shaka zulu wars

Her father also told Baleka that Shaka spoke as though "his tongue were too big for his mouth." Shaka's troops maintained a strong position on the crest of the hill. The founders of the states which Omer-Cooper called "Zulu-type states," including the Ndebele, the Gasa, the Ngoni, and the Swazi had all been closely associated with Zwide. The "loins" would be committed wherever the enemy impi threatened to break out of the, Zulu king Shaka is referenced in Jamaican, Shaka has been featured as a playable leader for the Zulu civilization in all six, This page was last edited on 4 March 2021, at 20:24. [41] Other scholars acknowledge distortion of the historical record by apartheid supporters and shady European traders seeking to cover their tracks, but dispute the revisionist approach, noting that stories of cannibalism, raiding, burning of villages, or mass slaughter were not developed out of thin air but based on the clearly documented accounts of hundreds of black victims and refugees. In fact, European travellers to Shaka's kingdom demonstrated advanced technology such as firearms and writing, but the Zulu monarch was less than convinced. [13], It is also supposed that Shaka introduced a larger, heavier version of the Nguni shield. A frontal assault by their opponents failed to dislodge them, and Shaka sealed the victory by sending his reserve forces in a sweep around the hill to attack the enemy's rear. At the time of his death, Shaka ruled over 250,000 people and could muster more than 50,000 warriors. If a regiment had the misfortune to be defeated, whether by its own fault or not, it would on its return to headquarters find that a goodly proportion of the wives and children belonging to it had been beaten to death on [Shaka]'s orders, and that he was waiting their arrival to complete his vengeance by dashing out their brains. The result was, that though [Shaka]'s armies were occasionally annihilated, they were rarely defeated, and they never ran away. There has been considerable objection to the accusation that missionaries, in the age of abolitionism, played a role in colonial labor raiding. Writer: Richard Wawman. A brutal fate awaited them and their families if they did not perform well in combat. [11], Another decisive fight eventually took place on the Mhlatuze river, at the confluence with the Mvuzane stream. Traditional Zulu praise song, English translation by Ezekiel Mphahlele, Other Zulu sources are sometimes critical of Shaka, and numerous negative images abound in Zulu oral history. The Great Treks: The Trans formation of Southern Africa, 1815-1854. Shaka's reign coincided with the start of the Mfecane/Difaqane ("Upheaval" or "Crushing"), a period of devastating warfare and chaos in southern Africa between 1815 and about 1840 that depopulated the region. Many said that he spoke with a speech impediment. In 1828 he was assassinated at Dukuza by one of his inDunas and two of his half-brothers, one of whom, Dingane kaSenzangakhona , succeeded him as king. And as they stemmed from ancient families it is entirely possible that states of that type existed in a more remote past. Initial Zulu success rested on fast-moving surprise attacks and ambushes, but the Voortrekkers recovered and dealt the Zulu a severe defeat from their fortified wagon laager at the Battle of Blood River. The nations that spoke of you with contempt are chilled by your songs. Soga and Bryant related each of them to a larger grouping they called Mho. Soga implied as much when he used genealogical evidence to argue that the Zulu were an upstart group inferior in dignity and distinction to established chiefdoms in their region, for example, the Hlubi, Ndwandwe, and Dlamini lines. Shaka chose a particularly gruesome revenge on her, locking her in a house and placing jackals or hyenas inside: they devoured her and, in the morning, Shaka burned the house to the ground. Other notable figures to arise from the Mfecane/Difaqane include Soshangane, who expanded from the Zulu area into what is now Mozambique. The Portuguese at Delagoa Bay and British privateers at Port Natal sponsored slave raiding into the interior. At least 7,000 people who were deemed to be insufficiently grief-stricken were executed, although the killing was not restricted to humans: cows were slaughtered so that their calves would know what losing a mother felt like. Shaka Zulu was successful in establishing Zulu dominance in southern Africa because he was a great strategist and military innovator. If a man was observed to show the slightest hesitation about coming to close quarters with the enemy, he was executed as soon as the fight was over. [30], Various modern historians writing on Shaka and the Zulu point to the uncertain nature of Fynn and Isaac's accounts of Shaka's