CHRONOLOGY
c.600-900 Zhizo people populated and dominated the Limpopo region.
C900 Leopard’s Kopje people replace the Zhizo, who move west into the Kalahari to form the Toutswemogala culture.
1220-1290 Mapungubwe, the first Leopard’s Kopje settlement to exhibit the characteristics of a state is established and thrives.
1325-1450 Great Zimbabwe succeeds Mapungubwe and establishes itself as the biggest political and economical centre south of the Zambezi.
1450 Great Zimbabwe succeeded by two contemporaneous states, Khami to the west and Mutapa to the north-east.
1490 Torwa ruler briefly usurps Mutapa throne before he deposed four years later by Chikuyo Chisamarengu.
1506 Portuguese establish presence in the Mutapa state.
1515-30 Schiteve Nyamunda establishes an independent state in the south-east which blocks rade between the Portuguese on the coast and the Mutapa state.
1550 Venda language fully established in the Limpopo region, combining some Sotho and Shona elements.
1569/77 Portuguese attempt to invade the Mutapa state.
1600 Goba people move into the area around the confluence of the Zambezi and Sanyati rivers.
1606-09 Mutapa Gatsi Rusere experiences the Matuzianhe revolt.
1629 Mutapa Mavhura Mhande signs the ‘capitulations’ and begins the rein of puppet Munhumutapas.
1663-1704 Mutapa Kamharapasu Mukobwe’s reign reverses losses to the Portuguese incurred during the reign of puppet Munhumutapas, expelling the Portuguese and redistributing land.
1684 Changamire Dombo defeats the Portuguese at the battle of Maungwe.
1690 Rozvi state and Changamire dynasty established in the west.
c.1700 Large-scale migrations out of Mbire and Buhera begin.
1720s Hlengwe groups begin to form in the south-east, disrupting trade between the interior and Inhambane.
1750 Civil wars reach their peak in the Rozvi state.
c.1750 Sections of the Rozvi migrate out of the central state to form the Nambiya dynasty in the north-west and the Singo dynasty south of the Limpopo.
1768 The Hiya attempt an invasion of the Rozvi state.
1824-32 Several Nguni groups enter the Zimbabwean plateau and each fights the Rozvi state.
1838 Ndebele state established in the west, effectively replacing the Rozvi state.
1857 Ndebele state established in the west, effectively replacing the Rozvi state.
1857 Ndebele successfully subject most major Shona chieftaincies to their rule.
1870 Lobengula signs the Tati Concession.
1878 Portuguese soldier-capitalist Paiva de Andrade seeks to convert the riverine and costal province of Mozambique into an empirecovering the entire Zimbabwean plateau working on behalf of Companhia de Mozambique.
1879 Ndebele experience the first serious military defeat by the Shona at Nyaningwe Chivi.
1884-85 German Chacellor Otto von Bismarck hosts the Berlin Conference.
1886 Rich goldfields discovered on the Witwatersrand.
1887 Lobengula signs the Grobler treaty.
1888 (Feb) Lobengula signs the Moffat Treaty.
1888 (Mar) Lobengula signs the Rudd Concession.
1889 (Oct) Queen of England grants Cecil John Rhodes a Royal Charter.
1890 (Sept) Pioneer Column occupies Mashonaland and raises the Union Jack in Salisbury (Harare).
1893 Anglo-Ndebele War/Matabele War or imfazo I.
1894 Hut Tax introduced.
1894 (July) Matabeleland Order-in-Council instituted.
1894 Gwayi and Shangani Reserves created.
1895 (May) British South Africa Company officially adopts the name Southern Rhodesia.
1896 (Mar) Outbreak of Ndebele uprising/Umzukela Wokuqala or Imfazo II.
1896 (June) Outbreak of Shona uprising or First Chimurenga.
1898 Southern Rhodesia Order-in-Council recognized by the British imperial government as the governing instrument of Rhodesia.
