# Soshangane Founds Gaza Empire (c. 1825)

URL: https://allhistories.com/zimbabwe/timeline/1825-soshangane-founds-gaza-empire
Location: Southern Mozambique and Chipinge, Zimbabwe
Themes: main-event

After the Ndwandwe defeat by Shaka, the commander Soshangane (also called Manukosi) led a group of followers north into southern Mozambique. There he conquered and absorbed the Tsonga and Chopi peoples, adopting Zulu-style regiments and building a new state. By the mid-1820s Soshangane had founded the Gaza Empire, named after his grandfather Gaza. He defeated rival Nguni groups led by Zwangendaba and Nxaba, who were forced to move on, and attacked Portuguese posts at Delagoa Bay, Inhambane and Sofala. In the 1830s and 1840s Gaza power extended into the eastern highlands of present-day Zimbabwe, where the Ndau and other Shona-speaking communities of Chipinge and Chimanimani paid tribute and supplied young men to the Gaza regiments. Soshangane moved his capital at times to the Musapa and Mossurize areas near the modern border. The Gaza Empire was the largest African state in southern Mozambique in the nineteenth century. Under Soshangane's successors Mzila and Gungunhana it remained a major power on Zimbabwe's south-eastern frontier until Gungunhana moved his capital south in 1889 and was defeated by Portugal in 1895. At this point in the timeline (c. 1825), the Changamire (Mambo of the Rozvi) was Gumboremvura (c. 1800 – 1820s); the Changamire (Mambo of the Rozvi) was Chirisamhuru (1820s – 1835); the Mwenemutapa (ruler of the Mutapa state) was Kandeya I (c. 1820s – c. 1830).

## Why it matters
The Gaza Empire brought Nguni rule to south-eastern Zimbabwe and remained a key regional power until the colonial conquest.

Ruler at the Time: [Gumboremvura](https://allhistories.com/zimbabwe/rulers/gumboremvura)

Changamire (Mambo of the Rozvi): Chirisamhuru
Mwenemutapa (ruler of the Mutapa state): Kandeya I

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Gaza Empire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaza_Empire)
- [Wikipedia — Soshangane](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soshangane)
- [South African History Online](https://www.sahistory.org.za/)
- [Wikipedia — Mutapa, Torwa and Rozvi States (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutapa_Empire)