MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIES
HDS 123 SOUTHERN AFRICA TO THE MINERALS REVOLUTION
MODULE OUTLINE AND READING LIST
MODULE SYNOPSIS
It is impossible to understand the political, social, economic and cultural dynamics of Southern Africa at the
beginning of the 21st Century without an informed knowledge of its very long and dynamic period of “precolonial” history, a period which saw the laying of the foundations on which modern Southern African societies
are built. This module seeks to take the student beyond the sometimes rather narrow confines of “modern”
history into the exciting episodes, events, developments, processes and dynamics of pre-colonial Southern
African human history. The focus is on “unpacking” the notions of the “pre-colonial” and the “traditional”
Southern African history as an irrelevant part of history in the 21 st Century; unveiling the historiographies of the
region, exploring the emergence and complex interaction of foraging, herding and farming societies up to
1800, examining the African contacts with Asia and Europe (900-1800), analysing the formation and
organisation of the indigenous state systems (1750-1830s), grappling with the great Mfecane controversy, and
discussing the colonial subjugation of African societies up to the minerals revolution (1830s-1890s). In the end,
the student is expected to appreciate that Southern Africa has an interesting history as any other region in the
world. The expected net result is an understanding the nexus between the sub-region’s history and
contemporary development trends.
Aims of the Objectives
 To introduce students to the most important contemporary debates about pre-colonial history of
Southern Africa
 To give students a greater awareness of the length and diversity of human history of Southern Africa
before the establishment of European colonial domination and subjugation
 To enable students to appreciate the crucial issue of “continuity and change” in the Southern African
region
 To enable students to identify and engage critically with existing stereotypes about the region’s precolonial history
Teaching of the module
Students are expected to attend all lectures and tutorials. Students are to take part in presentations and
debates in class as part of continuous assessment.
TOPICS TO COVERED
1) Geography and Ecology of Southern Africa during the pre-colonial period
a) Climate and vegetation
b) Soil types
c) Rainfall patterns
d) Flora and fauna
e) Human population
f) Continuity and change in environment and impact on human population
Readings
J.B.M. Daniel, “A Geographical Study of pre-Shakan Zululand”, in South African Geographical Journal, Volume
iv, No. 1 (1973)
M.Hall, “Dendroclimatology, Rainfall and Human Adaptation in the Late Iron Age of Natal and Zululand”, in
Annals of the Natal Museum, volume xxii, No. 3, (1976)
W.L. Thomas, Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth, (Chicago, 1956)
S.R.Eyre, Vegetation and Soils, A World Picture, (London, 1968)
J.P.H. Acocks, The Veld Types of South, (Pretoria, 1953)
J.D. Scott, Principles of Pasture Management, in G. Meredith ed The Grasses and Pastures of South Africa,
(South Africa, 1955)
Jeff Guy, Ecological Factors in the Rise of Shaka and the Zulu Kingdom, in Shula Marks and Anthony Atmore
eds, Economy and Society in Pre-Industrial South Africa, (Longman, London and New York, 1980)
D.M. Doveton, The Human Geography of Swaziland, (London, 1937)
C. Fuller, Tsetse in the Transvaal and Surrounding Territories; A Historical Review, (South Africa, Memoir No.
1, Pretoria, 1923)
D.N Beach, “The Zimbabwean Plateau and Its People” in Birmingham and P.M.Martin (Eds), History of Central
Africa, Volume 1, Longman, London
E.A Eldredge, “Drought, Famine and Disease in the Nineteenth Century Lesotho in African Economic History,
Vol 16, 1987
2. Emergence and Interaction of the Foraging, Herding and Farming Communities Prior to 1800
a)
The San and the Khoi Khoi
i) Appearance
ii) Social Organization
iii) Political Organization
iv) Economic Organization
v) Interaction with other people
b)
The Bantu Speaking People
i) Debates on the Migration to Southern Africa
ii) Distinguishing Features of the Bantu
iii) Technological Prowess of The Bantu
iv) Political Organization
v) Economic Organization
vi) Social Organization
vii) Distribution
Readings
Hammond Tooke W.D, (Ed), The Bantu-Speaking Peoples of Southern Africa, Routledge and Kegan Paul,
