SOSHANGANA & THE GASA (GAZA) KINGDOM

SOSHANGANA & THE GASA (GAZA) KINGDOM

🇲🇿🇿🇼🇿🇦 SOSHANGANA & THE GASA (GAZA) KINGDOM 🇲🇿🇿🇼🇿🇦

Before colonial borders, southern Africa was shaped by powerful African kingdoms. One of the most influential was the Gasa (Gaza) Kingdom, founded by King Soshangana kaGasa Nxumalo.

Soshangana was born around 1780 in present-day KwaNongoma, KwaZulu-Natal, to Zikode kaGasa, a chief within the Ndwandwe Empire under the leadership of King Zwide kaLanga. The Gasa people originally occupied the Mkhuze region, around eTshaneni Mountain.

Following the collapse of the Ndwandwe during the Mfecane period, Soshangana led his people northward. Through military skill, diplomacy, and strategic leadership, he built a powerful kingdom stretching across modern-day Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and parts of South Africa.

By the 1820s, Soshangana had established the Gasa (Gaza) Kingdom, uniting and incorporating various communities including the Tsonga, Ndau, Chopi, Manyika, and others. Those under his rule became known as amaShangana meaning the people of Soshangana.

At its height, the Gaza Empire controlled territory from Delagoa Bay (Maputo) to areas approaching the Zambezi River, making it one of the strongest African states in southeastern Africa.

Soshangana ruled until his death in 1858 in present-day Mozambique. His successors, including Mzila and later Ngungunyane, continued his legacy until the kingdom fell to Portuguese colonial forces in 1897, becoming the last independent African kingdom in southern Africa to be conquered by a European power.
📌 This is shared history. Before borders, we were kingdoms.