THE RISE OF SHAKA AND THE ZULU NATION.

Shaka was born in 1787. His father was Senzangakona a Zulu chief and his mother was
Nandi from the lageni tribe. The Zulu at the time were a small clan living around the upper
Umflozi River and were part of the Mthethwa Kingdom which was being led by a chief
called Dingiswayo. Senzangakona and Nandi were never formally married hence the Zulu
rejected Shaka and his mother, therefore, Shaka was brought up firstly among the Lageni,
then the Qwabe and finally among the Mthethwa. As a result of being rejected, Shaka grew
up as a very courageous, determined, brave and intelligent young man.

Among the Mthethwa, Shaka joined the age regiment and became a well-known brave and
able soldier such that Dingiswayo soon recognized his abilities and put him in charge of the
Regiments. Shaka gained a lot of experience during his stay in the Mthethwa clan. When
Senzangakona died in 1816, he was succeeded by shaka’s half-brother Sikujana. However,
Shaka with the help and support of Dingiswayo killed and seized power from Sikujana and
became the Zulu chief. After the death of Dingiswayo in 1818, Shaka combined the Zulu and
the Mthethwa to form a strong Zulu Nation.

SHAKA’S MILITARY AND POLITCAL CHANGES.

After rising to power Shaka introduced some military and political changes/reforms that
contributed to the rise of the Zulu Nation. Most of these were mere improvements on the
already existing military and political systems of the Nguni.

Military Changes/Reforms.

 Shaka changed the old method of warfare among the Nguni and introduced new
military tactics. In the old system, warfare was about cattle raids and a show of
Military strength. During War, the two sides would face each other at a distance and
throw their long-handled spears. Casualties were not usually very heavy and the
victors would retire with a large number of cattle. The homesteads of the defeated
would sometimes be burnt but they were left to recover. Shaka introduced what was
referred to as Total Warfare. By this, the enemy was completely destroyed and never
to recover again. He also used Scotched Earth Methods to ensure the complete
destruction of the enemy.
  Shaka also improved on the age regiment system by introducing a
Permanent/Standing Army. By this new system, the soldiers were not allowed to
retire from the army until they reached the age of 45. They were permanently in
camp and constantly training. To facilitate this new system, Shaka also abolished
circumcision because he considered the time spent healing as worsted time that could
be better spent in military training. The regiments trained regularly until they were
ready for way.
 Shaka also introduced Bare Foot Fighting. Leather Sandals were discarded and
soldiers were required to fight bare feet to increase their mobility and speed in war.
 In addition, Shaka introduced the Assegai, which was a short stabbing spear. This
replaced the long-handled traditional Nguni spears, which were thrown at the enemy
from a long distance. Once the spear was thrown, a soldier remained unarmed. The
assegai was to be used at close range and to be retained throughout the war.
 To complement the assegai, Shaka also introduced a Long Shield to protect the Impis
(impis means the Zulu warriors) from chin to the toes as they went in close contact
with the enemy.
 The Cow Horn Formation was another of Shaka’s important military changes. By this
tactic, the enemy was encircled and could not escape. When the bulk of impis faced
the enemy, regiments were sent out on each side of the enemy like two great cow
horns to encircle the enemy and prevent any escape.
 Shaka also introduced Strict Discipline among his impis and people. He was feared
for his intolerance to failure and indiscipline. Any form of indiscipline or failure was
punished by harsh treatment even death He also introduced Surprise Attacks, which
were mostly carried out at dawn when the enemy was off-guard.
 Shaka also used his Geographical Knowledge of the area as a military strategy e.g. he
used his knowledge of the annual flooding of the Mlatuse River to defeat the
Ndwandwe of Zwide.

Political Changes/Reforms.

