Swaziland Timeline -- Part 1: Prehistory to Independence
A Chronology of Key Events in Swaziland
By Alistair Boddy-Evans, About.com
| 100,000 BP | Evidence of stone tools discovered along river terraces point to presence of Homo sapiens. |
| 42,000 BP | Red and black hematite ore is quarried on top of the Ngwenya massif, probably for rock painting pigment and body decoration. |
| 20,000 BP | Evidence of hunter-gather people, the San. |
| 300 | Fist arrival of Bantu speaking people (Nguni and Sotho) migrating across the Limpopo from the north. |
| 400 | Evidence of iron age pottery and iron smelting on Ngwenya massif. |
| c. 1750 | The Dlamini, who had been part of the Thembe-Tonga group settled around Delgoa Bay (now Maputo) in what is now Mozambique, begin a migration towards what is now Swaziland. They first journey south along the coast (in what is known to oral history as the 'scourging of the Lubombo'), then east through the Lubombo mountains and through the Pongola valley. |
| c.1770 | Chief Ngwane II of the Dlamini clan guides his people in to what is now Swaziland. The bakaNgwane form the nucleus of the modern Swazi people with a royal kraal at Nhlangano. |
| c.1780 | Chief Ngwane II dies, he is succeeded by his son Ndvugunye. |
| c.1800 | Ndvugunye is worried by aggression between two Nguni peoples settled to the south: the Ndandwe and the Mthethwa. The power vacuum caused when King Zwide of the Ndwandwe overwhelms King Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa leaves the field open for a minor chief to gain power in the region: Shaka Zulu. |
| c.1815 | Sobhuza I becomes Ngwenyama (king). |
| 1818 | Zulu Civil War to the south. Ndwandwe people under Zwinde battle against Shaka's forces. Beginning of a migration of Ndwandwe refugees into King Sobhuza's lands. Sobhuza I begins to move his people north or the Usutu River (central Swaziland). |
| 1820 | Ndwandwe people are finally crushed by Shaka. Zwinde's two sons lead groups into northern Mozambique and Malawi to settle. The rest join Ndwandwe refugees sheltered by Sobhuza I. With the threat of the Ndwandwe nullified by Shaka, Sobhuza crosses back over the Usutu to settle in the Ezulwini valley (now the capital of Swaziland, Lobamba). |
| 1830s | First British and Boer traders arrive. |
| 1839 | Death of Sobhuza I. Lojiba Simelane, Sobhuzu's aunt, is installed as regent. |
| 1845 | Mswati II (aka Mswazi) becomes king. He consolidated his power and extends the age-regiment army. Begins to assimilate clans on the boundaries of his domain. Mswati names the people Swazi, after himself. |
| 1856 | Mswati faces down an attempted coup by a half-brother who was being supported by white missionaries and Zulu agitators. |
| Late 1850s | British help expel a Zulu invasion of the south of Swaziland, engendering good relations between Mswati and the British. |
| 1865 | Mswati II allies with the British against the Boers. |
| August 1868 | Mswati II dies. Thandile Ndwandwe acts as regent. |
| 1872 | Mswati's son and chosen successor, Ludvongo (aka Ludvonga) is poisoned during internecine conflict by supporters of his half-brother Mbandzeni. |
| June 1875 | Mbandzeni, son of Mswati II becomes king. His accession to the throne is 'overseen' by the Transvaal Republic, and in return he cedes a large portion of his territory. Swaziland is inundated by European and Boer prospectors and hunters seeking concessions. |
| 1878 | Gold is discovered at Piggs Peak and Forbes Reef in Swaziland. Rapid influx of Europeans and Boers in search of wealth. |
| 1881 | Independence of the Swazi kingdom is guaranteed by the British government. |
| 1884 | Transvaal government guarantees independence of Swazi kingdom. |
| October 1989 | Mbandzeni dies. Tibati Nkambule becomes regent. |
| 1890 | Provisional government for Swaziland is set up with Swazi, British and Boer members. |
| 1893 | British government signs an agreement to allow the Transvaal Republic to negotiate with the Swazi king a convention which would grant them legislative and jurisdictional administration of the kingdom without incorporation into the Republic. The Swazi king refuses to sign such an agreement. |
| 1894 | Transvaal Republic approaches the Swazi king once more to set up a convention, this time pressure is brought which forces the Swazi king to sign, giving significant rights to the Transvaal government. Britain agrees to the Transvaal setting up a protectorate over Swaziland. |
