19th century – 19th century
Cape Nguni territory, including Xhosa, Thembu and Mpondo areas
The Mfengu were a composite population formed chiefly from displaced northern Nguni groups, including Hlubi, Bhele, Ngwane and Zizi, who entered Cape Nguni territory during the Mfecane. Welcomed initially by Thembu, Xhosa and Mpondo rulers, they received land, food and cattle but were not uniformly assimilated. During the Sixth Frontier War, many Mfengu supported the British, and in May 1835 more than 16,000 people were relocated to the Peddie District, where they became British subjects and a strategic buffer population.
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The Story
The Mfengu emerged from the upheavals of the Mfecane as a composite population rather than as a single pre-existing polity. The group included refugees and immigrants mainly from Natal and the northern Nguni region, particularly Hlubi, Bhele, Ngwane and Zizi. Their name was associated with ukufenguza, or begging, reflecting the destitution and hunger experienced by many displaced people as they sought protection and a new place to live.
The fugitives entered Cape Nguni territory in ones and groups, arriving either directly from the northern Nguni area or through the Caledon valley. Their numbers increased between 1822 and 1828, and the defeat of Matiwane’s Ngwane in 1828 brought further survivors into the growing Mfengu population. Thembu, Xhosa and Mpondo rulers generally received them as subjects and supplied land, food and cattle for their immediate needs.
Settlement did not produce uniform integration. In Pondoland and Thembuland, many Mfengu appear to have become established and were incorporated into host communities, while in the Xhosa area they continued to be treated as a distinct subject population. They learned the language of their hosts and developed their own property, producing food surpluses and cultivating tobacco for exchange, but their separate identity and subordinate political position remained significant.
Relations between the Mfengu and the Xhosa deteriorated as political, economic and cultural differences were amplified by external actors, including missionaries, white settlers and the Cape Colony government. Wesleyan Methodist missionaries established a presence among the Gcaleka Xhosa in 1827, and the mission at Butterworth became an important setting in which Mfengu grievances were expressed. Narratives portraying the Mfengu as oppressed and militarily helpless encouraged their dependence on missionaries and their alignment with colonial interests.
During the Sixth Frontier War of 1834–1835, Mfengu leaders decided that their people should not participate in an invasion of the Colony. They also undertook to protect missionaries and traders and to provide intelligence to the British army. Mfengu couriers carried messages between Butterworth and Grahamstown and reported on the movements of Gaika and Gcaleka Xhosa forces, thereby turning an internal conflict over political allegiance into a decisive realignment.
On 3 May 1835, Governor Benjamin D’Urban granted the request that the Mfengu be declared British subjects. More than 16,000 men, women and children, accompanied by about 15,000 cattle and many thousands of goats, left Xhosa territory under British military escort. Their trek began on 9 May and ended on 14 May when they crossed the Keiskamma into the Peddie District, a territory designated for their settlement.
The relocation ended the earlier processes of Mfengu assimilation in the Xhosa area and placed the community within a colonial political framework. Eight Mfengu chiefs received the land, while the settlers were required to pledge loyalty to the British king, adherence to Christianity, and cooperation with missionaries in educating their children. The settlement also served British strategic purposes: it weakened the Xhosa and created a buffer zone between Xhosa territory and the British Colony.
Mfengu obligations included military and economic service. About 500 Mfengu joined the British army after arriving in the new settlement, helping dislodge Xhosa forces from the Buffalo River valley, guard crossings into the Colony and recover cattle. They were also expected to provide cheap labour for colonial farmers, while missionary education and church attendance became important elements of the new relationship.
The Mfengu subsequently became significant intermediaries of social and cultural change in the Cape. Their earlier adoption of Christianity, Western education, European agriculture and European employment enabled them to serve as teachers, evangelists, agricultural demonstrators and secretaries. Yet their military contribution to later frontier wars was often absorbed into the broader Anglo-Xhosa narrative, leaving the Mfengu’s own role politically peripheral despite their sacrifices.
