Mundagazi was born into a complex society during a period of great social and political instability. His grandfather, Soshangane (also called Manicusse or Manukosi), was the king (or "Nkosi") of a Nguni-speaking people, related to the Swazi, whose ancestral lands were in the territory of present-day South Africa. Soshangane was also the undisputed leader of a powerful army that, following the onset of the Mfecane (The Great Scattering), migrated to the north from Zululand. On their way north, throughout the 1820s and into the 1830s, Soshangane was able to persuade the chiefs of about two hundred tribes to become his vassals. Their ultimate destination, planned or not, was land located between the Maputo and Zambezi rivers. In the process, the Nguni displaced, co-opted, or slaughtered the native peoples. Upon arrival, Soshangane founded an empire to which he gave the name, Gaza (the name of his grandfather). In its initial stages, Gaza had about of land.