Cashel is a village in Chimanimani District of Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. It is located near the Mozambique border, just north of the Chimanimani Mountains. Forestry, bananas, wheat, and various cash crops are grown in the area. It was originally called Penkridge but was changed to Cashel in 1957. It was named after Lt. Col. E. Cashel, a former member of the British South Africa Police and the Rhodesian Volunteers, who retired to this area after World War I. The Cashel valley is well known for radio and television commercials, which sought to extol the quality of its peas, beans and other agricultural products.
Toponymy The name's history goes back to the time when Sub Inspector Rowan Cashel of the B.S.A. Police took up a farm, which he called Cashel, in the North Melsetter district. He later became a Colonel in the First World War.
The area was first known as Penkridge, the name of a neighbouring farm on which a Postal Agency had been established in 1911. It was operated in conjunction with Mr. Cashel, but later a missionary from Mutambara took it over until 1934 when he emigrated to South Africa.
The locality was originally known as Melsetter North, but as this was confused with Melsetter, other names were used, depending who was running the Post Office. The district was inhabited by descendants of the Steyn families, who had arrived with the early trekking parties, and one such post office became known as Johannesrust, in memory of Johannes Steyn who had farmed there, but there was confusion with mail addressed to Johannesrust and Johannesburg. As mail moved slowly in these days, such misdirections caused much consternation amongst the local residents and it was decided by the North Melsetter Farmers Association that the name should be changed to Tandaai, after a river of the same name. The farm on which the agency was situated was called Kranskop, after a high hill near the junction of Tandaai and Umvumvumvu Rivers. The change occurred on 1 September 1929, three years after Johannesrust first came into being. Cashel became the official designation of area when a Post Office was provided in 1957. A Rural Council Office and Police Station were later established in the village. Cashel and South Melsetter was changed to Chipinga in 1907.
History Evidence of human inhabitation in Cashel possibly dates back to the Iron Age, the likely timeframe from which several cave paintings date back to.
Rock paintings in nearby mountains indicate the arrival of Bushmen to the area, depicting scenes of Bushmen hunting elephants, buffalo, elands, reedbucks, and other animals. The paintings also depict traditional Bushmen dances.
Ndau Later the Ndau settled in the region and they encountered Portuguese explorers in the 1500s.
The Ndau are an ethnic group which inhabits the areas in south-eastern Zimbabwe in the districts of Chipinge and Chimanimani in which they are natives. They are also found in parts of Bikita, in the Zambezi valley, in central Mozambique all the way to the coast and in central Malawi. The name "Ndau" is a derivation from the people's traditional salutation "Ndau wee!" in greetings and other social settings. When the Ngoni observed this, they called them the Ndau people, the name itself meaning the land, the place or the country in their language. One hypothesis suggests that the name may be derived from the Nguni expression 'Amading'indawo'. However, this etymology remains debated. Historical accounts by João dos Santos indicate that the ancestors of the Ndau were already living in parts of present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique by the sixteenth century. Major Ndau groups include the Magova, Mashanga, Vatomboti, Madanda, and Teve, although classifications may vary among sources. Ancient Ndau People met with the Khoi/San during the first trade with the Arabs at Shiriyandenga currently known as Mapungubwe. They traded with Arabs with "Mpalu" "Njeti" and "Vukotlo" these are the red, white and blue coloured cloths together with golden beads. Ndau people traded traditional medicinal herbs, animal skins, bones, and other locally valued goods.
Gazaland
Gazaland is the historical name for the region in southeast Africa, in modern-day Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which extends northward from the Komati River at Delagoa Bay in Mozambique's Maputo Province to the Pungwe River in central Mozambique.
It was a district of the former Portuguese East Africa. Its name was derived from a Swazi chief named Gaza, a contemporary of Shaka Zulu. It covered most of present-day Gaza and Inhambane provinces, and the southern portions of Manica and Sofala provinces.
Refugees from various clans oppressed by Dingane (Shaka's successor) were welded into one tribe by Gaza's son Soshangane, his followers becoming known as Shangaan or Mashangane. A section of them was called Maviti or Landeens (i.e. couriers), a designation which persisted as a tribal name. Between 1833 and 1836 Soshangane made himself master of the country as far north as the Zambezi and captured the Portuguese posts at Delagoa Bay, Inhambane, Sofala and Sena, killing nearly all the inhabitants. The Portuguese reoccupied their posts, but held them with great difficulty, while in the interior Soshangane continued his conquests, depopulating large regions. Soshangane died about 1856, and his son Umzila, receiving some help from the Portuguese at Delagoa Bay in a struggle against a brother for the chieftain-ship, ceded to them the territory south of the Komati River. North of that river as far as the Zambezi, and inland to the continental plateau, Umzila established himself in independence, a position he maintained till his death (c .1884). His chief rival was a Goan named Manuel António de Sousa, also known as Gouveia, who came to Africa about 1850. Having obtained possession of a crown estate (prazo) in the Gorongosa District, he ruled there as a feudal lord while acknowledging himself a Portuguese subject. Gouveia captured much of the country in the Zambezi valley from the Shangaan, and was appointed by the Portuguese captain-general of a large region.
