The Xhosa were pastoralist from late iron age Bantu and proto-Bantu agro-pastoralists and established sub-federations under AmaXhosa kingdom, which are (AbaThembu, AmaMpondo, and AmaMpondomise) in the 16th century.

Both the Ndebele of Zimbabwe and the Ngoni migrated northward out of South Africa in the early 19th century, during a politically tumultuous era that included the Mfecane and Great Trek.

[4][5][6][7] Nguni ancestors had migrated within South Africa to present-day KwaZulu-Natal by the 1st century CE and were also present in the Transvaal region at the same time.

[8][9][10][11] These partially nomadic ancestors of the modern Nguni people brought with them sheep, cattle, goats, and horticultural crops, many of which had never been used in South Africa at that time.

Thus, the following settlement pattern formed: the southern Ndebele in the north, the Swazi in the northeast, the Xhosa in the south, and the Zulu towards the east.

Shaka Zulu's political organization was efficient in integrating conquered tribes, partly through the age regiments, where men from different villages bonded with each other.

Matiwane fled south and raided one of the Xhosa kingdoms, which got his whole tribe annihilated by Paramount Hintsa, at the Battle Of Mbholompo.

After the defeat of Zwide and his Ndwandwes by Shaka, two of his commanders, Soshangane and Zwengendaba, fled with their followers northward, engaging in conflict as they went.

Mzilikazi in his flight from Shaka, depopulated the eastern highveld and northern Free State, killing the men and capturing the women to form his Matabele nation.

[citation needed] For example, the kingdom of Eswatini was formed in the early nineteenth century by different Nguni groups allying with the Dlamini clan against the threat of external attack.