in East Africa.

·         High demand for slave labour in French sugar plantations in Mauritius and Reunion Island. Initially the French depended slaves fro Mozambique but by the 1770s the demand exceeded supply as a result the French came further North to East Africa in search of slaves.

The Techniques Used to obtain Slaves

Explain the techniques used to get slaves

Ways/techniques of obtaining slaves

·         Caravans organised by local chiefs: The local chief sold domestic slaves in exchange for goods like beads, guns and glass. E.g. Mirambo and Isike of Nyamwezi, Nyungu yaMawe of the Kimbu, Machemba of the Yao, Kabaka Mutesa of Buganda and Mkwawa ofthe Hehe.

·         Selling of criminals, debtors, tax offenders and social misfits in society by the local chiefsto the Arab slave traders.

·         Prisoners of war could be sold off especially after inter-community wars.

·         Porters were sometimes kidnapped, transported and sold off to the Arab traders

·         Raiding villages or weak communities: This would begin at night with gun shots and people would scatter consequently leading to their capture.

·         Through inter tribe wars many African became destitute and these would be captured by the slave traders

·         Ambush, they were captured through ambushes during hunting, travelling and gardening.

·         Slaves were acquired from the main slave trade market in Zanzibar

·         Other Africans are also said to have gone voluntarily in anticipation of great wonders and benefits from the Arab Swahili traders

MAP OF EAST AFRICA SHOWING TRADE ROUTES

The Social and Economic Effects of Slave Trade on the African Societies

Assess the social and economic effects of slave trade on the African societies

Social and economic effects/impact of slave trade on the people of East Africa

Positive effects

Introduction of new foods, the food introduced through trade routes such foods were maize, pawpaw, rice and groundnuts both at the coast and in the interior.

The increase of farming plantations, in some areas especially the clove plantations were slaves worked.

The interior was opened to the outside world this later encouraged the coming of the European missionaries. Many European Christian missionaries came to east Africa to preach against slave trade and to campaign for its abolition.

The trade routes became permanent routes and inland roads which led to growth of communication network.

Introduction of Swahili language, this was introduced in land and is now being widely spoken in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and eastern Congo.

Introduction of Islamic religion, Islam as a religion was introduced by the Arabs and it spread, especially in Yao land and in Buganda land.

Formation of the new race called Swahili; this race was formed through intermarriages between Arabs and some Africans.

Growth of towns, there was growth of towns such as Tabora and Ujiji.

Slave trade encouraged large scale trade whereby contact was established between the trade masters and indigenous/local population.

Africans were dispersed to other parts of the world e.g. Arabia, America and West Indies. In Africa Sierra Leone and Liberia were founded to accommodate former slaves from Europe and America.

Negative effects

Depopulation of Africans: The people who would have great leaders and empire builders were killed. It is estimated that over 15 to 30 millions of people were sold into slavery while millions died in the process being transported.

Misery, suffering and a lower quality of life for the people in East Africa. This is because they were reduced to commodities and could be bought and sold.

Destruction of villages and families and broken up by slave raiders and never to be reunited, this later resulted in to loss of identity.

Diseases broke out among the slaves, for example the Spaniards introduced syphilis which spread to other traders.

Displacement of people: Many people became homeless and destitute and stayed in Europe with no identity.

Disruption of economic activities: This is because the young and able craftsmen, traders and farmers were carried off, causing economic stagnation as the economic workforce depleted.

Progress slowed down which resulted in famine, poverty and destitution and helplessness.

There was a decline in production of traditional goods such as coffee, beans, bark cloth and iron which greatly hindered the cash economy.

Decline of African industries, which also faced a lot of competition from imported manufactured goods for example the bark cloth and iron working industries.

Introduced of guns to the interior, which caused a lot of insecurity and increased incidences of wars for territorial expansion

Clans and tribe units, languages were broken and inter tribal peace was disturbed for example Swahili language replaced the traditional languages in the interior.

