MC_A Concise History of Africa

A Concise History of Africa

settlement with large stone structures, while Dhlo-Dhlo, which flourished in the 17th–18th centuries, was a town of some importance; all traded with the coastal Kilwa and Sofala Arabs. Groups of eastern Bantu came to southern Africa, where there were immense areas for them to occupy, which allowed them to spread without forming centralized states. There were also Nguni peoples in the area, among them Swazis, Zulus, and Xhosas, who despite having chieftains failed to develop large urban and political structures; this was because groups tended to split when they became too large to handle. They became the Swazi and Zulu “nations” in the 19th century.

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