A trading centre at Mapungubwe, on the Limpopo, evolves into a state ruled by a king in a zimbabwe

The Ndebele chieftain, Lobengula, grants Rhodes mining rights in what is now Zimbabwe

Cecil Rhodes sends colonists to settle the newly won colony of Rhodesia

Leander Jameson, finding a pretext for war, drives Lobengula out of his kingdom in Rhodesia

The territory south of the Zambezi is given the name Rhodesia, in honour of the man who has colonized it

Mineral discoveries on the border of Northern Rhodesia and the Belgian Congo give the first hint of the riches of the Copper Belt

Rhodesia becomes a self-governing colony with political power exclusively in the hands of European settlers

The two Rhodesias and Nyasaland are merged in the self-governing Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland

Joshua Nkomo founds ZAPU, the Zimbabwe African People's Union, in the British colony of Southern Rhodesia

Ian Smith's white supremacist party, the Rhodesian Front, wins power in Rhodesia's election

Robert Mugabe and Ndabaningi Sithole split from ZAPU to found ZANU, the Zimbabwe African National Union

The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved, as the three colonies go their separate ways

Ian Smith, now prime minister of Rhodesia, arrests leading black politicians Joshua Nkomo and Robert Mugabe

Ian Smith makes a unilateral declaration of Rhodesia's independence

The United Nations, with the approval of Britain as the colonial power, imposes economic sanctions on Rhodesia

The first multiracial elections held in Rhodesia are won by bishop Abel Muzorewa

A conference in London, at Lancaster House, finally achieves agreement on Southern Rhodesia

Rhodesia becomes independent, taking the name Zimbabwe, with Robert Mugabe as prime minister

Violent gangs, calling themselves the Mugabe War Veterans Association, start to 'liberate' more than 100,000 sq km of white-owned farmland in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is placed under house arrest, as the military take control of the country. He resigns six days later, after 37 years of rule