In the 1820s the Chopi people were invaded by Nguni warlords who left South African territory from the Natal region. Nguni tribes were embroiled in wars between themselves from around 1815 where many tribes were slain at the hands of dominant war lords such as Shaka Zulu and the tribes led by Zwide. The impact of the Nguni wars Mfecane reached the Chopi territory where Manukosi Soshangane and others from Zwide's kingdom overran various parts of Mozambique with the intent of subjugating as many tribes as possible and to control the land's vast resources for gold, iron, ivory, and taxation. The Chopi people at the time were still under Portuguese rule and the Shangaan invaders feared attacking the Chopi people as they were armed with rifles from the Portuguese soldiers and many of them also used bows and poisoned arrows. When the new ruler of Gaza (Nghunghunyana) invaded their territory near the Limpopo River and attempted to subjugate them in 1888, a war ensued between the Chopi people and the Gaza forces that effectively lasted from 1889 and ended in 1895 when Nghunghunyana was defeated by the Portuguese and Chopi soldiers. The Chopi people have managed to sustain their senior traditional leadership from invasion and it exists today in Inhambane, Bileni, and even as far as the Limpopo River at the Mapai territory.