On September 6, the Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) people come together to celebrate Independence Day, or Somhlolo Day as they call it in honor of the nation's founder King Sobhuza I who ruled between 1805 and 1839 and was nicknamed "Somhlolo," meaning "Wonder" in the Swazi language.
Eswatini Independence Day is a national holiday observed annually to commemorate its independence from the UK in 1968.
The history of the second smallest country in continental Africa at the moment dates back to 1836, when King Somhlolo defeated Zulu tribes and introduced a centralized system of his power, subordinating other chiefs, and effectively created the Swazi state.
The next Swazi king, Mswati I, annexed new lands in the north of the country in the late 1830s and created a state with more than twice the area of the present-day Eswatini.
However, in 1894, the country could not escape the invasive aspirations of the colonizers and fell under the protectorate of the neighbouring Boer Republic of Transvaal.
After the Anglo-Boer War, which took place in 1899-1902, the victorious British Empire declared Swaziland its protectorate, preserving the power of local kings and chiefs.
Under the protectorate, Swaziland approached self-government and independence in an evolutionary way.
In 1921, Swaziland’s first legislature was established. It consisted of elected white representatives whose task was to advise the British Resident Commissioner on non-Swazi matters.
In the same year, King Sobhuza II became head of the Swazi. After World War II, Sobhuza, with the support of traditional Swazi leaders, created the Imbokodwo National Movement, which defended the traditional Swazi way of life.
The drive for independence gathered momentum in 1964 with the adoption of Swaziland's first constitution. This was followed in 1967 by a new constitution providing for self-government after independence.
Finally, on September 6, 1968, Swaziland gained
independence from the United Kingdom.
