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20-674: The Mthethwa Paramountcy , sometimes referred to as the Mtetwa or Mthethwa Empire , was a Southern African state that arose in the 18th century south of Delagoa Bay and inland in eastern southern Africa. "Mthethwa" means "the one who rules". According to Muzi Mthethwa (1995), the Mthethwas are descended from the Nguni tribes of northern Natal and the Lubombo Mountains , whose modern identity dates back some 700 years. They are among

40-512: A bar at the entrance and a number of shallows within, Maputo Bay forms a valuable harbour, accessible to large vessels at all seasons of the year. The surrounding country is low and very unhealthy, but Inhaca island has a height of 73 m, and was used as a sanatorium. The Komati River , also known as the Inkomati or Manhissa, enters the bay at its northern end. Three rivers, the Matola from

60-585: A number of women, traded in ivory, reaching as high as 75,000 pounds per year until the factory was expelled by the Portuguese in 1781. In 1823, Captain (afterwards Vice-Admiral) W. F. W. Owen , of the Royal Navy , finding that the Portuguese exercised no jurisdiction south of the settlement of Lourenço Marques, concluded treaties of cession with native chiefs, hoisted the British flag, and appropriated

80-521: A solution of the question urgent. In the meantime the United Kingdom had taken no steps to exercise authority on the spot, while the ravages of Zulus confined Portuguese authority to the limits of their fort. In 1835 Boers , under a leader named Orich , had attempted to form a settlement on the bay and in 1868 the Transvaal president, Marthinus Pretorius , claimed the country on each side of

100-666: Is toward the northeast. The northwestern end of the bay is defined by the Ponta da Macaneta, a spit with beaches facing westwards towards the Mozambique Channel , and mangroves behind. The eastern side of the bay is defined by the Machangulo peninsula, which on its inner or western side affords safe anchorage. North of the peninsula is Inhaca Island , and beyond it a smaller island, "Ilha dos Portugueses" (Portuguese Island), formerly known as Elephant's Island. In spite of

120-631: The Dutch East India Company built a fort and factory called Lijdzaamheid (Lydsaamheid) on the spot of Lourenço Marques (now Maputo), since April 1721 governed by an Opperhoofd (chief factor), under authority of the Dutch Cape Colony, interrupted by Taylor's pirate occupation from April 1722 to 28 August 1722; in December 1730 the settlement was abandoned. Thereafter the Portuguese had—intermittently—trading stations in

140-701: The Maputo down to the sea. In the following year, however, the Transvaal acknowledged Portugal's sovereignty over the bay. In 1861, Royal Navy Captain Bickford declared Inhaca and Elephant islands to be British territory; an act protested by the authorities in Lisbon. In 1872, the dispute between the United Kingdom and Portugal was submitted to the arbitration of Adolphe Thiers , the French president; and on 19 April 1875 his successor, Marshal MacMahon , ruled in favor of

160-757: The Portuguese in Mozambique . About 1811, the Buthelezi and a number of other Nguni groups, including the then still marginal Zulu clan led by Senzangakona , were integrated into a sort of confederacy with the Mthethwa clan predominating. Dingiswayo was killed in a battle with the Ndwandwe in 1817. The Mthethwa Paramountcy was then superseded by the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka, a former lieutenant in

180-568: The Zulu Kingdom , the Mthethwa Paramountcy was a confederation. After Zulu chief Shaka kaSenzagakhona (better known as 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 . The chief entered into an alliance with the Tsonga to the north in the early 19th century and began trading Ivory and other things with

200-767: The Espírito Santo estuary. These stations were protected by small forts, usually incapable, however, of withstanding attacks by the natives. In 1779 the Austrian ship "Joseph und Theresia" of the Austrian East India Company lands at the bay and the Austrians erect the St. Joseph and St. Maria forts. In 1778, an Austrian expedition led by English adventurer William Bolts established a trading factory at Delagoa Bay. The factory, composed of 155 men and

220-467: The French president's decision, a beer brewed in Maputo is still today called "MacMahon" or "2M" (Portuguese: "Dois M"). Similarly, the Maputo railway station sat at "Praça MacMahon" (MacMahon Square). After Mozambique's independence from Portugal, it was renamed "Praça dos Trabalhadores" (Workers' Square). In 1889, another dispute arose between Portugal and the United Kingdom over the Portuguese seizure of

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240-563: The Mthethwa army. Many military and administrative institutions, including the system of age regiments ( amabutho ) that later characterized the Zulu kingdom were utilized by Mthethwa, although an older theory that credits the Nyambose rulers of Mthethwa with the introduction of amabutho is no longer accepted because of evidence for the widespread existence of amabutho going back into the 18th century and perhaps earlier. The Mthethwa were amongst

260-653: The Portuguese. Previously, the United Kingdom and Portugal had agreed a right of pre-emption would be granted to the unsuccessful claimant in case of sale or cession of the bay. Portuguese authority over the Mozambican interior was not established until some time after the MacMahon decision; nominally, the country south of the Manhissa river was ceded to them by the Matshangana chief Umzila in 1861. In honor of

280-423: The bay include mangrove wetlands , seagrass beds, and fringing coral reefs around Inhaca and Portuguese islands. Humpback whales and several species of dolphins live in the water while southern right whales and dugongs were once numerous in the bay and are rare today. The first European to reach the bay was Portuguese navigator António de Campo , one of Vasco da Gama 's captains, in 1502. In 1544

300-600: The country from the English river southwards; but when he visited the bay again in 1824 he found that the Portuguese, disregarding the British treaties, had concluded others with the natives, and had endeavoured (unsuccessfully) to take military possession of the country. Captain Owen re-hoisted the British flag, but the sovereignty of either power was left undecided till the claims of the Transvaal Republic rendered

320-402: The first Nguni Chiefdoms to use guns. 28°30′54″S 31°50′55″E  /  28.51500°S 31.84861°E  / -28.51500; 31.84861 This South African history -related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Delagoa Bay The bay is the northern termination of the series of lagoons which line the coast from Saint Lucia Bay . The opening

340-646: The first Nguni-Tsonga groups who left the Great Lakes in Central Africa between 200 AD and 1200 AD. On arrival in Southern Africa , they settled around modern-day Swaziland , mainly on the Lubombo Mountains , before leaving in the 17th century to settle in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal , in the Nkandla region. It consisted of roughly 30 Nguni chiefdoms, lineages, and clans. Unlike its successor,

360-510: The merchant trader Lourenço Marques explored the upper reaches of the estuaries leading into the bay. Subsequently, King João III ordered the Bay to be named Baia de Lourenço Marques . Lourenço Marques is reputed to have named the bay Baía da Lagoa (Portuguese: "Bay of the Lagoon"). In English the Portuguese "Baia da Lagoa" then was translated and slightly transformed to "Delagoa Bay". In 1720,

380-758: The north, the Mbuluzi or Umbeluzi from the west, and the Tembe from the south, meet in the Estuário do Espírito Santo on the west side of the bay. The city of Maputo lies north of the estuary, and the Maputo–Katembe bridge , completed in 2018, spans the estuary. The Maputo River , which has its headwaters in the Drakensberg , enters in the south. Maputo Bay is part of the Delagoa marine ecoregion. Habitats in

400-484: The railway running from the bay to the Transvaal. This dispute was also referred to arbitration: in 1900, Portugal was found liable and ordered to pay nearly £1,000,000 in compensation to the railway company's shareholders. Tembe River The Tembe River ( Portuguese : Rio Tembe ) is situated in the Maputo Province , Mozambique . Together with the rivers Matola , Umbuluzi , and Infulene , it forms

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