The Mthethwa Paramountcy, sometimes referred to as the Mthethwa Empire, was a Southern African state that arose in the 18th century south of Delagoa Bay and inland in eastern southern Africa. It consisted of more than 30 Nguni

Nguni people

-History:The ancient history of the Nguni people is wrapped up in their oral history. According to legend they were a people who migrated from Egypt to the Great Lakes region of sub-equatorial Central/East Africa...

 tribes, and perhaps others. Unlike its successor, the Zulu Kingdom, the Mthethwa Paramountcy was a confederation of like tribes and clans. After Shaka Zulu became king, he forged a nearly homogeneous nation with a single king (nkosi).

The Mthethwa Paramountcy was consolidated and extended under the rule of Dingiswayo

Dingiswayo

Dingiswayo was a Mtetwa chief, best known for his mentorship over a young Zulu general, Shaka Zulu, who rose to become the greatest of the Zulu kings.He was born Godongwana, son of Mthethwa chief Jobe...

. The chief entered into an alliance with the Tsonga

Tsonga

Tsonga may refer to:* Tsonga language, a Bantu language spoken in southern Africa* Tsonga people, a large group of people living mainly in southern Mozambique* Jo-Wilfried Tsonga , French tennis player...

 to the north in the early 19th century and began trading with the Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

 in Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

. About 1811, the Buthelezi  and the other Zulu tribes, including that led by Senzangakona

Senzangakona

Senzangakhona kaJama was a chief of the Zulu clan, succeeding his father Jama kaNdaba, and primarily notable as the father of Shaka Zulu.- Biography :...

, were integrated into a sort of confederacy with the Mthethwa clan predominating. Dingiswayo was killed in a battle with the Ndwandwe

Ndwandwe

The Ndwandwe clan are a subgroup of the Nguni people who populate sections of Southern Africa.The Ndwandwe, with the Mthethwa, were a significant power in present-day Zululand at the turn of the nineteenth century...

 in 1817. The Mthethwa Paramountcy was superseded by the Zulu Kingdom

Zulu Kingdom

The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....

 under Shaka

Shaka

Shaka kaSenzangakhona , also known as Shaka Zulu , was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom....

, a former lieutenant in the Mthethwa army.

Sources

OCLC 3182218
, OCLC 408488, reprinted in 1998 by Da Capo Press, Cambridge, ISBN 0-30680-866-8