Beginning 'Lobengula & Mzilikazi' - Wikipedia
History
The city was founded by the Ndebele king, Lobhengula, the son of King
Mzilikazi born of Matshobana who settled in modern-day Zimbabwe around
the 1840's after the Ndebele people's great trek from Nguniland. The
name Bulawayo comes from the Ndebele word KoBulawayo meaning "a place
where he is being killed". It is thought that, at the time of the
formation of the city, there was a civil war. A group of Ndebeles not
aligned to Prince Lobengula were fighting him as they felt he was not
the heir to the throne, hence he gave his capital the name "where he
(the prince) is being killed". It is said that when King Lobengula named
the place "KoBulawayo" his generals asked "who is being killed
mtanenkosi (prince)?" and he replied "Yimi umntwanenkosi engibulawayo",
meaning "it's me, the prince, who is being killed". At the time
Lobengula was a prince fighting to ascend his father's (Mzilikazi)
throne. It was common at the time for people to refer to Bulawayo as
"KoBulawayo UmntwaneNkosi" "a place where they are fighting or rising
against the prince". The name Bulawayo is imported from Nguniland which
was once occupied by the Khumalo people. The place still exists: It is
next to Richards Bay.
In the 1860's the city was further influenced by European intrigue, and
many colonial powers cast covetous eyes on Bulawayo and the land
surrounding it. Britain made skillful use of private initiative in the
shape of Cecil Rhodes and the Chartered Company to disarm the suspicion
of her rivals. Lobengula once described Britain as a chameleon and
himself as the fly.
During the 1893 Matabele War, the invasion by British South Africa
Company troops forced King Lobengula to evacuate his followers, after
first detonating munitions and setting fire to the town. BSAC troops and
white settlers occupied the ruins. On 4 November 1893, Leander Starr
Jameson declared Bulawayo a settlement under the rule of the British
South Africa Company. Cecil Rhodes ordained that the new settlement be
founded on the ruins of Lobengula's royal kraal, which is where the
State House stands today. In 1897, the new town of Bulawayo acquired the
status of municipality, and Lt. Col. Harry White became one of the first
mayors.
Siege
At the outbreak of the Second Matabele War, in March 1896, Bulawayo was
besieged by Ndebele forces, and a laager was established there for
defensive purposes. The Ndebele had experienced the brutal effectiveness
of the British Maxim guns in the First Matabele War, so they never
mounted a significant attack against Bulawayo, even though over 10,000
Ndebele warriors could be seen near the town. Rather than wait
passively, the settlers mounted patrols, called the Bulawayo Field
Force, under Frederick Selous and Frederick Russell Burnham. These
patrols rode out to rescue any surviving settlers in the countryside and
attacked the Ndebele. In the first week of fighting, 20 men of the
Bulawayo Field Force were killed and 50 were wounded. An unknown number
of Ndebele were killed and wounded.
During the siege, conditions in Bulawayo quickly deteriorated. By day,
settlers could go to homes and buildings in the town, but at night they
were forced to seek shelter in the much smaller laager. Nearly 1,000
women and children were crowded into the small area and false alarms of
attacks were common. The Ndebele made a critical error during the siege
in neglecting to cut the telegraph lines connecting Bulawayo to
Mafikeng. This gave the besieged Bulawayo Field Force and the British
relief forces, coming from Salisbury and Fort Victoria (now Harare and
Masvingo respectively) 300 miles to the north, and from Kimberley and
Mafeking 600 miles to the south, far more information than they would
otherwise have had. Once the relief forces arrived in late May 1896, the
siege was broken and an estimated 50,000 Ndebele retreated into their
stronghold, the Matobo Hills near Bulawayo. Not until October 1896 would
the Ndebele finally lay down their arms to the invaders.