The Psychological Effects of Slavery on its Victims

Assess the psychological effects of slavery on its victims

Slavery reduced Africans to more objects. The Arab slave traders and Caucasian slave owners looked down upon dark-skinned people. They considered them to be inferior and closer to animals than other races. Slaves were greatly mistreated. They worked for long hours under harsh conditions for no pay. They were punished severely for small mistakes and were even killed at their masters will. All of these resulted in psychological effects some of them being:

·         Damage of slave's self worth

·         Inferiority complex before their masters

·         Sufferings due to difficult work

·         Separation of families and homes

·         Loneliness

·         Stress due to unsure about their future, survival and food.Traumatize due to severe punishment

·         Insecurity

·         Fear and doubts

Triangular slave trade

The Atlantic slave trade is customarily divided into two eras, known as first and second Atlantic system.

The first Atlantic system

The first Atlantic system was the trade of enslaved Africans primarily to South American colonies of the Portuguese and Spanish empires; it accounted for only slightly more than 3% for all Atlantic slave trade.

It started (on a significant scale) in about 1502 and lasted until 1580, when Portugal was temporarily united with Spain.

While the Portuguese traders enslaved people themselves, the Spanish empire relied on the Asiento system, awarding merchants (mostly from other countries) the license to trade enslaved people to their colonies.

During the first Atlantic system most of these traders were Portuguese, giving them a nearmonopoly during the era, although some Dutch, English Spanish and French traders also participated in the slave trade after the union, Portugal was weakened with its colonial empire being attacked by the Dutch and British.

The second Atlantic system

The second Atlantic system was the trade of enslave Africans by mostly British, Portuguese, Brazilian, French and Dutch traders.

The main destinations of this phase were the Caribbean colonies, Brazil and Americas a number of European countries built up economically slave dependent colonies in the New World. Amongst the proponents of this system were Francis Drake and John Hawkins

Origin of Trans Atlantic slave trade

Te Portuguese were the first foreigners to capture slaves off the coast of West Africa. They built a fort on Arguin Island (Mauritania) where they bought gold and slaves from Gambia and Senegal. Most of these slaves were taken to plantations in Portugal and Southern Spain.

By 1471 the Portuguese expanded their gold and slave trading activities to Ghana. In 1482, they built Elmina castle to serve as their base there.

Factors for the rise of triangular slave trade

The rise of capitalism: This mode of production depended on exploitation of one man by another. Capitalism emerged in Europe after the decline of feudalism in Europe especially the first stage of capitalism mercantilism where slaves became part of the commodities to be traded to accumulate wealth.

Discovery of marine technology: The invention of gun powder, ship building, compass direction, and motor engine acted as a pushing force for the rise of slave trade, it facilitated the transportation of the commodities and slave dealers.

The discovery of the new world by Christopher Columbus on 24 October 1492 opened a new chapter as far as slave trade was concerned it brought high sky demand of cheap labour to work in the new plantations in the Caribbean islands.

The inability of indigenous people to provide cheap labour: Diseases such as smallpox eliminated the natives completely. In other cases such as south in south Carolina, Virginia and new England the need for alliances with native tribe coupled with the availability of enslaved Africans at affordable prices (beginning in the early 18th century for these colonies) resulted in a shift away from native American slavery. Native Americans were very reluctant to provide labour and most of them had been affected with plagues and war and they were very few in numbers. So Africans were the best alternative, therefore the rise of triangular slave trade.

Climatic conditions of the New World meant that Africans could easily live there since they were used to tropical climates and had immunity of tropical diseases more than people from Europe and Asia. They were able to withstand diseases and conditions of the New World.

Prior knowledge about African continent brought by explores: Before the establishment of slave trade many explorers like Vasco Da Gama and Vasco Diaz-all from Portugal-had already navigated Africa and had discovered many sea routes between Africa and the outsiders such prior knowledge helped them to use Africans as slaves.

The expensiveness of White slaves: Before the mid of 17th century the European mercantilists depended on indentured labourers, criminal convicts, contract labourers and refugees from Europe who proved to be expensive and undependable compared to Africans who were not paid anything apart from their basic needs for survival and were slaves for life.

The basic reasons for the constant shortage of labour was that, with large amounts of cheap land available and lots of landowners searching for workers, free European immigrants were able to become landowners after a relatively short time, thus increasing the need for workers as slaves.

