To The Victoria Falls
Development of Rhodesia
Lobengula
Lobengula birth, as also his death, is unrecorded, although it is probable that he was born in the mid 1830s, the son of Mzilikazi by a Swazi princess, and would have travelled north as an infant on the great migration of his people.
As Baxter records:
The choice of Lobengula as heir to Mzilikazi, although obvious in some respects, was not an easy transition. Mzilikazi had named no successor, and in keeping with convention, and his nature, he had tried to kill any obvious rivals. In this way had died four of his brothers, at least one son, and very nearly Lobengula himself. To add to this the question of nKulumane’s survival and exile was revived by Mbigo, the Induna of the Zwangendaba regiment.
On eventually being given that bad news that he had been named the heir elect Lobengula took to his horse and sought refuge at the ailing Inyati Mission, itself scarcely free of internal strife and discord. When uMncumbata put it to him that it was necessary that he set the tone of leadership by assuming certain royal duties Lobengula palled. He pleaded that so long as the merest thread of hope remained that nKulumane was alive it was impossible for him to accept trust for the legacy of his father. It was not until a contingent of indunas visited him, bearing a gift of cattle did Lobengula reluctantly consent to be king. In January 1870 the matter was ceremonially formalised, and on 17 March the new king was publicly introduced to the nation and charged with responsibility for his father’s country, his cattle and his people.
A missionary, T M Thomas, described the ceremony of installation:
The soldiers numbered about seven thousand and constituted a semi-circle about twenty deep, ...Lobengula had a long staff in his right hand, an ample cape of black ostrich feathers and a bandeau of yellow otter skins... To a looker-on from the adjoining hillock, where I stood at the time, the view was a fine one. The motley, moving mass of people presented themselves with black and white, red and white, and other coloured shields in their left hands... swelling their songs of praise to the illustrious ancestors and former kings, like the chanting of a great cathedral.
Not all acknowledged Lobengula's claim however, and the new King was soon to have to show his strength. Mbigo, the Induna of the Zwangendaba regiment, one of Mzilikazi's most respected generals, was open in his defiance of Lobengula, who had no option but to crush this opposition. Mbigo was defeated, and his kraal destroyed. Kulumane never appeared to claim his right to the throne, and appears to have died in exile.
Lobengula of the Matabele; by Ralph Peacock, based on a sketch by E. A. Maund
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Further Reading
Baxter, P (20??) Rhodesia, Last Outpost of the British Empire (1890-1980), Galago
Strage, Mark (1973?) Cape to Cairo, Jonathan Cape
Wills W A and Colinbridge (1971) The Downfall of Lobengula, Books of Rhodesia.
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'To The Victoria Falls' aims to bring you the wonder of the Victoria Falls through a look at its natural and human history.
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