Hlubi – Timeline

isiZulu version

The Making of the Hlubi Archive: a work-in-progress timeline

This timeline provides a guide to the available materials that speak to the Hlubi past. These materials include recorded oral accounts, colonial documents and items of material culture, as well as published and unpublished written accounts. Some of these materials are already available in the Hlubi archive on EMANDULO, can be accessed elsewhere online via a link in the timeline, or are available in a publication. The timeline also features major events pertinent to Hlubi history.

Others are materials that EMANDULO seeks to locate or be given. To contribute material to the Hlubi archive and the work-in-progress timeline please contact 500YearArchive@gmail.com.

1850

September 1850

First collection of the Hut Tax by Shepstone.

1854

c.early 1854

Hlubi of Mehlomakhulu kaMpangazitha associated with Sekonyela Batlokoa move to Wittebergen reserve.

1855

Early 1855

Appointment of John Macfarlane as Weenen magistrate, with authority over the Hlubi reserve.

1859

Arms and Ammunition Ordinance No. 5 is passed in Natal, which required Africans who wanted to own firearms to obtain permission from the local magistrate. (Published in Hitchins, R. L. (Ed). (1900). Statutes of Natal, 1845 – 1899. Pietermaritzburg: P. Davis & sons, pp 63-64.)

Seat of the Weenen magistrate is moved to Estcourt, close to the Hlubi reserve.

1863

February 1863

Rev. J. R. Hansen of the Hermannsburg Mission Society was appointed as missionary to the Hlubi and settled not far from ePhangweni. (vol 10: 1863, no.6 pages 92-96)

1 June 1863

John Mazamisa published ‘Izizwe zama-Mfengu’, Indaba, pp. 170-1. (Also reprint and translation into English published by Opland, J. and Mtuze, P. T. (Eds. & trans.). (2019). Iimbali Zamandulo: Stories of the Past (1838-1910). Pietermaritzburg: UKZN Press, pp. 108-113).

1867

Discovery of diamonds the development of the mining industry at Kimberley employing migrant labour including numbers of Hlubi.

1869

Native Marriage Act, Law 1 of 1869 is adopted in Natal, and proved to be deeply unpopular among Africans in the colony. Langalibalele was summoned to Estcourt by Shepstone to account for why he permitted many rushed marriages to take place.(C.1141 p 6)

1872

February 1872

Due to concerns over the high numbers of unlicensed firearms, the Natal government issued instructions to all magistrates to enforce the firearms law.

1873

31 July 1873

Shepstone sent a message to Langalibalele warning him that he intended to take up the matter of the chief’s disobedience on his return from Zululand.

30 October 1873

Two hundred regular British troops marched from their base at Pietermaritzburg towards Fort Nottingham near the uKhahlamba mountains to prevent the flight of Langalibalele to Lesotho and place him under arrest.

4 November 1873

Encounter between British troops and Langalibalele’s men at uMtshezi river pass led to a disorderly British retreat.

18 November 1873

An article in the Natal Witness advocated opening the Hlubi location for white settlement, and commented “There is no location in the colony so suitably situated for the occupation of white settlers.”

CREDITS

FHYA would like to acknowledge the commitment of Iziko Museums of South Africa, Killie Campbell Africana Library of the University of KwaZulu-Natal and the KwaZulu-Natal Museum to making their holdings openly accessible and the generosity of their staff in making this presentation possible. Presentation prepared by FHYA in 2023, using materials collected by Steven Kotze in partnership with Lailah Hisham (Iziko), Senzosenkosi Mkhize (Killie Campbell Africana Library of the University of KwaZulu-Natal), Justine Wintjes and Dimakatso Tlhoaele (KwaZulu-Natal Museum), Zukisa Madyibi (Walter Sisulu University), Thozama April and Sinazo Mtshemla (University of Fort Hare) and Robert Hart (Duggan-Cronin Gallery, McGregor Museum). Archival curation prepared by Benathi Marufu with assistance from Debra Pryor. Visual curation, page design, and development by Vanessa Chen with assistance from Makhosi Mkhize and Studio de Greef. Technical support provided by Hussein Suleman. Written content produced by Steven Kotze and Carolyn Hamilton, drawing on, amongst other things, recent research by John Wright and Carolyn Hamilton. Editorial and conceptual support by Carolyn Hamilton. The FHYA is especially grateful for the ongoing research support of Muziwandile Hadebe and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Archives, and would further like to thank Mwelela Cele, Patricia Davison, Nessa Leibhammer, John Wright and Gavin Whitelaw for their assistance and advice during the preparation of this curation. Our presentations are archived here. If you wish to make a contribution, use this link.

EMANDULO

EMANDULO is an experimental digital platform, in ongoing development, for engaging with resources pertinent to southern African history before colonialism across what is today eSwatini, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, and the Eastern Cape.

Online from: 13 November 2023