Accessibility between the New World and the West African coast, the distance from West Africa to the New World is very narrow bridged with Atlantic Ocean. Thus easy transportation of slaves from Africa

The establishment of more plantations in the New World which called for more demands of slaves initially it was only Portugal and the Dutch that had established plantations but towards the mid of 17th century France and Britain joined. This increased the demand for cheap labour.

The profitability factor: This acted as an attracting force for many mercantilists to join a trade based on unequal exchange imagine exchanging human being with spices, umbrella, gold, ivory with guns, mirrors and cloth.

Accumulation of wealth: Mercantilists accumulated a lot from this trade which enabled them to sustain super profits obtained and in addition to that, many crops could not be sold for profit, or even grown in Europe.

Exporting crops and goods from the New World to Europe often proved to be more cost effective than producing them on the European mainland. A vast amount of labour was needed for the plantations in the intensive growing, harvesting and processing of these prized tropical crops.

Western Africa (part of which became known as "the slave coast‟ and later central Africa, became a source for enslaved people to meet the demands of labour.

The existence of seasonal winds and currents like the north east trade wind, north equatorial current, the south west and the Gulf streams encouraged the growth of this trade by enabling the vessels of the merchants to sail to Africa, New World and Europe.

Impact of the Triangular slave trade

Social effects 

·         Depopulation: Many people died during slave raids or were sent abroad as slaves. E.g.400 millions of people were lost in Africa whereby 150 to 200 million were from Eastand Central Africa.

·         Separation of families: Some abandoned their homes due to insecurity, some died while trying to escape and some were taken away as slaves.

·         Fear and suspicion due to frequent wars, raids and ambushes.

·         Intermarriage between the foreigners and indigenous people.

Political effects

·         Decline of states, some states declined because they were weakened when their subjects were captured and sold as slaves. For example Wanyasa were greatly weakened by frequent slave raids from their Yao neighbours.

·         The rise of states: Some strong states arose due to accumulation of wealth from slave trade. E.g. the Yao state under Machemba, Nyamwezi under Mirambo and Bugandakingdom under Kabaka Mutesa.

Economic effects

·         Destruction of African subsistence economy: This was because many people engaged in the slave trade as slave dealers or they were taken as slaves so the activities like handcrafts,iron working, salt mining and pottery destructed.

·         Land alienation: Africans were robbed of their best arable land and were turned into serfs and tenants who had to sell off their labour to Arab land owners for their survival. Watumbatu and Waamidu provided their labour in coconut and cloves plantations.

·         Decline of production due to loss of manpower: Slave masters picked strong and healthy people leaving behind the old, sick and weak who could not work.

The Origins and Impact of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in Africa

Explain the origins and impact of the trans-Atlantic slave trade in Africa

ACTIVITY TO DO

1.     Mention five commodities that were brought by early traders from the Far East and theMiddle East.

2.     Outline positive and negative effects of the contacts between people of Africa and thosefrom the Far East and Middle East.

3.     What were the reasons for the Dutch to settle at the Cape?

4.     Explain the causes and effects of triangular slave trade. 

5.     Mention five ways used to obtain and abolish slave trade in Africa. 
      
       
      Update:

EAST AFRICA UNDER OMAN’S RULE 1840.

The Oman Arabs helped East Africans to defeat Portuguese along the coastal in 1698. Oman now became rulers. Therefore people of East Africa were not free apart from defeating the Portuguese.

In 1741 Mombasa established her independence chief domain under Mazmi family; this was an order from Arabs family of Oman in origin the Mazmi family was conquered by Sultan Seyyid Said of Oman. From 1840 onwards; Sultan Seyyid Said becomes the master of the East African coast.

MOTIVES/AIMS OF OMAN ARABS IN EAST AFRICA.

1) To have clear control/monopoly of trade existed at the coast especially Indian ocean trade.

2) They wanted to control all the city states along the coast.

3) To stop the spread of Christianity led by Portuguese and maintaining Islamic culture.

WHY SULTAN SEYYID SAID SHIFTED HIS CAPITAL FROM MUSCAT OMAN TO ZANZIBAR

The following were the factors for sultan Seyyid Said to shift his capital from Muscat Oman to Zanzibar in 1840.