19th century – 19th century
Cape Nguni territory, including Xhosa, Thembu and Mpondo areas
The Mfengu were a composite population formed chiefly from displaced northern Nguni groups, including Hlubi, Bhele, Ngwane and Zizi, who entered Cape Nguni territory during the Mfecane. Welcomed initially by Thembu, Xhosa and Mpondo rulers, they received land, food and cattle but were not uniformly assimilated. During the Sixth Frontier War, many Mfengu supported the British, and in May 1835 more than 16,000 people were relocated to the Peddie District, where they became British subjects and a strategic buffer population.
Continue exploring
The Story
The Mfengu emerged from the upheavals of the Mfecane as a composite population rather than as a single pre-existing polity. The group included refugees and immigrants mainly from Natal and the northern Nguni region, particularly Hlubi, Bhele, Ngwane and Zizi. Their name was associated with ukufenguza, or begging, reflecting the destitution and hunger experienced by many displaced people as they sought protection and a new place to live.
The fugitives entered Cape Nguni territory in ones and groups, arriving either directly from the northern Nguni area or through the Caledon valley. Their numbers increased between 1822 and 1828, and the defeat of Matiwane’s Ngwane in 1828 brought further survivors into the growing Mfengu population. Thembu, Xhosa and Mpondo rulers generally received them as subjects and supplied land, food and cattle for their immediate needs.
Settlement did not produce uniform integration. In Pondoland and Thembuland, many Mfengu appear to have become established and were incorporated into host communities, while in the Xhosa area they continued to be treated as a distinct subject population. They learned the language of their hosts and developed their own property, producing food surpluses and cultivating tobacco for exchange, but their separate identity and subordinate political position remained significant.
Relations between the Mfengu and the Xhosa deteriorated as political, economic and cultural differences were amplified by external actors, including missionaries, white settlers and the Cape Colony government. Wesleyan Methodist missionaries established a presence among the Gcaleka Xhosa in 1827, and the mission at Butterworth became an important setting in which Mfengu grievances were expressed. Narratives portraying the Mfengu as oppressed and militarily helpless encouraged their dependence on missionaries and their alignment with colonial interests.
During the Sixth Frontier War of 1834–1835, Mfengu leaders decided that their people should not participate in an invasion of the Colony. They also undertook to protect missionaries and traders and to provide intelligence to the British army. Mfengu couriers carried messages between Butterworth and Grahamstown and reported on the movements of Gaika and Gcaleka Xhosa forces, thereby turning an internal conflict over political allegiance into a decisive realignment.
On 3 May 1835, Governor Benjamin D’Urban granted the request that the Mfengu be declared British subjects. More than 16,000 men, women and children, accompanied by about 15,000 cattle and many thousands of goats, left Xhosa territory under British military escort. Their trek began on 9 May and ended on 14 May when they crossed the Keiskamma into the Peddie District, a territory designated for their settlement.
The relocation ended the earlier processes of Mfengu assimilation in the Xhosa area and placed the community within a colonial political framework. Eight Mfengu chiefs received the land, while the settlers were required to pledge loyalty to the British king, adherence to Christianity, and cooperation with missionaries in educating their children. The settlement also served British strategic purposes: it weakened the Xhosa and created a buffer zone between Xhosa territory and the British Colony.
Mfengu obligations included military and economic service. About 500 Mfengu joined the British army after arriving in the new settlement, helping dislodge Xhosa forces from the Buffalo River valley, guard crossings into the Colony and recover cattle. They were also expected to provide cheap labour for colonial farmers, while missionary education and church attendance became important elements of the new relationship.
The Mfengu subsequently became significant intermediaries of social and cultural change in the Cape. Their earlier adoption of Christianity, Western education, European agriculture and European employment enabled them to serve as teachers, evangelists, agricultural demonstrators and secretaries. Yet their military contribution to later frontier wars was often absorbed into the broader Anglo-Xhosa narrative, leaving the Mfengu’s own role politically peripheral despite their sacrifices.
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