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- This article relates to the Ndebele people of Zimbabwe. For other uses of the term, please see Ndebele.
The Matabele are a branch of the Zulus who split from King Shaka in the early 1820s under the leadership of Mzilikazi, a former general in Shaka's army. They are now more commonly known as the Ndebele or amaNdebele. They, however, more appropriately call themselves 'amaHlabeZulu', which means 'stabbers of Zulu'. This name is derived from their violent schism from the Greater Zulu.
During a turbulent period of African history known as the Mfecane, Mzilikazi and his followers, initially numbering about 500 people, moved west towards the area near the present-day city of Tshwane (Pretoria), where they founded a settlement called Mhlahlandlela (a name which lives on in the modern-day Bulawayo suburb, Malindela). Here they came into contact with the Tswana people, who are credited with giving this band of Zulus the name "Matabele". Tabele comes from tebela which means 'to chase away'.
They then moved northwards in 1834 into present-day Zimbabwe where they battled with the Shona, eventually carving out a home now called Matabeleland and encompassing the west and south-west region of the country. In the course of the migration, large numbers of conquered local clans and individuals were absorbed into the Matabele nation, adopting the Sindebele language but enjoying a lower social status than that of members of the original clans from the Zulu kingdom.
Lobengula assumed power after the death of Mzilikazi in 1868, and ruled the Matabele nation until its defeat in the 1890s by the British South Africa Company under Cecil Rhodes and Leander Starr Jameson who were in search of mineral resources in an age of dominant British colonialism.
In recent years, the population of the Ndebele in Zimbabwe has been diminishing due to the Gukurahundi, a genocide that was carried out by the Zimbabwean government on the Ndebele and secondly migrating to other countries, especially South Africa in search of jobs and as after-effects of the Gukurahundi and the economic crisis that has gripped Zimbabwe since 2000.
Many people currently identified as Ndebeles are actually of Shona Origin i.e.Ncubes, Moyos and many others. The Kalanga, Venda, Nambia and Tonga are distinct groups who have their own identity. Before 1850 the Matebele region was the centre for people generally referred to as Rozvi of the Moyo Clan with their administrative centre at Khami (Zhame). Most of these people were absorbed into what is called Matebele.
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"Ndebele people (Zimbabwe)"