Mbuya Nehanda

1840 – 1898

(c. 1840–1898, born Nehanda Charwe Nyakasikana) was one of the spiritual leaders of the Shona people in present-day Zimbabwe. She was also one of the eminent leaders of the anti-colonial struggle known as the First Chimurenga (1896–1897). The uprising was in response to the British South Africa Company's colonisation of what is now Zimbabwe, spearheaded by imperialist Cecil John Rhodes beginning in 1890. Mbuya Nehanda forewarned her people of the upcoming colonisation and fortified her people's