ABSTRACT
Old histories of southern Africa imply that peoples of the heartland were continuously at war from the time of Shaka. This generalization ignores periods of relative tranquillity when the daily round of human life took its normal course. The combination of localized drought and conflict caused large numbers of people to desert the upper Vaal and its tributaries. Experiences with drought in late twentieth-century Africa provide some pointers to the circumstances in which drought can lead to famine and famine, in turn, can lead to fundamental political change. More information about the attacking forces comes from a British naval captain, W. F. W. Owen, who carried out a survey of the East African coast in the years 1822 and 1823. An early casualty was Maiett, whose lands flanked the Maputo River mouth. The most significant Mbo lineage to have stood outside Zwide’s anti-Zulu confederation was the Dlamini under King Sobhuza, who succeeded to the chieftaincy in about 1815.