London, 1974
G.Hanrick, “Interaction between Xhosa and Khoi: Emphasis on the Period 1620-1750” in L.Thompson (Ed),
African Societies in Southern Africa, Heinemann, London, 1969
J.D.Lewis-Williams, Believing and Seeing: Symbolism Meaning In Southern San Rock Paintings, Academic
Press, London, 1981
C. Schrie, (Ed), Past and Present In Hunter-Gatherer Studies, Academic Press, Orlando, 1984
M.Hall, The Changing Past: Farmers, Kings And Traders In Southern Africa 200-1860, David Philip. Cape
Town, 1987
R.Elphick and H.B Giliomee (Eds), The Shaping Of Southern African Society, Longman, Cape Town, 1979
C.K.Cooke, “Evidence of Human Migrations from the Rock Art of Rhodesia”, In Africa, xxxv, 1965
C. Ehret, “Cattle-Keeping and Milking In Eastern and Southern African History: The Linguistic Evidence” In
Journal of African History, 1967
S. Marks, “Khoisan Resistance to the Dutch in the 17th and 18th Centuries” In Journal of African History, Vol 13,
1972
P.T.Robertshaw, “The Origins of Pastoralism in the Cape”, in South African History Journal, Vol 10, 1978
D.N.Beach, The Shona and Zimbabwe, 900-1850, Mambo Press, Gweru, 1980
D.N.Philipson, The Later Pre-History Of Eastern and Southern Africa, Heinemann, London, 1993
T.R.H Davenport, South Africa: A Modern History (4th Ed.), Macmillan, London, 1993
3. The Making of Indigenous State Systems (1750s-1830s)
a) The Process of State Formation
i)
Great Men Theory
ii)
Role of Religion
iii)
Trade Hypothesis
iv)
Hamitic Theory
v)
Role of Environment
vi)
Conflict
vii)
Population
b) Dynamics Of Power Prior To The Mfecane
Case Studies of
i) Southern Nguni
ii) Northen Nguni
ii) Zimbabwean States
iv) Sotho-Tswana Elements
Readings
L.Thompson (Ed), African Societies in Southern Africa, Heinemann, London, 1969
E.J.Krige, “The Place Of the Northen Transvaal Sotho in the Southern Bantu Complex”, in Africa X1, No.1,
1938
D.N.Beach, The Shona and Zimbabwe, 900-1850, Mambo Press, Gweru, 1980
S.I.G Mudenge, A Political History of Munhumutapa C1400-1902, Zimbabwe Publishing House, Harare,
1988
M. Legassick, “The Sotho-Tswana Peoples before 1800” in L.Thompson (Ed), African Societies in
Southern Africa, Heinemann, London, 1969
D.N.Beach, Zimbabwe before 1900, Mambo Press, Gweru, 1984
P. Bonner, “The Dynamics of Late 18th Century Northern Nguni Society: Some Hypothesis” in J.P.Peires
(Ed), Before and After Shaka: Papers in Nguni History, Grahamstown, 1981
T.M.Evers, “Sotho-Tswana and Moloko Settlement Patterns and the Bantu Cattle Pattern” In M.Hall,
G.Avery, D.M.Wilson and A.J.B Humphreys (Ed), Frontiers: Southern African Archaeology Today, British
Archaeological Reports, Oxford, 1984
J.J.Guy, “Analyzing Pre-Capitalist Societies of Southern Africa”, in Journal of Southern African Studies,
Vol. 14, No.1, 1987
J.D. Omer-Cooper, A History of Southern Africa, James Currey, London, 1987
T.R.H Davenport, South Africa: A Modern History, (4th Ed.), Macmillan, London, 1962
P.R.Maylan, A History of the African People of South Africa: From the Early Iron Age to the 1970s, David
Phillip, Cape Town, 1986
4. The Mfecane Controversy, Historiography and Aftermath
a)
b)
c)
d)
The Mfecane Controversy – Definition
Pre-Cobbing Mfecane Historiography
Revisionist Studies Of The Mfecane: The Contribution Of J.R.D Cobbing
The Mfecane Aftermath;
i) Mzilikazi and the Ndebele
ii) Moshoeshoe and the Sotho
iii) Zwangendaba and the Ngoni
iv) Soshangane and Gaza
v ) Sebetwane and The Kololo
Readings
Carolyn Hamilton (Ed), The Mfecane Aftermath: Reconstructive Debates in Southern African History,
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1995
R.L.Cape, “The Rise of the Zulu Kingdom, the Mfecane and Colonial Expansion” in R.L Cape (Ed),
The Years of the Conquest: Land and Labour in 19th Century South Africa, Sached Books,
Johannesburg, 1995
G.Dominy, “Myths, Manipulation and Nettles: Historians and the Shaping of the Mfecane Controversy:
A Critical Introduction”, in D.R. Edgecombe, J.P.C Ladand and P.S.Thompson (Comps), The Debate
on Zulu Origins; A selection on the Zulu Kingdom and Early Natal, 1992
J.Du. Bruyn, “Ousting both the Mfecane and the anti-Mfecane” in South African Historical Journal, 25,
1991
E.A.Eldredge, “Sources of Conflict in Southern Africa, C1800-30: The Mfecane Considered” in Journal
of African History, 33, 1, 1992
N.Etherington, “The Aftermath of the Aftermath” in South African Historical Journal, 25, 1991