| February 1895 | Ngwane V becomes king of the Swazi at the age of 19. Tibati Nkambule steps down as regent. |
| February 1899 | Ngwane V dies at the age of 23 during the incwala (First Fruit) ceremony. Sobhuza II, who is still just an infant, becomes king under the regency of his grandmother, Labotsibeni Gwamile Mdluli. |
| 11 October 1899 | Start of the 2nd Anglo-Boer War forces Transvaal government to withdraw from Swaziland. |
| 1902 | British take control of Swaziland following the successful outcome of the 2nd Anglo-Boer War. |
| 1903 | Swaziland is declared a British protectorate. Those rights which had been signed over to the Transvaal government in the 1884 convention are passed to Britain. |
| 1906 | Administration of Swaziland transferred to the British High Commissioner for Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland. |
| 1907 | Partitions Proclamation cedes vast tracts of land to European settlers. |
| 1909 | Despite the wishes of the Swazi people, a provision of the South Africa Act, which created the Union of South Africa as a British dominion, allows for the transfer of Swaziland (and Basutoland and Bechuanaland) to the union. |
| 22 December 1921 | Labotsibeni Gwamile Mdluli steps down as regent, Sobhuza II becomes Paramount Chief. Sobhuza is advised by the Swazi National Council (SNC) on traditional matters. A European Advisory Council (EAC) is created to advise the British High Commissioner on non-Swazi affairs (ie those of white settlers in Swaziland). |
| 1944 | Sobhuza II declared native authority in Swaziland by British High Commissioner under the Native Authorities Proclamation, giving the king an unusual amount of power in a British protectorate. |
| 1948 | Election of National Party in South Africa and the introduction of Apartheid halts any suggestion that Swaziland (and Basutoland and Bechuanaland) should merge with the Union of South Africa. |
| 1960 | Swaziland Progressive Association (SPA) formed as a non-political body for educated Swazi who feel alienated by traditional tribal rule. Swaziland Progressive Party (SPP) created shortly after as a political representation for the SPA. |
| European Advisory Council, Swazi National Council and the Swaziland Progressive Party take part in a constitutional commission in preparation for independence. | |
| 1962 | Swaziland Progressive Party pull out of Constitutional Commission. |
| Formation of the Ngwane National Liberatory Congress (NNLC) under the leadership of Ambrose Zwane. Its members, predominantly from the SPP, advocate independence for Swaziland with universal suffrage and a constitutional monarch. Another faction from the SPP form the Swaziland Democratic Party (SDP), initially led by Simon Nxumalo and then by Dr Allen Nxmalo. | |
| 1963 | A second Constitutional Commission is held in London. Limited self-government for Swaziland is discussed by members from the EAC, SNC, NNLC, and SDP. There is significant dispute amongst the groups involved over what rights the monarch should be given -- particularly over mineral resources. The final document was criticized for giving too much power to white settlers and traditional chiefs rather than modern political groups. |
| May 1963 | General strike causes consternation and British troops are airlifted in from Kenya. |
| 1964 | A newly created political party, the royalist Imbokodvo National Movement (INM) headed by King Sobhuza II, wins all 24 seats available in elections to newly created legislature (with support from the white settler United Swaziland Association). The INM appealed specifically to the rural population of Swaziland, against those more politically aware living in urban areas. The Ngwane National Liberatory Congress is acknowledged as the main opposition party despite not winning a single seat in the elections. |
| Ngwenya massif, the site of prehistoric quarrying for hematite, is developed as an open cast ore mine. | |
| 1967 | Sobhuza restored to constitutional kingship of Swaziland ahead of independence. |
Timeline of Swaziland
• Part 2: Independence to Present Day
Swaziland Leaders
• Sobhuza I
• Mswati II
• Sobhuza II
Related Glossary Terms
• Ngwenyama
• tiNkhulda
• Gaza Kingdom