Probably the first European to penetrate any distance inland from the Sofala coast since the Portuguese gold-seekers of the 16th century was St Vincent Whitshed Erskine, who explored the region between the Limpopo and Pungwe (1868-1875). Portugal's hold on the coast had been more firmly established at the time of Umzila's death, and Gungunhana, his successor, was claimed as a vassal, while efforts were made to open up the interior. This led in 1890–1891 to collisions on the borderland of the plateau with the newly established British South Africa Company, and to the arrest by the company's agents of Gouveia, who was, however, freed and returned to Mozambique via Cape Town. The border between the British and Portuguese colonies was set by the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 11 June 1891. An offer made by Gungunhana (1891) to come under British protection was not accepted. In 1892 Gouveia was killed in a war with a native chief. Gungunhana maintained his independence until 1895, when he was captured by a Portuguese force and exiled, first to Lisbon and afterwards to the Azores, where he died in 1906. With the capture of Gungunyana opposition to Portuguese rule largely ceased.
Colonial rivalry Gaza, a Swazi king chief pushed north by the Zulu King Shaka's expansion, ruled an area known as Gazaland in the early 19th century. Gaza's son Soshangane expanded Gazaland to include the Chimanimani district and his followers became known as Shangaan. The Shangaan people first began raiding the area of present-day Cashel in the mid-19th century. After Soshangane's death in about 1856, his son Mzila, the chief of the Gaza people sought to rule the area. Around 1873, Mzila, began conquering the area, forcing the Ngorima people who previously inhabited the land to flee. During his rule, Mzila signed a number of treaties with Portuguese colonizers, allowing them to erect trading posts in the area. His main rival was a Goan named Manuel António de Sousa, also known as Gouveia, who came to Africa about 1850. Mzila continued to rule until his death in 1884. Mzila was succeeded by Gungunhana, however, upon Mzila's death, the Portuguese laid claim to all of Manicaland (present-day eastern Zimbabwe, where Cashel is located). In 1887, the Portuguese claimed all the territory belonging to Lobengula, the king of Matabeleland (in present-day western Zimbabwe). This claim drew protest from the British government. In 1888, Portuguese gold miners began organizing what would become the Mozambique Company, and began conquering tribes to the west of their pre-1887 positions. This drew the attention of Cecil Rhodes and other British colonists in the region, who would create the British South Africa Company in 1889 to further expand east of Matabeleland. In March 1890, a British expedition arrived in Manicaland, where colonists established a gold mine. In January 1891, a British expedition meant to meet with Gungunhana passed through the Chimanimani Mountains, where Cashel is located. On 4 March 1891, the British expedition met with Gungunhana, who appeared to deem the British more trustworthy than the Portuguese. On 9 March, a treaty known as the Gazaland Concession was signed, and Gungunhana commercial and mineral rights to most of his kingdom to the British South African Company in exchange for cash payments, rifles, and ammunition. However, the British party to this treaty knew that it was not in accordance with international law, and disputes in the area between the British and Portuguese continued. The border between the British and Portuguese colonies was set by the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 11 June 1891. This treaty judged that most of Gungunhana's land would fall under Portuguese control. In 1892 Gouveia was killed in a war with a native chief. Gungunhana maintained his independence until 1895, when he was captured by a Portuguese force and exiled and he died in 1906. With the capture of Gungunhana, opposition to Portuguese rule largely ceased. Three Treks to the Chiminmani district in 1893, 1894 and 1895 by settlers from South Africa resulted in the growth of a farming community, with the last trek of Henry and Steyn settling in the North of the area, which would later become Cashel. The settlers faced a major setback due to the rinderpest disease, but eventually thrived and after some confusion about its name, became a successful farming community with a school, library and hotel. The Rhodesian Bush war played a major part in the area after Mozambique gained its independence and the border became an easy access route, with several attacks resulting in many farmers leaving.
Steyn-Henry trek of 1895 By December 1894 they had sold all of the farms in the Free State and moved to nearby Bothaville, where JGF rented the farm Witfontein until May 1895.
All of the trek families met at Schoemansdrif on the Vaal river on 8 May 1895 and 17 wagons and 114 people set off for Gazaland.
After an arduous journey through the Transvaal, into Bechuanaland, through the Tuli block and across rivers and over mountains and the odd encounter with lions, they arrived in the Umvumvumvu valley on Christmas Eve 1895.
When they arrived they built pole and dagga huts and planted crops to feed the community. Malaria killed many people and at least five of the Steyn children died of cerebral malaria. In 1896 Rinderpest swept down from Uganda and Tanzania and killed most of the cattle in the area. In 1901 East Coast Fever arrived and curtailed cattle farming further. Farmers took it in turns to house a farm school until eventually Johannesrust farm school was built, it later became Tandai school and finally Cashel school. There were no roads and these had to be planned and built.
Chimurenga & Rinderpest