Zululand
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| Historical nation-states of present-day South Africa (including Boer republics and TBVC states) |
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Mapungubwe (1050-1270) |
Zululand, the Zulu-dominated area of northern KwaZulu-Natal Province in South Africa, extends along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north. Historical Zululand stretches over the modern-day districts of Zululand, Amajuba, Umzinyathi, uThungulu, Umkhanyakude, Uthukela, Umgungundlovu and iLembe.
[edit] History
In 1816, Shaka acceded to the Zulu throne. Within a year he had conquered the neighboring clans, and had made the Zulu into the most important ally of the large Mtetwa clan, which competed with the Ndwandwe clan for domination of the northern part of modern-day KwaZulu-Natal.
Shaka initiated many military, social, cultural and political reforms, forming a well-organized and centralized Zulu state. The most important reforms involved the transformation of the army, thanks to innovative tactics and weapons he conceived; and a showdown with the spiritual leadership, clipping the wings, claws and fangs of the witchdoctors, effectively ensuring the subservience of the "Zulu church" to the state.
Another important reform integrated defeated clans into the Zulu, on a basis of full equality, with promotions in the army and civil service becoming a matter of merit rather than due to circumstances of birth.
After the death of Mtetwa king Dingiswayo at the hands of Zwide king of the Ndwandwe (around 1818), Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mtetwa alliance. The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill (1818). Within two years, Shaka had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlatuze River (1820) and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began a murderous campaign against other Nguni tribes and clans, setting in motion what became known as Defecane or Mfecane, a mass-migration of tribes fleeing the remnants of the Ndwandwe fleeing the Zulu. By 1825 Shaka had conquered a huge empire covering a vast area from the sea in the east to the Drakensberg mountains in the west, and from the Pongola River in the north to the Bashee River in the south, not far from the modern-day city of East London.
An offshoot of the Zulu, the Kumalos, better known to history as the Matabele created under their king Mzilikazi an even larger empire, including large parts of the highveld and modern-day Zimbabwe.
Shaka, who had had contacts with English explorers, realized that the white man posed a threat to local populations, and had planned to begin an intensive program of education to enable the Nguni people to catch up with the Europeans. However, in 1828 his half brother Dingane assassinated him and succeeded him as ruler. Dingane planned the execution of Piet Retief and a number of Trekboers in 1838. In 1840, Zulu Nyawo, Sambane and Nondawana assassinated Dingane near Hlatikhulu Forest on the Lebombo Mountains near Ingwavuma. Under his successors Mpande (another half-brother), who reigned till 1872, and Mpande's son Cetshwayo (effective ruler 1856 - 1879) the Zulu rebuffed Boer attempts to conquer them.
However, they then faced the problem of the British. In 1878, Sir Henry Bartle Frere, British Commissioner for South Africa, issued an ultimatum that Cetshwayo disband his army and concede to a number of demands. (Visitors can still see the site of the delivery of the ultimatum, the Ultimatum tree on the Natal bank of the Tugela river, below the present-day N2 highway bridge). The Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 resulted.
Initially the British suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana (January 22, 1879) where the Zulu army killed more than 1,000 British soldiers in a single day. This constituted the worst defeat the British army had ever suffered at the hands of a non-European fighting force. The defeat prompted a redirection of the war effort, and more British troops poured into Natal to ensure a British victory at Ulundi (4 July 1879. The British victors exiled Cetshwayo and subdivided Zululand into 13 regions, each administered by a kinglet. The largest region came under the control of John Dunn, a white hunter who had befriended Cetshwayo.
After the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, the British appointed a Resident, Melmoth Osborne, to mediate between the local chiefs and the British government; but continuing strife prompted the annexation of Zululand on May 9, 1887. The whole Province of Zululand, including Tongaland, became annexed to Natal on December 31, 1897.
In 1895, Sir Charles Saunders of Eshowe visited the areas of Ubombo and Ingwavuma, which subsequently became annexed to Zululand in 1897.
[edit] Postal system
A postal system operated in Zululand from 1888 to 1897, issuing its own postage stamps.
[edit] See also
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