reign. Change ). THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION – FRANCE, Prokhorovka – the unknown clash of the Great Patriotic War. Wars and disruptions took place, but most of them were not caused by Shaka and the Zulu. Shaka, Zulu chief (1816–28), founder of Southern Africa’s Zulu Empire. [16] He was tall and his skin tone was dark brown. The Zulus were known best for their superior military tactics, believed to have been devised by King Shaka Zulu. It is sometimes held that such support was used more for very light forces designed to extract tribute in cattle and slaves from neighbouring groups. After sifting through these sources and noting their strengths and weaknesses, Morris generally credits Shaka with a large number of military and social innovations, and this is the general consensus in the field. When Dingiswayo was murdered by Zwide, Shaka sought to avenge his death. Ritter's novel Shaka Zulu (1955), a potboiling romance that was re-edited into something more closely resembling a history. 3. He reformed the remnants of the Mthethwa and other regional tribes and later defeated Zwide in the Zulu Civil War of 1819–20. The second major clash was against the British during 1879. Shaka got his first taste of warfare at age 21. Shaka's triumphs did not succeed in obliterating or diminishing the memories of his better-born rivals. Although colonial historians of the early twentieth century viewed Shaka as a monstrous savage and later African nationalist historians saw him as a revolutionary nation-builder, the basic history remained the same. The mfecane wars. Nathaniel Isaacs published his Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa in 1836, creating a picture of Shaka as a degenerate and pathological monster, which survives in modified forms to this day. Ian Knight, By The Orders Of The Great White Queen: An … Hamilton, Carolyn, ed. [16] He also had two prominent front teeth. Shaka was equipped with three assegais, or light spears, for throwing and a five-foot, 9-inched oval shield. The Griqua, a frontier society of raiders with horses and guns, attacked Africans in the interior and traded captured cattle and slaves to the settlers of the Cape Colony. This map illustrates the rise of the Zulu Empire under Shaka (1816–1828) in present-day South Africa. The story that sandals were discarded to toughen the feet of Zulu warriors has been noted in various military accounts such as The Washing of the Spears, Like Lions They Fought, and Anatomy of the Zulu Army. Every Zulu was conscripted to support his never ending wars. [citation needed]. Add to Watchlist. [38][39][40], According to Julian Cobbing, the development of the view that Shaka was the monster responsible for the devastation is based on the need of apartheid era historians to justify the apartheid regime's racist policies. 22 September 1828) was the most important leader of the Zulu Empire.He joined the Zulu tribal groups together into the beginnings of a nation. Shaka Zulu est une série télé sud-africain en 10 épisodes réalisée par William C. Faure et écrit par Joshua Sinclair. For example, Sotho people rallied under their new leader Moshoeshoe in the mountain sanctuary of the Drakensberg. argue that Shaka "changed the nature of warfare in Southern Africa" from "a ritualised exchange of taunts with minimal loss of life into a true method of subjugation by wholesale slaughter. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Sigujana's reign was short, however, as Dingiswayo, anxious to confirm his authority, lent Shaka a regiment so that he was able to put Sigujana to death, launching a relatively bloodless coup that was substantially accepted by the Zulu. Historian Donald Morris states that Shaka's first major battle against Zwide, of the Ndwandwe, was the Battle of Gqokli Hill, on the Mfolozi river. Despite carrying out this revenge, Shaka continued his pursuit of Zwide. Title: King First Name: Shaka Last Name: Zulu Date of Birth: ca. His teachings greatly influenced the social outlook of the Zulu people. World Wars; Historic Figures; Family History; Hands on History; History for Kids; On This Day; Zulu: The True Story . He was clad with a kilt of fur stripes, a skin cape with black widow-bird feathers, cowhide sandals and white oxtails around his ankles and wrists. This left the royal kraal critically lacking in security. Shaka Zulu, the first Zulu king, had, through war and conquest, built the small Zulu tribe into the Zulu Kingdom which by 1825 encompassed an area of around 11,500 square miles (30,000 km 2). Post was not sent - check your email addresses! J.H. The so-called Mfengu were actually Xhosa-speaking captives and collaborators who were taken into the Cape Colony to serve as a steady supply of labor for settler farms. He is the bird that preys on other birds, He imposed a year of celibacy on his people and executed anyone who did not show enough grief at the … King Shaka Zulu replaced the assegai with the ikwala . Confirmation of such accounts can also be seen in modern archaeology of the village of Lepalong, an entire settlement built underground to shelter remnants of the Kwena people from 1827 to 1836 against the tide of disruption that engulfed the region during Shakan times.