Pietermaritzburg

City · 1839 CE · in Sub-Saharan Africa

Capital of Natalia Republic (1840–1843).

Wellington (1839 CE): Capital of New Zealand (1948–today).
Al Bayda (1840 CE): Capital of Kingdom of Libya (1953–1968).
Windhoek (1840 CE): Capital of Namibia (1990–today).
Coburg (c. 1836 CE): Capital of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1836–1839).
Houston (1836 CE): Capital of Republic of Texas (1837–1839).
Tacna (c. 1836 CE): Capital of Peru-Bolivian Confederation (1836–1839).
Gotha (c. 1836 CE): Capital of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1836–1839).
Piratini (c. 1836 CE): Capital of Riograndense Republic (1836–1845).
Caçapava do Sul (c. 1836 CE): Capital of Riograndense Republic (1836–1845).
Ha'il (c. 1836 CE): Capital of Emirate of Jabal Shammar (1836–1921).

Around the same time and place

Shaka (c. 1787 CE – 1828 CE): King who transformed the Zulu into a powerful military kingdom in the 1810s–1820s; assassinated by his half-brothers in 1828.
Mfecane (c. 1815–1840 CE): Period of widespread warfare and population upheaval in southern Africa linked to the rise of the Zulu kingdom and other states.
Great Trek (c. 1835–1846 CE): Thousands of Dutch-speaking settlers (Voortrekkers) left the British-ruled Cape Colony for the interior, founding republics in Natal, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal and clashing with the Ndebele and Zulu.
Bloemfontein (1846 CE): Capital of Free Orange State (1856–1899), South Africa (1932–today).
Livingstone’s crossing of Africa (1853–1856 CE): David Livingstone travelled from the upper Zambezi to Luanda on the Atlantic and then east to Quelimane on the Indian Ocean, sighting Victoria Falls in 1855; the crossing made him famous in Britain.
Pretoria (1855 CE): Capital of South African Republic (1856–1899), South Africa (1932–today).
Maseru (1869 CE): Capital of Lesotho (1967–today).
Battle of Isandlwana (1879 CE): Zulu army defeated a British force on 22 January 1879 at the start of the Anglo-Zulu War, one of the worst defeats of a colonial army by an African force.