Statecraft & Independence
Landmark
Lobengula
c. 1845 – 1894
The last king of the Ndebele, and the concession that undid his kingdom
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Why they are here
He signed the Rudd Concession in 1888 believing he had granted mining rights. It was read as a charter to take his country. When the column came in 1893 he burned Bulawayo rather than hand it over, destroyed the patrol sent after him, and vanished north.
Lobengula was the second and last king of the Ndebele, ruling from 1870.
On 30 October 1888 he put his mark to the Rudd Concession, which he understood as granting mining rights in return for weapons and a stipend. As written it gave the grantees exclusive mineral rights across his territory and the power to enforce them by force, and it became the legal foundation on which the British South Africa Company claimed his country.
In September 1893 Leander Starr Jameson raised a settler column against him while imperial forces advanced from the south. Lobengula burned his capital at Bulawayo rather than surrender it, annihilated the patrol sent to capture him, and disappeared towards the Zambezi. He died in January 1894.
On 30 October 1888 he put his mark to the Rudd Concession, which he understood as granting mining rights in return for weapons and a stipend. As written it gave the grantees exclusive mineral rights across his territory and the power to enforce them by force, and it became the legal foundation on which the British South Africa Company claimed his country.
In September 1893 Leander Starr Jameson raised a settler column against him while imperial forces advanced from the south. Lobengula burned his capital at Bulawayo rather than surrender it, annihilated the patrol sent to capture him, and disappeared towards the Zambezi. He died in January 1894.
- Britannica — Lobengula
- Wikipedia — Rudd Concession
- South African History Online — First Matabele War
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