The strength of the Zulu Nation did not only depend on the success of Shaka’s military
changed only but also on the political reforms. The political changes that Shaka introduced
were;
  He reorganized the loosely controlled chieftainships and homesteads of the Northern
Nguni into a single large Centralised Kingdom in which all authority came directly
from him, the King. He was greatly feared.
 Shaka did not appoint his relatives to important posts within the Kingdom. Instead, he
appointed commoners based on merit. One had to prove himself to be a competent
warrior and leader. By so doing, Shaka created an effective and efficient system of
government. Those who were appointed were also extremely loyal to Shaka.
 Shaka also introduced the tribute system. All the conquered people were expected to
pay annual tribute to him. This enabled Shaka to effectively control the defeated
groups. Tribute also provided him with important resources to use in the Long
Distance Trade. Such as ivory and slaves
 Participation in the long distance trade with the Portuguese was also an important
political aspect of the Kingdom. This ensured the growth of the Zulu nation.
 Shaka also a diplomatic relationship with the Europeans at the Cape. He was careful
not to deliberately provoke them. Instead he wanted to learn about the European
Culture. This ensured peace and stability in the Kingdom.
 Shaka also officially appointed Nandi as the Queen of the Zulu Nation She was highly
respected and sometimes acted as Shaka’s advisor.
 The Zulu society was also politically divided into regiments. All young adults
between 15 and 35 years old were drafted into the male and female regiments. Each
village of regiments had a huge enclosure for sheltering cattle during the night and for
military parades and ceremonies during the day. The male and female regiments lived
separately. Each village had regimental cattle that were obtained through raids. The
females cultivated maize and sorghum for consumption in their particular villages
Yhis ensured the orderly organisation of the Zulu Kingdom.
 Shaka also introduced a deliberate policy of assimilation for all the conquered people.
The conquered tribes were fully incorporated into the Kingdom. This ensured the
expansion of the Zulu Kingdom.

THE DEATH OF SHAKA.

To some extent, Shaka had always used fear to instil loyalty in the Zulu Kingdom. As he
became more powerful, the rate of executions increased and people were killed for minor
offences. This caused a lot of resentments from people. After his mother’s death, in 1827,
Shaka’s mind became unbalanced. He put thousands of people to death for not mourning his
mother enough. No one was allowed to cultivate or milk cattle for the one-year period of
mourning among other things. Shaka also became extremely suspicious of those around him.

Fearing for their lives, Shaka’s half-brothers Digani and Mlangani stabbed him to death in his
royal kraal in1828. This was with the help of Mbopa, Shaka’s Induna. Digani killed Mlangani
after a quarrel and became the new Zulu King.

THE ZULU KINGDOM AFTER SHAKA.

Rule of Digani 1828-1840.

When Digani took over the Zulu Kingdom, he wanted to please the people and the impis by
relaxing some of Shaka’s cruelty. He lessened the Executions and allowed the regiments to
marry and live a normal life. They were only called upon to train once in a while to prepare
for war. As a result of this, the Zulu impis started losing some of their battles and blaming the
loses on Digani’s ineffective leadership.

The impis tried to revolt against Digani. He was able to subdue them and started to
implement some of Shaka’s methods to please the impis. As such, Digani started the
executions against those who were not loyal to him. He is said to have become a worse
dictator than Shaka was. In addition, he also started regular raids against the neighbors and
the Zulu impis were now sent out on regular raids.

Digani was also not a good leader as Shaka had been. As a result, the Zulu Nation started to
fall apart. Some subordinate chiefs started rebelling against him e.g. the Qwabe broke away.

The Zulu armies were now being defeated by some of the because of disorganization.

Due to constant executions of those suspected to be disloyal, Zulu refugees started migrating
to Port Natal. This brought the Zulu Kingdom into conflict with the whites.

The major problem that Digani faced that led to his fall was the problem of the Boers who
were looking for land to settle in Natal. Digani saw them as a threat to his Kingdom. In order
to get rid of this threat, he decided to invite the Boers under Piet Retief to a party where he
ordered his impis to slaughter them. The other Boers reacted by organizing themselves into
Commando Units and attacked the Zulu Kingdom. At the Battle of the Blood River, the Zulus
defeated the Boers. However, Digani was killed and replaced by his brother Mpande who
became a puppet King.
The Rule of Mpande 1840-1872.

Mpande was also a son of Senzanakona therefore, a step brother to both Shaka and Dingani.
He came into power in 1840 after been selected by the royal house as Dingani’s successor
and encouraged him to wage war against Dingani’s administration. As a result, Mpande
conspired with the Boers in order to overthrow his brother Dingani. Mpande was crowned
king after Dingani was killed and ruled the Zulu kingdom for thirty-two years. However,
during his administration he served as a puppet ruler for the Boers who helped him to come
to power in 1840. Therefore, he ruled for a long period. His rule was characterized by peace
and prosperity for the Zulu Nation. This was because;

He was not interested in the expansion of the Zulu Nation through raids and he managed to
persuade some of her subject people to become Zulus He followed a non-provocative
diplomatic policy with the Boers of Natal who had installed him and also because he was
afraid of their advanced powerful weapons.

