Shaka became king of the Zulu, reorganised its army and built the Zulu Kingdom into the dominant power of southern Africa, amid the upheavals known as the Mfecane.
The Islamic scholar Usman dan Fodio launched a jihad against the Hausa kingdoms and founded the Sokoto Caliphate, one of the largest states in 19th-century Africa.
The Zulu king Shaka was assassinated by his half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana; Dingane succeeded him.
During the Great Trek, a party of Voortrekkers defeated the Zulu army of King Dingane at the Ncome River in Natal.
Liberia, settled by free and formerly enslaved Black Americans, declared independence, becoming Africa's oldest republic.
In the Anglo-Zulu War, a Zulu army defeated a British column at Isandlwana, one of the worst defeats of the British army by an indigenous force.
Boers of the Transvaal rose against British annexation and regained self-government after their victory at Majuba Hill.