This southern region, known for its extensive gold reserves, was first purchased by the BSAC's Pioneer Column on the strength of a Mineral Concession extracted from its Matabele king, Lobengula, and various majority Mashona vassal chiefs in 1890.

Though parts of the territory were laid-claim-to by the Bechuana and Portugal, its first people, the "Bushmen" (or Sān or Khoisan), had possessed it for countless centuries beforehand and had continued to inhabit the region.

Its only true geographical borders were the rivers Zambezi and Limpopo, its other boundaries being (more or less) arbitrary, and merging imperceptibly with the peoples and domains of earlier chiefdoms of pre-colonial times.

After a period of interim British control following the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979, the country achieved internationally recognised independence as Zimbabwe in April 1980.

Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the Pioneer Column, a group of white settlers protected by well-armed British South Africa Police (BSAP) and guided by the big game hunter Frederick Selous, through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (now Harare).

Shortly after the disastrous BSAP Jameson Raid into the Transvaal Republic, the Ndebele were led by their spiritual leader Mlimo against the white colonials and thus began the Second Matabele War (1896–97) which resulted in the extermination of nearly half the British settlers.

After months of bloodshed, Mlimo was found and shot by the American scout Frederick Russell Burnham and soon thereafter Rhodes walked unarmed into the Ndebele stronghold in Matobo Hills and persuaded the impi to lay down their arms, effectively ending the revolt.

[7] A legislative council was created in 1899 to manage the company's civil affairs, with a minority of elected seats, through which the BSAC had to pass government measures.

[8][9] The whites in the territory south of the river paid it scant regard though, and generally used the name "Rhodesia" in a narrow sense to mean their part.

The Southern Rhodesian Legislative Council election of 1920 returned a large majority of candidates of the Responsible Government Association and it became clear that BSAC rule was no longer practical.

[15][13] Under this constitution Sir Charles Coghlan became the first Premier of First Cabinet of Southern Rhodesia and upon his death in 1927 he was succeeded by Howard Unwin Moffat.

[16] Southern Rhodesian forces were involved on many fronts including the East and North African campaigns, Italy, Madagascar and Burma.

Such a university was eventually established in Salisbury, with funding provided by the British and Southern Rhodesian governments and some private sources.

The idea was to try to steer a middle road between the differing aspirations of the black nationalists, the colonial administration and the white settler population.

The CAF sought to emulate the experience of Australia, Canada and South Africa – wherein groups of colonies had been federated together to form viable independent nations.

Originally designed to be "an indissoluble federation", the CAF quickly started to unravel due to the low proportion of British and other white citizens in relation to the larger black populations.

Although Northern Rhodesia had a white population of over 100,000, as well as additional British military and civil units and their dependents, most of these were relatively new to the region, were primarily in the extraction business, had little landed interests, and were more amenable to allowing black nationalism than the Southern Rhodesians.

However, when the new nationalists changed its name to Zambia and began tentatively at first and later in rapid march an Africanisation campaign, Southern Rhodesia remained a British colony, resisting attempts to bring in majority rule.

A general election a year later resulted in the creation of a unity government, which in December 1979 concluded the Lancaster House Agreement, whereby Britain resumed control of the country for a brief period before granting independence to the renamed Zimbabwe on 18 April 1980.

[20] Notwithstanding the Governor's lack of assent to the Interpretation Bill the United Kingdom's Colonial Office was, by 1965, officially using the name "Rhodesia" in British Government-issued Gazettes of the period (for instance see: The 1965 Queen's Birthday Honours of 12 June 1965).