Arms and Armour

First Chimurenga

The First Chimurenga, also known as the Second Matabele War, was fought between 1896 and 1897 in the region that later became Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). The conflict was initially between the British South Africa Company (BSAC) and the Matabele people, later expanding to include the Shona people in the rest of Southern Rhodesia. In March 1896, the Matabele revolted against the authority of the BSAC. The Mlimo (or M'limo, or Umlimo) the Matabele spiritual leader, was credited with fomenting much of the anger that led to this confrontation. He convinced the Matabele and the Shona that the settlers (almost 4,000 strong by then) were responsible for the drought, locust plagues and the cattle disease rinderpest ravaging the country at the time. The Mlimo's call to battle was well-timed. Only a few months earlier, the British South Africa Company's Administrator General for Matabeleland, Leander Starr Jameson, had sent most of his troops and armaments to fight the Transvaal Republic in the ill-fated Jameson Raid. This left the country nearly defenceless. The BSAC immediately sent troops to suppress the uprising, but it cost the lives of many on both sides. Months passed before the BSAC's forces were strong enough to break the sieges and defend the major settlements, and war raged on until October of the following year.

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See also

• ▸Chronology of the Crusades, 1187–1291
• ▸John Wilson Carmichael
• ▸Goedendag

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