Constantin's inspection of Dodoma had not been solely driven by curiosity about the East African Highlands; he had also intended to supervise local affairs. However, his leisure for inspecting Dodoma did not last long.
April 2, 1871.
A telegram from Lusaka City reached Constantin's hands—the natives of the Matabele Plateau had risen in revolt against the rule of the Kingdom of East Africa.
After reading the telegram, Constantin's face turned ashen. Gritting his teeth, he said to Svit, "It seems we have been too merciful toward the natives of the Matabele Plateau. Once this rebellion is crushed, we must let the Ndebele people know what real colonialism is!"
Generally speaking, the Kingdom of East Africa paid little attention to Black resistance. Most natives wielded exceedingly primitive weapons and could hardly inflict any damage on the East African Army. Even when resistance movements arose, they were only small in scale. But the Matabele uprising was different. It could almost be said that the entire Matabele Plateau—roughly all of Zimbabwe in Constantin's previous life—had rebelled, with the Ndebele people as the main force behind it.
The Ndebele people were a branch of the Zulu people. They were not native inhabitants of Zimbabwe, but outsiders who had entered Zimbabwe after 1837 and enslaved the local natives.
They had originally lived in the Zulu Kingdom, led by Mzilikazi, a great general under Shaka, the Zulu king. Around 1822, while leading an army northward, Mzilikazi fell out with Shaka and broke away from him. He led his troops to Transvaal, conquering the tribes of the Sotho people and Tswana people along the way.
In 1836–1837, after coming under attack from the Boers, they were ultimately forced to leave Transvaal. The Ndebele people crossed the Limpopo River, conquered the Mashona people, occupied the vast lands between