Gungunhana

Who was Gungunhana?

Ngungunyane, also known as Mdungazwe Ngungunyane Nxumalo, N'gungunhana, or Gungunhana Reinaldo Frederico Gungunhana, was a tribal king and vassal of the Portuguese Empire, who rebelled, was defeated by General Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque and lived out the rest of his life in exile, first in Lisbon, but later on the island of Terceira, in the Portuguese Azores.

Gungunhana was the last dynastic emperor of the Empire of Gaza, a territory now part of Mozambique. Nicknamed the Lion of Gaza, he reigned from around 1884 to 28 December 1895, the day he was imprisoned by Joaquim Mouzinho de Albuquerque in the fortified village of Chaimite. Because he was already known to the European press, the Portuguese colonial administration decided to exile him, rather than send him to face a firing squad, as would normally be the case. He was transported to Lisbon, accompanied by his son Godide and other dignitaries. After a brief stay, he was transferred to the Azores, where he would die eleven years later.