Gazaland is the historical name for the region in southeast Africa, in modern-day Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which extends northward from the Komati River at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique's Maputo Province to the Pungwe River in central Mozambique.
It was a district of the former Portuguese East Africa. Its name was derived from a Swazi chief named Gaza, a contemporary of Shaka Zulu.[1] It covered most of present-day Gaza and Inhambane provinces, and the southern portions of Manica and Sofala provinces.
Refugees from various clans oppressed by Dingane (Shaka's successor) were welded into one tribe by Gaza's son Soshangane, his followers becoming known as Shangaan or Mashangane. A section of them was called Maviti or Landeens (i.e. couriers), a designation which persisted as a tribal name. Between 1833 and 1836 Soshangane made himself master of the country as far north as the Zambezi and captured the Portuguese posts at Delagoa Bay, Inhambane, Sofala and Sena, killing nearly all the inhabitants.
The Portuguese reoccupied their posts, but held them with great difficulty, while in the interior Soshangane continued his conquests, depopulating large regions. Soshangane died about 1856, and his son Umzila, receiving some help from the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay in a struggle against a brother for the chieftain-ship, ceded to them the territory south of the Komati River. North of that river as far as the Zambezi, and inland to the continental plateau, Umzila established himself in independence, a position he maintained till his death (c .1884). His chief rival was a Goan named Manuel António de Sousa, also known as Gouveia, who came to Africa about 1850. Having obtained possession of a crown estate (prazo) in the Gorongosa District, he ruled there as a feudal lord while acknowledging himself a Portuguese subject. Gouveia captured much of the country in the Zambezi valley from the Shangaan, and was appointed by the Portuguese captain-general of a large region.[1]
Probablemente el primer europeo que penetró tierra adentro desde la costa de Sofala desde los buscadores de oro portugueses del siglo XVI fue St Vincent Whitshed Erskine , quien exploró la región entre Limpopo y Pungwe (1868-1875). El control de Portugal sobre la costa se había establecido más firmemente en el momento de la muerte de Umzila, y Gungunyana , su sucesor, fue reclamado como vasallo, mientras se hacían esfuerzos para abrir el interior. Esto condujo en 1890-1891 a enfrentamientos en la zona fronteriza de la meseta con la recién creada Compañía Británica de Sudáfrica y al arresto por parte de los agentes de la compañía de Gouveia, quien, sin embargo, fue liberado y devuelto a Mozambique a través de Ciudad del Cabo. La frontera entre las colonias británica y portuguesa fue fijada por el Tratado anglo-portugués del 11 de junio de 1891. La oferta de Gungunyana (1891) de quedar bajo protección británica no fue aceptada. En 1892, Gouveia murió en una guerra con un jefe nativo. Gungunyana mantuvo su independencia hasta 1895, cuando fue capturado por una fuerza portuguesa y exiliado, primero a Lisboa y luego a las Azores, donde murió en 1906. Con la captura de Gungunyana cesó en gran medida la oposición al dominio portugués. [2]
A principios del siglo XX, Gazalandia era uno de los principales lugares de reclutamiento de trabajadores en las minas de oro de Sudáfrica . [1]
