''Mhudi: An Epic of South African Native Life a Hundred Years Ago'' is a South African novel by

Sol Plaatje Solomon Tshekisho Plaatje (9 October 1876 – 19 June 1932) was a South African intellectual, journalist, linguist, politician, translator and writer. Plaatje was a founding member and first General Secretary of the South African Native Nation ...

first published in 1930, and one of the first published African novels by a black African to be published in English. The novel was republished many times subsequently, including in the influential

Heinemann African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an int ...

. The novel is a political historical novel which explores the development of the Traansval kingdom, led by

Matabeleland Matabeleland is a region located in southwestern Zimbabwe that is divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo, and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi r ...

. The novel was originally finished in 1920, but Plaatje was unable to get the novel published.

R. R. R. Dhlomo Rolfes Robert Reginald Dhlomo (1906–1971) was a South African journalist, novelist and historian born in Siyamu, Edendale in the province of KwaZulu. His novella ''An African Tragedy'', published in 1928, was the first fiction work written by ...

's novella ''An African Tragedy'' (1928) consequently preceded it in publication. The novel re-invisions the standard Euro-centric narrative of history which supported Apartheid and its racist infrastructure. Plaatje described the novel as a romance, comparing it to Zulu novels of H. Rider Haggard.

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