1) Good climatic condition supported the settlement of Arabs.

2) Fertile soil for agricultural purpose especially clove and coconut products.

3) Deep natural harbour in Zanzibar for importation and exportation of goods.

4) Trade activities examples controlling the Indian Ocean trade.

5) Abundant fresh water for irrigation and soiling.

6) To avoid conflict in his home after killing his brother Iman said.

IMPACTS OF OMAN ARABS (SULTAN) DOMINATION IN EAST AFRICA.

A: ECONOMIC IMPACTS.

1. Increase of slave trade.

2. Land alienation.

3. East African people were exposed to international trade.

4. The expansion of trade.

5. Introduction of new cash crops example; coconut and cloves.

6. Establishment of feudalism where African become serfs and tenants

7. Exploitation of African resources.

B: SOCIAL IMPACTS.

1. Death due to resistance against the Arabs

2. Spread of Swahili language.

3. Addition of Arabic words into Swahili language.

4. Spread of Islamic religion.

5. Much suffering of people due to slavery activities.

THE HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA

Early inhabits of South Africa;

The Bushmen and Hottentots were the earliest inhabitants of South Africa.

The few scattered KhoiKhoi pastoralist and the San hunters were referred as Hottentots.

They formed Khoisan as they both spoke languages which contain clicking sounds.

Bushmen are short and have yellow or brown skin colour.

Bushmen are probably the descendants of the Stone Age men.

The Hottentots were similar to the Bushmen but taller and more advanced.

Production unit of Bushmen was based on hunting animals. The San depended on the KhoiKhoi for the cereal they exchange for meat.

-The Negroid Bantu began to arrive in South Africa from the 9 th century A.D. they were taller, strong and dark than Bushmen Hottentots.

-Bantu exercised arable farming, had iron working skills and cattle domestication.

-The Ngoni occupied Eastern Coastal region from Zulu and to the cape colony.

Bantu groups included the Zulu, Ndebele, Swazi, Ngoni, Tambu and Xhosa communities. They cultivated variety of crops such as sugarcane, melons, maize and beans. The level of production they had reached enabled them to accumulate surplus and trade began to be conducted among them.

SLAVE TRADE IN INDIAN OCEAN SEA BOARD

Slave:

Is the person who is illegally owned and controlled by another person and is forced to work for them.

Slavery:

Is the act of owning and using slaves.

Slave trade: -

Is the activity of buying and selling human beings like other commodities.

The main results of African contact with external world through trade was the;

Rise of slave trade

Colonialism

Slave trade in East Africa began after the arrival of Portuguese in 15 th Century up to 1873 during the Sayyid Barghash treaty or free treaty.

REASONS FOR THE EXPANSION OF THE INDIAN OCEAN SLAVE TRADE

 1. The Oman Arabs who were ruling the East African coast at the time introduced clove plantations in Zanzibar and Pemba. These plantations required large numbers of labors to tend to them.

2. There was also a high demand for slave labor for the French sugar plantations in Mauritius and Reunion Island. Initially, the French mostly depended on the area around present-day Mozambique for slaves, but by the 1770s the demand exceeded supply. Hence, the French came further north, to East Africa, in search of slaves.

3. Slaves were needed as porters. They ferried goods such as ivory and gold from interior of Africa to the Coast. This was important for the ivory trade, especially to the American, Indian and British traders who took part in it.

4. Portuguese slave traders supplied slaves to the Portuguese coffee and sugar plantations in Brazil. In the first half of the 18th century, the Portuguese expanded their plantations. As a result, their sources of slaves in West Africa and Mozambique became inadequate, so they came to East Africa.

5. Slaves were in great demand as domestic workers and soldiers in the Muslims nation Arabia. The Quran forbids Muslims from enslaving other Muslims. Thus, the slaves had to come from non-Muslim regions such as the interior of East Africa. There were major slave markets in Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Pemba, Kilwa, Mikindani and Mombasa.

EAST AFRICA SLAVE TRADE ROUTE

CHARACTERISTICS OF SLAVE TRADE.

There were the characteristics which prevailed during slave trade.