[42]. Death When Shaka's mother Nandi died he was heartbroken. Shaka kaSenzangakhona (sometimes spelled Tshaka, Tchaka or Chaka; ca. Much controversy still surrounds the character, methods and activities of the Zulu king. From around 1815 to the late 1820s Shaka led the Zulu in a series of wars against neighboring … Terrific Majesty: The Powers of Shaka Zulu and the Limits of Historical Invention. [29], Their accounts may be balanced by the rich resource of oral histories collected around 1900 by the same James Stuart, now published in six volumes as The James Stuart Archive. Groups of refugees from Shaka's assaults, first Hlubi and Ngwane clans, later followed by the Mantatees and the Matabele of Mzilikazi, crossed the Drakensberg to the west, smashing chiefdoms in their path. Prior to Shaka, warfare in Southern Africa consisted mainly of tribes throwing spears at one another and ritually challenging warriors from other tribes. When the Ndwande under Zwide defeated and killed Dingiswayo, Shaka absorbed the leaderless tribe into the Zulu. With Qwabe, Hlubi and Mkhize support, Shaka was finally able to summon a force capable of resisting the Ndwandwe (of the Nxumalo clan). Shaka had given his new Zulu state military superiority over other African groups by inventing a new short stabbing spear that was particularly effective in hand-to-hand combat, introducing new battlefield tactics of encirclement, and creating a system of organization based on age regiments. Zulu Wars: Shaka, King of the Zulu . [8], As Shaka became more respected by his people, he was able to spread his ideas with greater ease. Shaka's army set out on a massive programme of expansion, killing or enslaving those who resisted in the territories he conquered. Here are the ten shaka Zulu facts that you never knew about. He addressed this by allowing them to marry and set up homesteads (which was forbidden during Shaka's rule) and they also received cattle from Dingane. Shaka (c.1787-c. 22 September 1828) was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom. His role in the Mfecane/Difaqane is highly controversial. We all know that Shaka remodeled the assegai, turning a long, throwing weapon into a much more effective, short stabbing one. His father Senzangakhona was a minor chief of the Zulu speaking clans, while his mother Nandi was the daughter of Chief Mbhengi of the rival Langeni clan. The battle-axe that excels over other battle-axes in sharpness, His 10-year-long kingship resulted in a massive number of deaths, mostly due to the disruptions the Zulu caused in neighbouring tribes, although the exact death toll is a matter of scholarly dispute. Omer-Cooper's "The Zulu Aftermath", which advances the traditional Mfecane/Difaqane theory.[33]. Rise of Shaka Zulu, and The Zulu Wars. Overview [edit | edit source] The Zulu are an African civilizations featured in the first release of Age of Empires III: Wars of Liberty, in September of 2015.The Zulu are one of the first original African civilizations in the mod, along with the Egyptians and Ethiopians. Shaka won them over by subtler tactics, such as patronage and reward. His reforms of local society built on existing structures. [16], The figure of Shaka still sparks interest among not only the contemporary Zulu but many worldwide who have encountered the tribe and its history. Boys and girls aged six and over joined Shaka's force as apprentice warriors (udibi) and served as carriers of rations, supplies like cooking pots and sleeping mats, and extra weapons until they joined the main ranks. Zwide himself escaped with a handful of followers before falling foul of a chieftainess named Mjanji, ruler of a Babelu clan. Most popular accounts are based on E.A. The Zulus fought a number of different battles against different enemies, under different chieftanships. These and other sources such as A.T. Bryant gives us a more Zulu-centred picture. Wylie, Dan. As for firearms, Shaka acknowledged their utility as missile weapons after seeing muzzle-loaders demonstrated, but he argued that in the time a gunman took to reload, he would be swamped by charging spear-wielding warriors. Once again, most Zulu successes rested on their mobility, ability to screen their forces and to close when their opponents were unfavourably deployed. His impis (warrior regiments) were rigorously disciplined: failure in battle meant death.