Complex sentence: In 1889 seeking to weaken the Ndebele king Lobengula's control over the territory, Cecil Rhodes promoted white settlement in Ndebele and Shona lands and dispatched a group of colonists known as the "Pioneer Column" to the region in 1890, under military guard.
Split into simpler sentences: In 1889 seeking to weaken the Ndebele king Lobengula's control over the territory, Cecil Rhodes promoted white settlement in Ndebele and Shona lands. In 1890, he dispatched a group of colonists known as the Pioneer Column to the region under military guard.