He even allowed many Boers from the Transvaal to acquire land in the Zulu Kingdom.

However, the younger warriors who thought that it was cowardice and humiliating did not
appreciate Mpande’s diplomatic policy of avoiding open conflicts with the African neighbors
and Europeans. This was because the Zulu Nation had been founded on military success. In
addition, there was a serious power struggle between his two sons namely Mbulazi who was
Mpande’s eldest son and Cetshwayo. The two brothers started fighting for the throne even
before death of their father. In 1856, the two were involved in a terrible battle which came to
be refered as the battle of Ndondakusuka on the Banks of the Tugela River which Cetshwayo
won and became heir to the Zulu throne. Therefore, when Mpande died in 1872, he was
succeeded by his son Cetshwayo

The Rule of Cetshwayo (Cetewayo) 1872-1884.

Cetshwayo came into fame in the Zulu land in 1856 after defeating his brother Mbulazi and it
was from this time that he started involving himself in active politics, until the death of his
father Mpande in 1872. He was officially crowned as King of the Zulu in 1873 by the
Secretary for Native Affairs Sir Theophilus Shapestone. His rule in Zululand was
characterized by the revival of the Zulu Military strength on which the Zulu Nation had been
built. To achieve this, he

Organized 12 age regiments

Started to conduct raids to acquire food and captives and to strengthen the impis. These
military campaigns were referred to as the “washing of the Spears”. This rebuilt the feeling
of the Zulu Nationalism and restored prosperity and self confidence among the people

However, the growing power of the Zulu Nation started threatening the British plans to
federate South African States after 1871. Therefore, the British started looking for an excuse
to destroy the Zulu state. The British high commissioner Sir Bartle Frere used the Zulu attack
on some tribes of Natal in 1878 to disband the age regiment and destroy the Zulu political
organisation. Cetshwayo refused to comply and war was declared on the Zulu Nation in
January 1879

The Anglo-Zulu War-1879.

When war broke out in January 1879, Zululand was invaded by 13,000 British troops under
Lord Chelmsford. In the initial stages, the British suffered an embarrassing defeat at the
Battle of Isandlwana. However, on 4th July, 1879, the British under Lord Chelmsford were
able to defeat the Zulu at the Battle of Ulundi.

After the Battle, the Zulu Nation was destroyed. Cetshwayo was exiled and taken to London
in 1882. Zululand was also divided into 13 regions and put under the control of the enemies
of the Zulus to prevent an emergency. The Age regiment system was also disbanded and this
led to the complete destruction of the Zulu Nation.

THE MFECANE

The word Mfecane simply means “Wars of Wondering”, “Times of Trouble” or “Scattering”
in Sotho (Difecane). The Mfecane took place between 1816 and 1836 among the tribes in the
Highveld area between the Drakensberg Mountains and the Kalahari Desert and the Limpopo
River in the South. The Mfecane began east of the Drakensberg Mountains in Nguniland of
present day Natal and spread over large parts of South Africa. However, the effects of the
Mfecane were felt as far as Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania by 1836.

CAUSES OF THE MFECANE.

1. Population Increase; there was population increase in Nguniland. This overpopulation was
caused by the availability of food especially with the introduction of new crops such as maize
by the Portuguese and the fact that people had stayed in one area for a long time (from 6th
Century to 19th century). Nguni land had fertile soils, had no tsetse flies and had plenty of
Rainfall. This encouraged people to have more children so that by the end of the 18th
Century, the population had increased greatly causing land shortages. Therefore, people
begun to look for more land for expansion. This land could only be obtained through fighting.
This contributed to the Mfecane.

2. Geographical Barriers; Geographical barriers such as the Drakensberg Mountains, the

Indian Ocean and the Kalahari Desert made it impossible for expansion to take place to the
east or the west. This worsened the land shortages. As such, people resorted to fighting to
obtain the needed land.

3. The Eastern Expansion of the Cape Whites; towards the end of the 18th century, there was
a great desire by the Cape Whites to expand in the eastern direction so as to acquire more
land. This resulted into wars of dispossession between the blacks and the whites, which
worsened the land problem in Nguniland. Africans who were dispossessed of their land
attacked their fellow Africans to compensate for their lost land. This escalated the wars in
Nguniland.