[34]. General histories of Southern Africa are also valuable including Noel Mostert's "Frontiers" and a detailed account of the results from the Zulu expansion, J.D. The Mfecane produced Mzilikazi of the Khumalo, a general of Shaka's. Implementation was typically blunt. He was ultimately assassinated by his half brothers Dingane and Mhlangana. In Qwabe, Shaka may have intervened in an existing succession dispute to help his own choice, Nqetho, into power. [13], Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's half-brothers, appear to have made at least two attempts to assassinate Shaka before they succeeded, with perhaps support from Mpondo elements and some disaffected iziYendane people. Barbarossa to ‘Berlog’ – Soviet Air Force, Rome Military mid-fourth century to the mid-third century BC, Rommel Recaptures Cyrenaica, January 1942, Russian Weapons, that are currently in service…, A Lesson of History: The Luftwaffe and Barbarossa. The only successful Zulu raid against the Mpondo occurred in the late 1820s when Shaka cooperated with European-led gunmen from Port Natal. Bibliography Etherington, Norman. Napoleon Bournaparte was a french military who became skill full in artillery fighting as a result he became a warmonger that conquered the whole of Europe. The central part of what is now South Africa had not been depopulated by Shaka but instead was conquered by expansionist Boers who would later claim it as a promised land given to them by God. [citation needed], Shaka was able to form an alliance with the leaderless Mthethwa clan and was able to establish himself amongst the Qwabe, after Phakathwayo was overthrown with relative ease. They also argue that Shaka's line was relatively short-lived and receives undue attention, compared to other, longer established lines and rulers in the region. London: Longmans, 1966. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1998. There is an anecdote that Shaka joked with one of his friends, Magaye, that he could not kill Magaye because he would be laughed at. The British-Zulu War begins as British troops under Lieutenant General Frederic Augustus invade Zululand from the southern African republic of Natal. A standard general reference work in the field is Donald Morris's "The Washing of The Spears", which notes that the sources, as a whole, for this historical era are not the best. When Shaka's mother Nandi died for example, the monarch ordered a massive outpouring of grief including mass executions, forbidding the planting of crops or the use of milk, and the killing of all pregnant women and their husbands. [16] Different coloured shields distinguished different amabutho within Shaka's army. Now QINISO MBILI shares some lesser-known facts about the Zulu … Malcolm in 1950. The ripple effect caused by these mass migrations would become known (though only in the twentieth century) as the Mfecane/Difaqane (annihilation). He is Shaka the unshakeable, He has been called a military genius for his reforms and innovations, but was condemned for the brutality of his reign. [3], Shaka further refined the ibutho military system and, with the Mthethwa empire's support over the next several years, forged alliances with his smaller neighbours to counter the growing threat from Ndwandwe raids from the north. Clans fleeing the Zulu war zone  included the Soshangane, Zwangendaba, Ndebele, Hlubi, Ngwane, and the Mfengu. When Shaka Zulu was born, around the year 1787, Senzangakhona was the nominal chief of the Zulu, a small band of about 1500 members. It was all the conspirators needed—they being Shaka's half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, and an iNduna called Mbopa. This is one reason why they were generally eager to attack. Kings and princes shiver in their little thrones. The increased military efficiency led to more and more clans being incorporated into Shaka's Zulu empire, while other tribes moved away to be out of range of Shaka's impis. His political objective was to expand his territory with the unification of neighboring clans and war was the primary means used to achieve this. Who pursued the sun and the moon. For a long time, the warriors had used a longer spear locally known as the assegai.After various encounters, Zulu found throwing this spear from a distance ineffective because the enemy would quickly pick it up and hurl it back. Defence of Rorke's Drift historical prints published by Cranston Fine Arts. Some historians claim that this revisionist theory removes African initiative from history and places too much emphasis on colonial actions. Using different informants and genealogical charts, A.T. Bryant arrived at similar conclusions. Earlier colonial historians had created the myth of the wars of Shaka in order to blame inequity of land ownership on so-called black-on-black violence rather than on colonial dispossession. Anyone who disobeyed an order was immediately killed. Shaka then led a fresh reserve some 70 miles (110 km) to the royal kraal of Zwide, ruler of the Ndwandwe, and destroyed it. Shaka is without doubt the greatest commander to have come out of Africa.