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settlement with large stone
structures, while Dhlo-Dhlo, which
flourished in the 17th–18th
centuries, was a town of some
importance; all traded with the
coastal Kilwa and Sofala Arabs.
Groups of eastern Bantu came to
southern Africa, where there were
immense areas for them to occupy,
which allowed them to spread
without forming centralized states.
There were also Nguni peoples in
the area, among them Swazis, Zulus,
and Xhosas, who despite having
chieftains failed to develop large
urban and political structures; this
was because groups tended to split
when they became too large to
handle. They became the Swazi and
Zulu “nations” in the 19th century.
A Concise History of Africa
53