Faku, the Mpondo and Colonial Advance in the Eastern Cape, 1834–53

Abstract

In the history of colonial conquest in Africa it was common for invading European forces to enlist the assistance of one African state against another. This was certainly the case when the British Cape Colony waged three wars of conquest against neighbouring Xhosa chiefdoms during the mid-nineteenth century. However, it is curious that the Mpondo Kingdom, despite its alliance with the British and many calls to arms from Cape officials, avoided direct involvement in the Cape—Xhosa wars of this period. An important factor in this seems to have been the individual agency of Faku, the Mpondo king, who was attempting to maintain the security of his state, and Henry Francis Fynn, an adventurous colonial agent who was involved in various schemes to manipulate the Mpondo.