[26]. [13] Some of these practices are shown below. 1787 – ca. Central to this view of history was that Shaka’s wars had depopulated much of the central part of what is now South Africa, which made it easy for Boers to expand into that area during the Great Trek of the late 1830s and 1840s. Revisionist historians claimed that the violence and turmoil of early-nineteenth-century southern Africa had not been caused by Shaka but rather by violent colonial intrusion. Stuart's early 20th century work was continued by D. McK. When his mother died in 1827, his mental condition became worse than ever. Instead of hypothesizing that they all chose to imitate Shaka, it is easier to imagine that he modeled his state on theirs. [14], The Zulu monarch was killed by three assassins sometime in 1828; September is the most frequently cited date, when almost all available Zulu manpower had been sent on yet another mass sweep to the north. The Death of Shaka Zulu. Some older histories have doubted the military and social innovations customarily attributed to Shaka, denying them outright, or attributing them variously to European influences. Isaacs was aided in this by Henry Francis Fynn, whose diary (actually a rewritten collage of various papers) was edited by James Stuart only in 1950. Shaka’s birth was considered a sin because his parents were from different clans. For many years historians were confident that they knew the story behind the turbulence of early-nineteenth-century southern Africa. This combination has been compared to the standardisation implemented by the reorganised Roman legions under Marius. … Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Shaka later had to contend again with Zwide's son Sikhunyane in 1826. 1787 Date of Death: 24 September 1828 Location of Death: Stanger, Natal Gender: Male Sigidi kaSenzangakhona commonly knows as Shaka was a great Zulu king and conqueror. 1824 European artist's impression of Shaka with a long throwing, A muster and dance of Zulu regiments at Shaka's kraal, as recorded by European visitors to his kingdom, c. 1827, Expansion of power and conflict with Zwide, Shakan methods versus European technology, sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFOmer-Cooper1966 (, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, Newitt, Malyn D.D. H. Rider Haggard learned about Shaka's methods from his great nephew and late 19th-century Zulu king, Cetshwayo kaMpande: As [Shaka] conquered a tribe, he enrolled its remnants in his army, so that they might in their turn help to conquer others. Their eyes and hunger was only for ruling and growing their never ending hunger. Military art prints and Original Zulu war pencil Drawings by Chris Collingwood Military art prints of Rorkes Drift during the Zulu Wars. Shaka, or Sigidi Kasenzangakhona, … Savage Delight: White Myths of Shaka. Netflix audio francais Mzilikazi, formerly an ally of Shaka, took his Ndebele group into the central part of what is now South Africa, where they used new Zulu military methods to dominate that area until attacked by Boer settlers in the late 1830s. ( Log Out /  [37], The theory of the Mfecane holds that the aggressive expansion of Shaka's armies caused a brutal chain reaction across the southern areas of the continent, as dispossessed tribe after tribe turned on their neighbours in a deadly cycle of fight and conquest. [16] Several other historians of the Zulu, and the Zulu military system, however, affirm the mobility rate of up to 50 miles per day.[19][20]. Allegedly, the Mpondo Kingdom of Faku lost all its cattle to raids from the neighboring Zulu and had to abandon almost half its territory. Although he preferred social and propagandistic political methods, he also engaged in a number of battles.[4]. Shaka's enemies described him as ugly in some respects. [31], A 1998 study by historian Carolyn Hamilton summarizes much of the scholarship on Shaka towards the dawn of the 21st century in areas ranging from ideology, politics and culture, to the use of his name and image in a popular South African theme park, Shakaland. ( Log Out /  In Shaka's time, these cowhide shields were supplied by the king, and they remained the king's property. Zwide then attacked the Zulu but under Shaka’s brilliant leadership at the Battle of Gqokli Hill in April 1818 the Zulu army defeated a numerically superior Ndwandwe force and ended their threat to the Zulu nation.

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