A Significant Contribution to Historical Reconstruction in South AfricaMigrant Kingdom: Mzilikazi's Ndebele in South Africa by R. Kent RasmussenReview by: William F. LyeAfrica Today, Vol. 30, No. 1/2, Namibia and the West: Multinational Corporations andInternational Law (1st Qtr. - 2nd Qtr., 1983), pp. 97-98Published by: Indiana University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4186155 .

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A Significant Contribution to Historical

Reconstruction in South Africa

William F. Lye

R. Kent Rasmussen, MIGRANT KINGDOM: Mzilikazi's Ndebele in South Africa. (London: Rex Collings; Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1978). 262 pp. $19.75.

Africanists will surely appreciate the appearance of this detailed historical reconstruction of the early career of one of the most interesting and important state builders to arise out of the conflagration which inundated Southern Africa in the early nineteenth century. Mzilikazi, a one time subject of Shaka, the great Zulu founder, rebelled and fled into the interior high plateau north of the Vaal River with a handful of followers, there to establish himself as a dominant force for a generation until he was expelled by the encroaching European Voortrekkers. Even after his defeat, he succeeded in collecting anew the fragments of his state into a new kingdom which survived north of the Limpopo River until it, too, was conquered by advancing British imperialism at the end of the century. The remarkable military accomplishments of Mzilikazi were no more significant than the political innovations which he adopted to incorporate numerous people of varying cultures who already occupied the lands which he conquered. The Ndebele kingdom which he created demands attention from all those who would understand the preconditions existing in the interior of South Africa which enabled the rather rapid and easy expansion of white settlement in a land reputed to be the home of numerous African people. This book recreates the story of the first phase in that history to the time of Mzilikazi's ex- pulsion north of the Limpopo River in 1837.

Rasmussen's stated objectives were to recreate the narrative of Mzilikazi's migrations during that early period, providing details omitted by previous reconstructions, and to correct erroneous assumptions promulgated by both popular and scholarly writers. The need for such a corrective becomes ap- parent to anyone who examines any two of the existing historical and fictional accounts currently available. He brings to his task an impressive collection of new information, particularly from the National Archives of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to supplement the more frequently used missionary and govern- ment sources in South Africa, Britain and America. The result is a thoroughly argued case for refining our understanding about such matters as the routes of migration taken by the Ndebele, the location of their settlements, and the chronology and ordering of events. Having personally researched the same sub- ject matter in relation to my own study of the Difaqane amongst the Sotho vic- tims of the Ndebele, I acknowledge with satisfaction many of the points of clarification and fuller understanding which he provides. His arguments about the Ndebele having settled on the Vaal River are particularly useful, as is treat- ment of the Pedi conflicts. While I do not concede every point of revision in his version, the author certainly demands serious consideration by the rigorous

William F. Lye is Dean of The College of Humanities, Arts & Social Services at Utah State University, Logan, Utah.

lst & 2nd Quarters, 1983 97

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analysis of his material. This volume is not likely to appeal to the casual reader. It is not merely a

narrative of Mzilikazi's career, but is a narrative frequently interrupted by the author's elaborate explanations as to why he has deviated from alternate ver- sions of the story. Further, the book is thin on narrative description and on social analysis. However, the scholar is provided generously with the evidence needed to assess the author's claims, or to further pursue issues. The footnoting is particularly exhaustive, making it an invaluable resource for those in- terested in pursuing the subject further.

Rasmussen seems to have greater confidence in his conclusions than do most scholars who attempt to recreate the history of a preliterate society; most would postulate more tentative conclusions. He is also prone to intrude value judgments of questionable merit. For example, on a single page he speaks of the Ndebele in this way, "For them to have mastered horsemanship would have required a jump in aptitude for which they were quite unprepared." And of the Griqua, "Against such stupid enemies, Mzilikazi's skepticism about the value of guns was well-founded." (pp. 82-83) His judgments about the source and value of A.A. Campbell's (Mziki's) writings also seems quite arbitrary. (Note 54, Chap. I, and Appendix B.) He also makes certain generalizations which are questionable and cast a shadow on otherwise careful scholarship. For example, he states that "Mzilikazi's uniqueness lay in his being the only Nguni ruler to build a state system on the highveld among predominantly Sotho Tswana- speaking peoples." (p. 135) He thus overlooks the very similar attempts by Mpangazita of the Hlubi and Matiwane of the Ngwane, who attempted with varying success the same thing in the Caledon River Valley amongst the people of Moshweshwe. While he introduces several useful new insights, he occasional- ly neglects to credit ideas to previous writers, as for example the claim that Mzilikazi probably did not learn his methods from Shaka, but that "such ideas must have derived from an older and broader pool of common Northern Nguni practices to which Shaka himg'elf was an heir." (p. 80) This concept was pro- posed in a source of my own which he cites elsewhere.

The author also makes his contentions appear more significant by misrepresenting existing arguments, as for example, when he rejects my ex- planation for the early estimate of the population of the Ndebele state, saying that I did not attempt to reconcile the disproportion between the size of the ar- my and the estimated total population, which was precisely the objective of the source he cited. (His note 195 for p. 93). I would further add that the size of the residual population left when Mzilikazi fled north supports my contention better than it does his claim.

For one whose goal is to correct errors, Rasmussen leaves us with some serious problems himself. On p. 74 he locates Philippolis south of the Orange River, and when referring to Mzilikazi's flight north he suggests the Ndebele crossed the Vaal in many small bands. Surely he means the Marico. (p. 150 and map on p. 148) It is also irritating to discover an author still citing the work of Thomas Arbousset as if it were written by him and his colleague, F. Daumas, though it is clear that the two names are part of the title and not the authorship of the work. (p. 28 and passim.)

Lest the reader of this review doubt the value of this book, let me quickly reassert that this is an impressive and challenging new reconstruction. It con- tains many important correctives. The scholar will undoubtedly find this work a useful point from which to begin a study of the Ndebele people.

98 AFRICA TODAY

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