ZIMSEC A Level · History · Form 5
The road to colonisation
Missionaries (Inyati, 1859), hunters and concession seekers; the Moffat Treaty and Rudd Concession (1888); the BSAC royal charter (1889).
Occupation
The Pioneer Column (1890); the 1893 Anglo-Ndebele war, provoked by the BSAC under Leander Starr Jameson; Lobengula's flight and death, and the fall of the Ndebele state.
The First Chimurenga/Umvukela (1896–97)
- Causes: loss of land and cattle, forced labour, hut tax, brutality of native police, natural disasters (rinderpest, drought, locusts) blamed on settlers.
- Leadership: Ndebele indunas, spirit mediums and religious leaders (Mkwati, Mbuya Nehanda, Sekuru Kaguvi).
- Debates: Terence Ranger argued for coordinated religious leadership; later historians (e.g. Julian Cobbing) questioned the degree of coordination.
- Outcomes: defeat, executions of leaders (Nehanda and Kaguvi in 1898), but the risings inspired later nationalism.
Early colonial rule
BSAC administration until responsible government (1923); the Land Apportionment Act (1930) entrenched racial land division; native reserves; migrant labour.
Exam tip: Evaluate the role of religion in the risings using the Ranger–Cobbing debate.
Check yourself
- When did Southern Rhodesia receive responsible government?
- Give three causes of the First Chimurenga/Umvukela.
- What was the Land Apportionment Act?
Show answers
- 1923.
- Any three: land loss, cattle seizures, forced labour, hut tax, natural disasters, brutality.
- A 1930 law dividing land along racial lines, reserving the best land for Europeans.
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