Ngwane III was King of
Swaziland from 1745 to 1780. He is considered to be the first
King of modern Swaziland. For his name the people were called
bakaNgwane and the country was called
kaNgwane or
lakaNgwane. Ngwane was the son of
Dlamini III and Queen
LaYaka Ndwandwe. Dlamini was succeeded by Ngwane III his son with Queen LaYaka Ndwandwe. He took over the Dlamini chieftaincy and established settlements south of the Pongola River, later moving them to the north of the river banks. This makes Ngwane and his followers the founders of modern Swaziland. Ngwane ruled his Kingdom from the south east of Swaziland in the present
Shiselweni district and his headquarters were called
Zombodze at the foot of the Mhlosheni hills. It was at Zombodze that the Nguni ceremony
incwala was celebrated for the first time.