Soshangane

Soshangane, of the Nguni Nxumalo clan and better known by his praise-name Manukosi, was the warlord who during the upheavals of the Mfecane in the 1820s led his followers north from Zululand and subjugated the Tsonga-speaking peoples of southern Mozambique, welding them into the Gaza empire. The conquered Tsonga came to be called Machangana, or Shangaan, after him, and he is remembered as the eponymous ancestor of Shangaan identity. He ruled until his death about 1858, when his sons contended for the throne.

Children

• Mzila

Domains

• kingship and conquest

Powers

• founds the Gaza empire and the Shangaan people

Epithets

• Manukosi — the honoured lordPatrick Harries, Work, Culture, and Identity (1994), on Soshangane's praise-name (secondary)

Relations

• child: MzilaMzila, his son, succeeded to the throne of Gaza after a war of succession.Gerhard Liesegang, 'Nguni Migrations' (1970), Gaza dynastic succession (secondary)

Sources

• Soshangane, of the Nguni Nxumalo clan and known by his praise-name Manukosi, led his followers north from Zululand during the Mfecane of the 1820s, subjugated the Tsonga-speaking peoples of southern Mozambique, and founded the Gaza empire, giving his name to the Machangana or Shangaan.: Gerhard Liesegang, 'Nguni Migrations between Delagoa Bay and the Zambezi, 1821-1839', African Historical Studies 3.2 (1970) (secondary); Patrick Harries, Work, Culture, and Identity: Migrant Laborers in Mozambique and South Africa (1994) (secondary)
• He ruled until his death about 1858, when his sons contended for the succession.: Gerhard Liesegang, 'Nguni Migrations' (1970) (secondary)