The Mthethwa Paramountcy, sometimes referred to as the Mthethwa Empire, was a Southern African state that arose in the 1700s south of Delagoa Bay and inland in eastern southern Africa. It consisted of more than 30 Nguni tribes, and perhaps others. Unlike its successor, the Zulu Kingdom, the Mthethwa Paramountcy was more a confederation of like tribes and clans.[1] Under the leadership of Shaka Zulu, it would be forged into a near-homogenous nation with a single king (nkosi).
The Mthethwa Paramountcy was consolidated and extend under the rule of Dingiswayo who entered into an alliance with the Tsonga to the north in the early 1800s, and began trading with the Portuguese in Mozambique. About 1811, the Buthelezi and the other Zulu tribes, including that led by Senzangakona, were integrated into a sort of confederacy with the Mtetwa clan at the leadership position. Dingiswayo was killed in a battle with the Ndwandwe in 1817. The Mthethwa Paramountcy was superseded by the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka, a former lieutenant in the Mthethwa army.
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