First Matabele War

First Matabele War
Part of the Matabele Wars
The Battle of the Shangani (25 October 1893), as depicted by Richard Caton Woodville Jr. (1856–1927)
Date October 1893 – January 1894 Location Matabeleland and Mashonaland Result Decisive Company victory; dissolution of the Ndebele Kingdom Territorial changes Matabeleland brought under Company control
Belligerents
British South Africa Company Tswana (Bechuana)	Ndebele Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Cecil Rhodes Leander Starr Jameson Major Allan Wilson † Major Patrick Forbes Khama III	King Lobengula † Mjaan, Chief inDuna
Strength
750 Company troops 1,000 Tswana	80,000 spearmen 20,000 riflemen
Casualties and losses
c. 100[1]	Over 10,000[1]

The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Ndebele (Matabele) Kingdom. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, had tried to avoid outright war with the company's pioneers because he and his advisors were mindful of the destructive power of European-produced weapons on traditional Matabele impis (units of warriors) attacking in massed ranks. Lobengula reportedly could muster 80,000 spearmen and 20,000 riflemen, armed with Martini-Henry rifles, which were modern arms at that time. However, poor training may have resulted in the weapons not being used effectively.^{[citation needed]}

The British South Africa Company had no more than 750 troops in the British South Africa Company's Police, with an undetermined number of possible colonial volunteers and an additional 700 Tswana (Bechuana) allies. Cecil Rhodes, who was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, and Leander Starr Jameson, the Administrator of Mashonaland, also tried to avoid war to prevent loss of confidence in the future of the territory.^{[citation needed]} Matters came to a head when Lobengula approved a raid to forcibly extract tribute from a Mashona chief in the district of the town of Fort Victoria, which inevitably led to a clash with the company.^{[citation needed]}