D.Golan, Inventing Shaka: Using History in the Construction of Zulu Nationalism, Lynner Reinner,
Boulder and London, 1994
J.O.Gump, The Formation of the Zulu Kingdom in South Africa, 1750-1840, Mellen Research
University Press, San Fransisco, 1990
W.F.Lye, “The Difaqane: The Mfecane in Southern Sotho Area, 1822-24” in Journal of African History,
8, 1, 1967
J.F.Lye, “The Ndebele Kingdom South of The Limpopo River” in Journal of African History, 10,1, 1969
P.R.Maylam, “The Death of the Mfecane?” in South African Historical Journal, 25, 1991
S.Meintjies, “The Mfecane Colloquium: Impressions”, in South African Historical Journal, 25, 1991
J.D.Omer-Cooper, The Zulu Aftermath: A Nineteenth Century Revolution in Bantu Africa, Longman,
London, 1966
J.D.Omer-Cooper, “Has The Mfecane A Future? A Response to the Cobbing critique”, in Journal of
Southern African Studies, 19, 1993
J.D.Omer-Cooper, “The Mfecane Defended” in Southern African Review of Books, July/October, 1991
J.B.Peires, “Paradigm Deleted: The Materialist Interpretation of the Mfecane” in Journal of Southern
African Studies, 19, 1993
R.K.Rasmussen, Migrant Kingdom: Mzilikazi’s Ndebele in South Africa, Rex Collings, London, 1978
J.Cobbing, “The Mfecane as Alibi: Thoughts on Dithakong and Mbholompo” in Journal of African
History, 29, 3, 1998
P.B. Sanders, Moshoeshoe: Chief of the Sotho, Heinemann, London, 1975
5. The White Factor in Pre-Colonial Southern African History and the Emergence of Plural
Societies
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
The Early White Settlers
The Dutch and The Khoi Khoi
Cape Slavery
The British at the Cape
The Boer Trekkers and the Great Trek
Boer Republics
g)
British Colonies
Readings
P.B. Beaumont, “On the Origins of Hottentot’s Culture in Southern Africa”, in South African
Archaeological Society Newsletter, 3, 1, 1980
W.G.Clarence-Smith (Ed), The Economics of the Indian Ocean Slave-Trade in the Nineteenth
Century, London, 1989
L.Du Buisson, The White Man Cometh, Jonathan Ball, Johannesburg, 1987
A.Du Toit, “No Chosen People: The Myth of the Calvinist Origins of Afrikaner Nationalism and Racial
Ideology” in American Historical Review, 88, 1983
A.E.Eldredge and F.Merton, (Eds), Slavery in Southern Africa: Captive Labour on the Dutch Frontier,
West View Press, Boulder, 1994
R.Elphick and H.B.Giliomee (Eds), The Shaping of South African Society (2nd Ed.), 1652-1840,
Maskew Miller, Cape Town, 1989
T.R.H. Davenport, South Africa: A Modern History (4th Ed.), Macmillan, London, 1992
Shula Marks and A. Atmore (Eds), Economy and Society in Pre-Industrial South Africa, Longman,
London, 1980
Shula Marks, “South Africa: The Myth of the Empty Land”, in History Today, January, 1980
J.C.Miller, Way of Death: Merchant Capitalism and the Angolan Slave Trade, 1730-1830, James
Currey, London, 1988
R.Ross, Cape Torments: Slavery and Resistance in South Africa, Rutledge and Kegan Paul, London,
1983
R.L.Watson, The Slave Question: Liberty and Property in South Africa,
6. Territorial Confrontation: White And Black: The Struggle for Land and Hegemony in
Southern Africa, (1830s-1890s)
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
g)
h)
i)
j)
k)
l)
m)
Territorial Changes in the 19th Century
Conflicts In The San Frontiers
The Xhosa And The Colonists: Frontiers Wars
The Thembu Experience
The Pondo Experience
The Cape- Kora Wars
The Basutho And The British
Conflict In The Eastern And Northern Frontiers, 1845-1883
The Zulu And The British, 1838-1906
The Ndebele/Shona And The BSAC To 1900
The Role Of The Missionaries
Germans In Namibia
Portuguese In Angola And Mozambique
Readings
R.Ross, “The Kora Wars On The Orange River, 1830-1880”, in Journal of African History, 16,4, 1975
W.J.Beinart, “European Traders and the Mpondo Paramountcy” in Journal of African History, 20, 1979
W.J.Beinart, The Political Economy of Pondoland, 1860-1930, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1982
P.Bonner, Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires: The Evolution and Dissolution of the Nineteenth Century
Swazi State, Ravan Press, Johannesburg, 1983
J.S.Galbrath, Crown and Charter: The Early Years of the British South Africa Company, Berkeley, Los
Angeles, 1974
T.R.H.Davenport, South Africa: A Modern History (4th Ed.), Macmillan, London, 1992
S.Marks and A. Atmore (Eds), Economy and Society in Pre-Industrial South Africa, Longman, London, 1980