What was the battle at the Sudwala Caves entrance?

In the early 1860s, intense battles raged at Sudwala Caves' narrow entrance during Swazi prince Somquba's rebellion against King Mswati II. After fleeing skirmishes near Barberton with stolen cattle, Somquba fortified the constricted cave mouth—barely wide for single-file Nguni cows—as a refuge for his followers, food, and livestock. Induna Sudwala guarded it vigilantly from observation posts. Mswati's regiments launched repeated raids and cattle thefts, culminating in a suffocation attempt by igniting massive fires at the entrance; black burn marks remain visible today. Mysterious natural cave airflow foiled the smoke, saving those inside. Boer commandos from Lydenburg, led by Abel Erasmus, intervened to repel attackers. Somquba died in ambush, but survivors under Sudwala endured, naming the caves after their steadfast captain in Mpumalanga's Drakensberg foothills.