4. Famine and Drought; Between 1760 and 1770, rainfall in Nguniland was very good and
there were good yields and pasture. More maize was planted and the cattle increased in
number. However, by the early 1800s, the rains begun to fail leading to droughts for the
next ten years. Crops failed, pasture withered and there was widespread famine and starvation
in Nguniland. This period was referred to as the period of the Madlatule. In order to survive,
the tribesstarted attacking each other to obtain food and other resources. This also contributed
to the Mfecane.

5. Introduction of the Long Distance Trade; The introduction of the Long Distance Trade on
the East Coast of Africa by the Portuguese also contributed to the emergency of Organised
Kingdoms. Therefore, the Ngunis started merging to form larger organized Kingdoms by
attacking and assimilating weaker groups. They also started attacking each other to obtain
trade resources such as ivory.

6. The Emergency of Three Leaders/Kingdoms; three leaders emerged in this area who were
very ambitious and embarked on attacking and assimilating weaker tribes. These were
Sobhuza of the Ngwane, Zwide of the Ndwandwe and Dingiswayo of the Mthethwa. The
three started competing with each other through fighting for many things such as the control
of the Long Distance Trade with the Portuguese, land and trade resources. During and after
the Madlatule, competition among the three grew fierce. The Ndwandwe and the Mthethwa
were almost always at war fighting for farmland and water supplies.

The conquered people were conscripted into the age Regiments and assimilated to enlarge the
Kingdoms. Ways of ensuring that the regiments were always ready for war, the six months
initiation ceremonies were discontinued. This escalated the wars in Nguniland

COURSE OF THE MFECANE

 In 1816, Zwide attacked and defeated Sobhuza. This was over the Ngwane claim over
agriculture land on the Pongolo valley. However, Zwide sent his armies to attack Sobhuza
who was defeated also claimed these lands and his capital was burnt down. After his defeat,
he and his people fled northwards into the mountains for defense purposes. As he fled,
Sobhuza attacked and assimilated other groups and started the foundations for the Swazi
Nation.

 In 1818, Zwide deliberately started attacking and assimilating some clans that were under
Dingiswayo. As such, war broke out between the two. Unfortunately, Dingiswayo was
ambushed and captured then later killed by Zwide’s impis. After the defeat of Dingiswayo,
Zwide emerged as the strongest ruler in Nguniland.

 Carried away with these victories, Zwide went on and attacked the Ngwane of Matiwane
who fled westwards. In the West, they attacked the Hlubi under Mpangazita and forced them
to cross the Drakensberg Mountains and in turn they attacked the Sotho-Tswana speaking
people.

 By 1818, Zwide had shifted his attention to attacking Dingiswayo’s successor Shaka of the
Zulu Nation. After the death of Dingiswayo, Shaka had combined what had remained of the
Mthethwa Kingdom and the Zulu Kingdom. He also improved on the military changes of the
Mthethwa. As such, he managed to stop an attack from Zwide in October 1818 at Qokoli
Hill. This was the first face to face battle with Zwide’s impis and Shaka’s display of his new
military tactics.
 On the 25th December, 1818, Zwide launched an all-out attack on the Zulu so as to finish
them off once and for all. However, Shaka was well prepared and using his Geographical
knowledge of the area, he defeated Zwide at the famous Battle of the Mlatuse River.

 In 1826, the last Ndwandwe attack came under Sikonyane Zwide’s son but Shaka easily
defeated him. Shaka intensified the Mfecane and during his rule, many more wars were
fought and people left Zululand and spread the Mfecane to other areas. Some of the groups
that left Nguniland were the Ngoni, the Ndebele and the Kololo

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THE EFFECTS OF THE MFECANE

It led to widespread destruction of property and life. Many people died in the wars while
others died from starvation and diseases.

 Old Kingdoms were destroyed and many people fled as destitute refugees. Some fled to the
Eastern Frontier regions and became known as the Mfengu while others hide in the forests
and mountains.

 The Mfecane also led to wide spread Famine as people went into hiding and could not
cultivate.

 The Mfecane also led to depopulation of vast areas in the interior, which were occupied by
the Trek Boers.

 The Mfecane also led to an increase in slave trade as those who were captured were sold as
slaves.

These were among the most destructive effects of the Mfecane. The constructive effects were
that;

 The Mfecane led to the emergency of defensive Nation builders such as Moshesh,
Sobhuza, and Mswati.

 The Mfecane also led to the emergency of Empire Builders such as Mzilikazi, Sebitwane
and Zwangendaba.