medium · GMAT Verbal

Passage: The Mfecane, a period of widespread displacement and warfare in early nineteenth-century Southern Africa, has long been attributed to the rise of the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka. Traditional historiography portrayed Shaka as a military genius who created a centralized state, forcing neighboring groups to flee and causing a ripple effect of violence across the region. However, this narrative has been challenged by revisionists who argue that the internal Zulu dynamics were less significant than external pressures. These scholars point to the expansion of the slave trade at Delagoa Bay and the increasing competition for resources driven by European colonial encroachment from the Cape Colony. They suggest that the Zulu Kingdom was a defensive reaction to these destabilizing forces rather than the primary cause of the Mfecane. Furthermore, some researchers argue that the very concept of the Mfecane was a myth perpetuated by colonial officials to justify land seizures, by depicting the interior as a depopulated wasteland. By attributing the violence solely to African tribalism, colonialists could present their own expansion as a civilizing mission that brought order to a chaotic landscape. The author's attitude toward the traditional historiography of the Mfecane can best be described as

1. Genuine uncertainty about whether the Zulu Kingdom truly existed as a centralized state
2. Unqualified, enthusiastic support for its emphasis on the famed Zulu military innovations
3. Measured skepticism regarding its focus on Shaka as the central driver of regional violence
4. Open hostility toward its perceived role in justifying European colonial seizures of land
5. Outright dismissal of any role that slave-trade expansion played in destabilizing the region

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