Lobengula

Lobengula , c.1833-94, king of Matabeleland (now in Zimbabwe). After succeeding his father (1870), he tried to turn aside the approaches of European colonizers. In 1888, however, under pressure from Cecil Rhodes , he ceded his mineral rights in exchange for small payment, and Rhodes used those concessions to form the British South Africa Company (1889). When British gold miners began appearing, Lobengula rallied his people and in 1893 attacked the British. The results were disastrous for the Ndebele (Matabele); Lobengula died while fleeing north.

Lobengula (c.1836–94) Ndebele leader. The son of MZILIKAZI, he was the second and last NDEBELE king (1870–93). After his father's death there was civil war until 1870, when Lobengula acceded to the throne. He compromised Ndebele independence by land concessions to the British (1886) and in 1888 signed the concessions which gave mining rights to RHODES's British South Africa Company. Later, Lobengula tried to resist the expanding European settlement and influence in his country. In 1893 he went to war against the British, but was defeated. He died as he was escaping from Bulawayo, his capital.