1. There were several human torture and transits.

2. Humiliation and dehumanization of the slaves.

3. Slave were chained and forced to carry heavy loads like salt, ivory and copper.

4. They were brutally whipped by their organizers.

5. They were blended like animals. Those who were unfit were killed or left to die on the way.

 HOW SLAVE TRADE EMERGED

The trade emerged up to its maximum stage after growth or demand of labors in big plantations opened by the capitalist. In the 2 nd half of 18 th century slave trade was boosted by the French demand of labors in the Mauritius and Re-union Islands; these were their colonials in which sugar plantations were established.

There were three stages in the development of slave trade in Indian ocean sea board.

1. The first stage was dominated by the Portuguese who were shipping slave from Mozambique to Brazil in 18 th century.

2. The second was dominated by the Dutch from Holland and French who had opened the coffee and sugar plantations in Mauritius and Re-union especially in 1770.

3. The third was due to the introduction of cloves plantations in Zanzibar in the early of 19 th century.

The great demand for cloves in the world market led to the expansion of cloves plantations which also increased the need for slaves.

Slaves were needed for domestic and agricultural works in the Arabs countries in Asia. Due to above reasons the slave traders opened up slave trading centers (stations) such as Tabora, Ujiji, Kotak.......

The expansion of slave trade led to the opening up of market for slave activities. These markets in East Africa included Zanzibar which was the biggest market; others were Kilwa, Bagamoyo, Mombasa and Pemba.

HOW SLAVE TRADE WERE ORGANIZED IN INDIAN OCEAN SEA BOARD.

The organization of slave trade in East Africa in 19 th century depended much on the factors which were:

Question of capital to buy Ivory and slaves. At the beginning the Indian merchants called “Banyans” based in Zanzibar supplied capital example cloth was used to buy Ivory and slaves.

Organization of caravans. The famous traders who organized caravans were Tippu tippu between the East coast and present day Congo Kinshasa, Mlozi in Belgian, Rumaliza in Ujiji Kigoma and Msiri in urea country present day Zambia.

The involvement of local rulers in the slave and ivory trade. Nyungu ya mawe, Isike and Mirambo among the Nyamwezi, Kabaka of Uganda, Mkwawa of wahehe, Machemba of Yao.

COMMODITIES EXCHANGED

From interior to the coast –Ivory and slaves, animal skins, minerals.

From the coast to the interior caravans brought clothes, salts wine, glass ware beads and ornaments.

HOW SLAVES WERE OBTAINED (TECHNIQUES USED TO OBTAIN SLAVES)

Slaves were obtained through various ways:

1. Through raiding village and capturing people.

2. Through selling prisoners of war obtained from local civil wars.

3. Through selling criminals.

4. Through selling of domestic slaves.

5. Through ways of laying and ambush.

6. Through use of trickery and false pretense.

IMPACTS OF SLAVE TRADE IN INDIAN OCEAN SEA BOARD.

SOCIAL EFFECTS

1. Depopulation; many people were taken to work as slaves and others died on the way.

2. Insecurity and fear among the people.

3. Development of inter-states war.

4. Human torture and suffering

5. Hunger due to lack of good in areas were slave trade operated.

ECONOMIC EFFECTS

1. Killing of economic activities. Agriculture, pastoralism and industries were killed due to lack of manpower.

2. Technology stagnation; no innovation was made as all able bodied people were taken as slaves only children and old ones were left behind.

3. Underdevelopment of East Africa; slave trade increased dependence on European capitalist countries. generally slave trade had negative effects in East Africa and it created many problems.

THE CARAVAN/ROUTES. 
There were three main caravan routes during East Africa slave trade.

THE TRIANGULAR SLAVE TRADE

The triangular trade (TATT) intercontinental trade; was the trading activities which was conducted by the Europeans in relation with the Africans and the Americans across the Atlantic Ocean from the 16 th to 18 th century.

The Trans – Atlantic triangular trade originated from the discovery made by Christopher Columbus who was born in 1451 Genoa, after the discovery of new world (American) in 1492.

