The Second Matabele War, also known as the First Chimurenga, was fought in 1896 and '97 in the region later known as Southern Rhodesia, now modern-day Zimbabwe. It pitted the British South Africa Company against the Matabele people, which led to conflict with the Shona people in the rest of Southern Rhodesia.
Depiction of Burnham and Armstrong after the assassination of Mlimo. Matabele warriors in hot pursuit, drawn by Frank Dadd.
Sketch by Robert Baden-Powell of a Ndebele warrior
Rhodes makes peace with the Ndebele in Matobo Hills, 1896; sketch by Baden-Powell
Baden-Powell's sketch of Chief of Scouts Burnham, Matobo Hills, 1896
Southern Rhodesia was a landlocked self-governing British Crown colony in southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as south Zambesia until annexed by Britain at the behest of Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company, for whom the colony was named. The bounding territories were Bechuanaland (Botswana), Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Portuguese Mozambique (Mozambique), and the Transvaal Republic.
Cecil Rhodes (1853–1902), Founding chairman of the board of directors of De Beers Mining Company, funded by Nathaniel, 1st Lord Rothschild
White settlers in Southern Rhodesia, 1922
A postage stamp commemorating the royal visit of 1947