Mfecane Aftermath

The idea that the period of social turbulence in the nineteenth century was a consequence of the emergence of the powerful Zulu kingdom under Shaka has been written about extensively as a central episode of southern African history. Considerable dynamic debate has focused on the idea that this period - the 'mfecane'- left much of the interior depopulated, thereby justifying white occupation. One view is that 'the time of troubles' owed more to the Delagoa Bay Slave trade and the demands of the labour-hungry Cape colonists than to Shaka's empire building. But is there sufficient evidence to support the argument?The Mfecane Aftermath investigates the very nature of historical debate and examines the uncertain foundations of much of the previous historiography.

PrefaceAcknowledgementsNotes on Orthography and NamesContributorsIntroductionPart One: Historiography and MethodologyPutting the Mfecane Controversy into Historiographical ContextChapter 1. Pre-Cobbing Mfecane HistoriographyChapter 2. Old Wine in New BottlesThe Persistence of Narrative Structures in the Historiography of the Mfecane and the Great TrekChapter 3. Hunter-Gatherers, Traders and SlavesThe 'Mfecane' Impact on Bushmen, Their Ritual and Their ArtChapter 4. Language and AssassinationCutural Negationas in White Writers' Portrayal of Shaka and the ZuluPart Two: The South-Eastern Coastal RegionBeyond the concept of the 'Zulu Explosion'Comments on the Current DebateChapter 5. Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa c. 1800-1830The 'Mfecane' ReconsideredChapter 6. Political Transformations in the Thukela-MzimkhuluRegion in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth CenturiesChapter 7. 'The Character and Objects of Chaka'A Reconsideration of the Making of Shaka as Mfecane MotorChapter 8. Matiwane's Road to MbholompoA Reprieve for the Mfecane?Chapter 9. Unmasking the FingoThe War of 1835 RevistedChapter 10. The Mfecane Survives its CriticsPart Three: The Interior'The time of troubles'Difaqane in the InteriorChapter 11. Archaeological Indicators of Stress in the Western Transvaal Region between the Seventeenth and Nineteenth CenturiesChapter 12. Prelude to Difaqane in the Interior of the Southern Africa c.1600-c. 1822Chapter 13. Conflict in the Western Highveld/Southern Kalahari c.1750-1820Chapter 14. 'Hungry Wolves'The Impact of Violence on Rolong Life, 1823-1836Chapter 15. The Battle of Dithakong and 'Mfecane' TheoryChapter 16. Untapped SourcesSlave Exports from Southern and Central Namibia up to c.1850GlossaryAbbreviationsBibliographer's NoteBibliographyComplete List of Papers Presented at the ColloquiumIndex