1820 - Chief Shaka Zulu and the Mfecane (The Crushing)

Shaka Zulu, one of the most influential chiefs of the Zulu tribe, founded the Zulu empire and created a formidable fighting force. Shaka’s armies’ aggressive expansion caused a brutal chain reaction across the entire south-east region of Africa. Zulus conquered and absorbed communities in their path. Displaced tribe after tribe turned on their neighbours in a deadly cycle of fight and conquest call the Mfecane (or The Crushing), depopulating the region during the early 1820s. The Boer Great Trek of the 1830s passed through the area unchecked because virtually no one was left to oppose them.