1903 Colonial Legislative Council introduced.
1903 Masters and Servants Act introduced.
1905 Sixty Reserves created.
1910 Southern Rhodesia Native Regulations introduced.
1912 South African Native African Congress (SMAMC) formed.
1914 Reserves’ Commission established.
1914 P.S Ngwenya forms the African Home Mission.
1919 Matabele Home Movement petitions the Crown for the return of alienated Ndebele land.
1923 Responsible Government succeeds Company Rule.
1924 Morris Carter Commission appointed.
1927 Native Affairs Act introduced.
1927 South African Industrial and Commercial Workers Union opened branches in Rhodesia.
1930 Land Apportionment Bill adopted as the Land Apportionment Act.
1931 Land Apportionment Act put into effect.
1931 Maize Control Act introduced.
1934 Women’s League of the Southern Rhodesia Bantu Voters’ Association organizes a successful boycott of beer halls
1936 Bantu Congress of Southern Rhodesia formed.
1943 Howman Commission Report.
1945 Railway Workers Strike.
1945 Urban Areas Act.
1946 Revival Of the Reformed Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union (RICU), by Charles Mzingeli.
1947 African Voice Association (the Voice), founded by Benjamin Curombo.
1948 General Strike.
1951 Native Land Husbandry Act (NLHA) passed.
1953 Garfield Todd becomes Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia.
1953 Establishment of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
1954 Launch of the Southern Rhodesian African National Congress (SRANC).
1959 Industrial Conciliation Act.
1960 Formation of the National Democratic Party (NDP).
1960 Monckton Commission Report.
1960 NDP banned and replaced by Zimbabwe African Peoples’ Union (ZAPU).
New Southern Rhodesian constitution spearheaded by Edgar Whitehead.
1962 Rhodesian Front formed in March and wins election in December.
ZAPU banned in September.
Formation of the Southern Rhodesian African Trade Union Congress (ATUC).
1963 Dissolution of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland.
Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU) formed on 8 August.
ZAPU and ZANU begin to send recruits for military training in socialist bloc countries.
1964 Ian Douglas Smith becomes Prime Minister of Rhodesia.
1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) on 11 November.
Britain imposes sanctions on selected Rhodesian goods.
1966 Britain imposes full embargo on Rhodesian trade.
UN imposes oil embargo on Rhodesia.
Britain adopts the NIBMAR principle.
ZANLA guerrillas engage Rhodesian forces in the Battle of Chinhoyi.
1967 ZIPRA and Umkhonto we Sizwe armies join forces in the Wankie Campaign.
1968 UN imposes full mandatory sanctions on Rhodesia.
1969 Anglo-Rhodesian Agreement institutes a new constitution extending franchise to selected groups.
1971 Power struggle paralyses ZAPU; FROLIZI is formed.
New ANC formed under Muzorewa to oppose the Anglo-Rhodesian Agreement.
1972 Pearce Commission-initiated referendum to test the acceptability of the Ango-Rhodesian Agreement results in a ‘No” vote.
1973 Zambia closes its border with Rhodesia.
1974 Formation of the UANC through the amalgamation of ZAPU, ZANU, FROLIZI and the ANC under pressure from the Frontline States Leaders.
Thousands of villagers are moved into ‘protected villages’ in Chiweshe and Madziwa Tribal Trust Lands as a counter-insurgency measure.
Nationalist leaders in detention are released in the spirit of détente.
Nhari Rebellion rocks ZANU.
1975 Herbert Chitepo assassinated.
Mozambique attains independence and immediately closes border with Rhodesia, at the same time allowing ZANLA use of its territory to infiltrate Rhodesia.
Sithole deposed as leader of ZANU and replaced by Robert Mugabe.
ZLC formed in an effort to unite ZAPU, ZANU, FROLIZI and the UANC.
ZIPA formed in an attempt to unite the ZIPRA and ZANLA fighting forces.
1976 Patriotic Frnt is formed as another Frontline States initiative to forge unity between ZAPU and ZANU.
Geneva Conference to negotiate black majority rule fails.
Massacre of over 1,000 Zimbabwean refugees by Rhodesian forces at Nyadzonia, Mozambique.
