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Assessment 2 May/June 2022
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Student #: 34092048 HSY2603 Carmen MohangiUnique#: 825742 Assessment 2 2022
1. What are the main sources historians use to reconstruct the events of the early 19th century that are often
known as the ‘mfecane’? (10)
Historians consult several historical sources such as primary sources namely the oral traditions and the memories of people who
lived closer to that era, written sources such as letters and diary extracts written during that time, and secondary sources in form of
the information and opinions of historians who have studied Shaka and the period in which he lived1. However, Historian. John
Cobbing argued that earlier historians and the sources they selected only focused on the tensions between the African communities
and deliberately neglected the powerful role of external colonial forces. This resulted in the earlier conceptions of the " Mfecane"
being deemed inaccurate and biased as it placed much emphasis on the Zulus and therefore was too Zulu-centric2. Therefore, it was
difficult to reconstruct accurate events from this era. Another major contributing factor is the Oral tradition of the indigenous
peoples. Since Indigenous communities did not leave written records at the time and other records are limited. It is also difficult to
pinpoint ethnic identities. As with the beliefs, traditions and history of the indigenous people that were concerned, the events of the "
Mfecane were possibly lost or distorted. When an ethnic group was destroyed or scattered, its oral traditions were lost or incorrectly
carried on. When a weaker group was absorbed into another group, new oral traditions were born to suit the changing make-up of
society. White setters like those that settled among the Nguni in 1824 did an inadequate job of interpreting or understand the stories
and lessons and so a lot of information on the mfecane is unconfirmed in writing. Most of the literature from the time is based on the
accounts of white missionaries example Allen Gardiner (1835) and Francis Owen (1837), AT Bryant3, travellers and government
officials. The records are distorted because of misunderstandings and preconceived ideas about societies that were varied from that
of their own4. (16 lines)
2. Outline briefly the ‘myth of the empty land’. (10)
The "empty land" myth is an old-age strategy to overpower indigenous people from their land traceable from biblical times5. No
Stranger to African shores, this myth was also of the idea that large parts of Southern African was at some point in time "empty
land" in the sense that it was not occupied by human settlements. This theory was highly favourable to white colonist who used it to
justify their occupation of the land which according to them was initially a "No man's land". Several reasons have contributed to this
myth. In pursuit of advancing their commercial and trading interests, the commercial British colony in Port Natal argued that the
larger region around the port, stretching into the interior, was deserted. They felt they it could be prey to the Cape if Britain did not
occupy. This was their means of promoting white settlement. These British commercials alleged that Shaka had been a violent and
tyrannical warlord, resulting in a mass upheaval of population and ultimate desolation by people who lived there prior. They also
claimed that people in this interior region were refugees who were in the process of returning to a more distant home. The
commercial class at Port Natal held Shaka responsible for depopulation and creating available land for settlement. This was their
justification for British people moving in to create new farms and to bring settled authority and alleged 'better governance'. The
Afrikaners where not so far in mind set. Those that went on the Great Trek in the 1830s used similar reasons to justify their
settlement of the areas. Once again, Shaka's tyranny was to blame whilst they allegedly provided protection against the Zulu to those
displaced Africans who were still living in these regions. These theories were formalised later in the 19th century by South African
Historian, George McCall Theal. Theal claimed that the ancestors of black people crossed the Limpopo River as they slowly
migrated southwards from central and eastern Africa simultaneously as European settlement began in the south-western Cape in the
17th century. He published that Black people then settled in the areas where the Europeans were to find them in the 1830s namely,
Xhosa in the Transkei area, Basotho in Basutoland, and Zulu in the northern parts of the eastern seaboard. His focal point was that
the greatest part of southern Africa consisted of 'empty land' that was either completely deserted or had a few scattered refugees
from Shaka's wars. This was indeed the trump card of the Apartheid government of the 50's and 60's when they implemented their "
homelands policy. Fortunately, via much archaeological and historical research as well as the aid of technology, we have unmasked
the fact that these ideas of " Empty land" are untrue. (22 lines)
Reference
1. Study guide for HSY2603, Pg 92-93
1
Study Guide for HSY2603 2022, Pg. 67
2
Study Guide for HSY2603, Pg. 69
3 Study Guide for HSY2603, Pg. 74
4 Unknown author, Article on Origins of the Mfecane, Political changes from 1750 to 1835
5 N S Cezula; L Modise, Article on Empty Land Theory, The "Empty Land" Myth: A Biblical and Socio-historical Exploration,
http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1017-04992020000200006 (Accessed 18/03/2022)
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