The Portuguese were the first foreigners to capture slaves at the coast of West Africa. In 1441, Alitam Goncalvez a Portuguese captured a man and a woman and sent them as gifts to the King of Portugal (Prince Henry the Navigator before his death in 1440.)

COMMODITIES OF EXCHANGE

The major commodities of exchange in the triangular trade were;

AFRICA – Exported slaves, gold, ivories and animal skins.

AMERICA- exported sugar, cotton, Tobacco, Gold and Silver.

EUROPE – Supplied manufactured goods such as clothes, gun powder, glass were, sugar and tobacco.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCED THE TRANS-ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

1. The discovery of new world.

After discovery of the new world by Christopher Columbus in 1492 Britain colonized modern days united state of America (USA), the French occupied Canada, Portugal colonized Brazil and Spain colonized Latin America.

The Europeans found the natives (Red Indians) unfit for labor in the mines and plantations because they were weak and affected by small pocks and lived nomadic life.

2. Advancement in marine technology between 15 th and 17 th century. Europeans nations developed marine technology as they had ships which could carry bullay cargo for a long distance.

3. Trade in gold from West Africa slave labour was used to the East then it was sent overseas.

4. Settlement of Portuguese in Saotome and principal islands where they opened sugar plantations.

RESULTS OF TRANS – ATLANTIC SLAVE TRADE

ECONOMIC RESULTS.

1. Decline of production; this led people not to engaged in production especially in agriculture and mining activities due to slave trade.

2. Decrease of manpower; most of energetic people were captured and taken as slaves.

3. Technological stagnation.

4. Introduction of new crops example bananas, beans, cassava, and maize.

5. Development of forts example Lagos, port novo and Dakar

6. Emergency of local wealth classes; African local rulers participated in slave trade they become rich example Asantehene of Asante.

7. Integration of Africa into the world capitalist economy hence led to colonization of African continent.

8. Introduction of legitimate trade after abolition of slave trade; this was trade in natural products example rubber, cotton, palm oil and grand nuts.

SOCIAL EFFECTS

1. Fear and insecurity.

2. Emergence of mullatos in West Africa.

3. Retardation of African culture.

4. Families were broken off.

5. They established artificial boundaries and treaties.

6. They opened up the interior of African where they search was around.

7. They facilitate destruction of African culture

ECONOMIC EFFECTS
1. Trade network between the traders of the east coast and the interior communities such as the Yao and Nyamwezi were disrupted by the Ngoni raids. Commodities could therefore not reach the communities that needed them. 
2. The Ngoni warriors destroyed both human life and livestock. Thus, they made some communities such as Ndebele economically disadvantaged. 
3. Due to insecurity, agricultural activities were disrupted. This caused food shortages.
 4. A lot of valuable time was wasted as young people prepared for war. There was therefore shortage of labor for economic activities such as agriculture, hunting and fishing. 
5. New technological skills were introduced, especially in iron working as the long spears were replaced by short stabbing spears.

THE RISE OF MFECANE IN SOUTH AFRICA
Mfecane were wondering wars among the clans of the Ngoni speakers in Natal between the coast of Indian Ocean and the Drankers Burg Mountains of South Africa.
Sometimes Mfecane is referred as Difeqane or Mfetsane.
The famous Ngoni clan groups were;
1. Zulu clan under Senzangakara.
2. Mthethwa under Dingiswayo.
3. Ngwane under Sobhuza.
4. Ndwandwe under Zwide.

THE REASONS OF MFECANE WARS
1. Need for land - Zulu needed more land for farming and grazing. 2. Rise of Zulu – Shaka fights the other clans in order to expand his kingdom. 3. Population growth in Natal causes conflict. 4. Clans denied expanding boundaries in order to make a large territory. 5. Expansion of Boers from cape to Natal.

THE EFFECTS OF MFECANE
1. Depopulation in Natal because of death. 2. Empire building e.g. Ndebele Empire under Msilikazi in Zimbabwe, and Ngoni under Zwangedaba. 3. Mfecane caused insecurity because of fighting. 4. Mfecane helped the Boer to settle in large areas. 5. Caused destruction of properties, crops and buildings. 6. The rise of defensive kingdoms e.g. Basulo, Swazi and Bapendi.