A Tempest in a Teapot? Nineteenth-Century Contests for Land in South Africa's Caledon Valley and the Invention of the Mfecane

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Periodical article

Title:	A Tempest in a Teapot? Nineteenth-Century Contests for Land in South Africa's Caledon Valley and the Invention of the Mfecane
Author:	Etherington, Norman
Year:	2004
Periodical:	The Journal of African History
Volume:	45
Issue:	2
Period:	July
Pages:	203-219
Language:	English
Geographic term:	South Africa
Subjects:	ethnic relations Zulu polity customary law land law history traditional polities Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment History and Exploration Ethnic and Race Relations Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Law, Human Rights and Violence
External link:	https://www.jstor.org/stable/4100464
Abstract:	The unresolved debate on the 'mfecane' in southern African history has been marked by general acceptance of the proposition that large-scale loss of life and disruption of settled society was experienced across the whole region. Attempts to quantify either the violence or mortality have been stymied by a lack of evidence. What apparently reliable evidence does exist describes small districts, most notably the Caledon Valley. In contrast to Julian Cobbing, who called the 'mfecane' an alibi for colonial-sponsored violence, this article argues that much documentation of conflict in the Caledon region consisted of various 'alibis' for African land seizures and claims in the 1840s and 1850s. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]