1977 Massacre of civilians and ZANLA guerrills by Rhodesian forces at Chimoio and Tembwe caps in Mozambique.
1978 Disturbances in ZANU as the ‘Vashandi’ group accuses the leadership of bourgeois tendencies.
Hundreds of Zimbabwean refugees are massacred by Rhodesian forces at ‘Freedom Camp’ and Mkushi in Zambia.
ZIPRA guerriallas shoot down a Kariba-bound civilian Air Rhodesia plane.
ZANLA forces set on fire oil storage tanks in Salisbury.
Internal Settlement to lead to majority rule elections agreed upon by Smith, Muzorewa, Sithole and Chirau.
1979 Muzorewa wins majority vote in the internal elections and Rhodesia becomes Zimbabwe-Rhodesia.
Rhodesian passenger plane is shot down by the guerrillas killing 54 passengers and five crew members.
Lancaster House Conference reaches constitutional settlement to end the war.
1980 ZANU wins British-supervised elections. Independence of Zimbabwe with Mugabe as Prime Minister.
1982 Tensions mount following the arrest of a number of ZAPU leaders in the coalition government, including Joshua Nkomo, after the discovery of arms caches in ZAPU-owned properties around Bulawayo and Gweru.
1982-87 Gukurahundi Massacres. More than 20,000 civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands killed, mainly by government troops.
1982-92 Government deploys around 15,000 troops to defend Zimbabwe’s oil pipeline from Mozambique and to fight alongside FRELIMO soldiers against the South Africa-backed RENAMO.
1987 Constitution amended to abolish the separate voting roll for whites and introduce Executive Presidency to centralize political power and authority.
1987 Unity accord and formation of ZANU(PF) bring an end to violence and effectively rid the country of the only major opposition party.
1988 Government commended by the World Health Organization and UNICEF for progress in the provision of water and sanitation to rural households.
1989 University students demonstrate against abuse of state power and corruption in government resulting in the closure of the university for the first time since independence.
1990 Zimbabwe Unity Movement formed by former ZANU(PF) Secretary-General, Edgar Tekere.
1990 Indigenous Business Development Centre (IBDC) formed to press for greater black participation in the economy.
1991 Economic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) introduced.
1992 First ZCTU protest march against the government’s economic reform programme is poorly attended and brutally quashed by the police.
1992 Land Acquisition Act, empowering the government to compulsorily acquire land for resettlement.
1994 Affirmative Action Group (AAG) formed to spearhead a more aggressive campaign for local ownership of foreign-owned companies.
1996 Largest strike of civil servants in post-independence Zimbabwe.
1997 War veterans pressurize the government into paying them unbudgeted gratuities resulting in a crash in the value of money.
General Strike forces government to abandon plans to introduce a new levy on workers.
1998 Widespread rioting in Harare and other cities follows a steep rise in food prices.
Zimbabwe sends troops to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
ZCTU organizes three national stay-aways.
Formation of the National Constitutional Assembly.
1999 Formation of the Movement for Democratic Change.
Government fails to make a debt repayment to the Bretton Woods Institution.
2000 Government defeated in referendum on the draft constitution.
Launch of the land occupations that become known as the “Third Chimurenga’.
General elections held against the background of state-led violence, in which the MDC gains nearly 50% of the parliamentary seats.
2002 Mugabe ‘wins’ highly contested Presidential election amidst high levels of violence.
Introduction of the Public Order and Security Act (POSA) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).
2002-08 Increasing levels of ‘targeted’ sanctions passed against selected ruling party officials involved in human rights abuses.
2007 Police beat and arrest leaders of the MDC and the civic movement.
SADC mediation begins led by South African President Mbeki.
2008 MDC wins parliamentary majority in March election. Tsvangirai wins the first round of the Presidential election.
Mugabe ‘wins’ the re-run of the Presidential election after the worst political violence since the mid-1980s.
Global Political Agreement signed by ZANU(PF) and the two MDC formations to create the conditions for political and economic stabilization.
Cholera epidemic breaks out, deepening the humanitarian crisis in the country.
2009 Formation of the Inclusive Government.