They earned a fearsome reputation in the late 19th century when they inflicted the biggest defeat Britain had ever suffered at the hands of Natives. A young tribe that had grown quickly into a powerful kingdom, the Zulu became known for their martial prowess and unyielding aggression.
This reputation, however, only tells a part of the story of who the Zulu people were and who they are today.
Who Are the Zulu?
The Zulu people are from the Nguni ethnic group, which represents the vast majority of South Africa’s Black population. They are descended from the Bantu-speaking groups that originated in West-Central Africa and migrated south hundreds of years ago, settling in Southern Africa.
Today, there are around 15 million Zulu people, the overwhelming majority of whom live in South Africa. They form South Africa’s largest ethnic group, and the Zulu language is the most widely spoken first language in South Africa.
Most Zulu people live in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (formerly Natal), representing a quarter of South Africa’s population of 60 million.
Christianity is the predominant religion among the Zulu people, although aspects of traditional belief are woven into their religious culture. Ancestor worship is a prominent feature of Zulu spirituality, and reverence for the dead is paramount.
Zulu life is as varied as any other. Zulu people represent all walks of life in modern South Africa, but there are traditions associated with the Zulu people that still prove popular.
Ceremonial dances are common and are an important part of Zulu celebratory customs. Zulu cuisine is also varied and includes maize meal in a dish called uputhu, which consists of crumbly maize (corn) meal porridge usually eaten with amasi, which is fermented milk.
Zulu Beginnings
The Zulu clan was small and relatively insignificant when it was founded sometime in the 17th century by Zulu I kaMalandela (c. 1627–c. 1709). At this time, the Zulu were anything but a kingdom of unified people. Their territory was loosely defined, and they were partly nomadic, moving around in family groups.
The economy was based on Nguni cattle, which could be traded as currency. As such, cattle still represent traditional wealth in Zulu culture.
Large family units (imizi) acted as self-sufficient homesteads that had clearly defined gender roles. Men cared for the cattle, built and maintained dwellings, and manufactured weapons and farm implements, while women were responsible for cultivating the land and looking after the home.
Politics evolved as the imizi grew, consolidating power and taking military action against each other. By the end of the 18th century, several powerful Zulu groups had emerged, all jostling for power against each other.
By entrenching their power and passing laws, chiefs solidified social, economic, and political structures within Zulu society and began building armies powerful enough to conquer and subjugate their rivals.
Around 1787, a boy was born who would change the political landscape of the area and turn the Zulu nation into an empire.
Shaka Zulu
Born the illegitimate son of Senzangakhona, Chief of the Zulus, Shaka was not in line for any greatness. He was exiled, along with his mother, Nandi, and took refuge among the people of the Mthethwa Paramountcy.
Here, Shaka would rise in prominence. He was well-liked and groomed for power by the Mthethwa leader, Dingiswayo. When Dingiswayo was murdered by King Zwide of the Ndwandwe nation, Shaka took over the reins of power among the Mthethwa.
Shaka’s reign began with a revolution in military thinking. At this time, combat largely consisted of armies throwing spears (assegais) at each other. Shaka shortened the assegai into a short stabbing spear called an iklwa, an onomatopoeic word representing the sound the blade makes as it is pulled from the flesh of its victim. The Zulu way of warfare became aggressive and confrontational, with melee combat being the prime characteristic.
Shaka also developed the bullhorn formation, which allowed the army to crush the enemy in a pincer movement.
Shaka sought revenge on Zwide and pursued him for years, eventually destroying his forces at the Battle of Gqokli Hill in 1818 and again at the Battle of Mhlatuze River in 1820. The Ndwandwe were completely defeated.
With his militaristic vision, Shaka absorbed various tribes and clans into the new Zulu Kingdom, including the Zulus from whom he had been exiled. The conquest is theorized to have triggered an event called the Mfecane (which roughly translates to crushing/scattering/forced migration).
It has been estimated that up to 2 million people in the region died as a result of the Mfecane; however, this is subject to a lot of academic debate. Reasons for the migrations and deaths are also attributed to changes in societal and political dynamics caused by other factors such as the introduction of maize, contact with Europeans, disruption of trade networks, drought, and famine. The degradation of land and water also led to greater competition, causing people to look elsewhere for food and to migrate beyond their traditional borders.
Nevertheless, Shaka was a brutal ruler and ruled with absolute authority, forcing the subjugation of rival polities and assimilating them into a regional empire. Of course, his rule did not go unchallenged. In 1828, he was stabbed to death by a group of people, including two of his half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana. Dingane became the new king of the Zulu Empire.
Blood River
In the 19th century, South Africa’s interior attracted the attention of European settlers. The British had taken over control of the Cape Colony from the Dutch, and the former Dutch settlers, known as Boers, felt mistreated. Many of them left the Cape, traveling north and east in search of new places to settle in a migration known as the Great Trek. This brought them into inevitable contact with the Zulus.
These settlers were known as the Trekkers (“Voortrekkers” after 1880), and Dingane promised them land if they recovered 700 cattle stolen from the Zulu by a neighboring tribe.
The leader of the Trekkers accepted an invitation to Dingane’s royal residence but was bludgeoned to death on the orders of Dingane, who accused the Trekkers of witchcraft. Immediately after, Zulu impis issued forth and attacked Trekker encampments, murdering hundreds, including women and children.
Leading a reprisal, Andries Pretorius took 464 Trekker men and 200 servants deep into Zulu territory and found themselves up against a massive army that they hadn’t expected. The ensuing Battle of Blood River saw around 20,000 Zulus lay siege to the Boer laager (defensive wagon circle). The Zulus were defeated.
According to accounts at the time, 3,000 Zulus were killed, while only three Boers were injured.
After the Battle of Blood River, conflict continued with the Boers, and a civil war broke out within the Zulu nation between Dingane and Mpande, with the latter allying himself with the Boers.
At the Battle of Maqongqo on January 29, 1840, Dingane was defeated. He escaped and was later assassinated. Mpande had successfully overthrown his rival and became king.
Meanwhile, the Boers set up the Republic of Natalia following their campaign against Dingane, but the Republic was short-lived. War broke out between the Boers and the British, and the British annexed Natalia. Mpande shifted his support to the new colonizers.
During the 1840s, Mpande initiated a purge within his kingdom against perceived enemies, and led his army into Swaziland. His actions, however, were curtailed at the request of the British, and he withdrew his army.
While Mpande was still king, there was a succession struggle among his sons. The two eldest sons, Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi, fought against each other at the Battle of Ndondakusuka on December 2, 1856. Mbuyazi was defeated and, along with his followers, including five other sons of Mpande, was massacred in the aftermath.
Mpande ruled until his death in 1872 and was succeeded by Cetshwayo.
The Anglo-Zulu War
With British expansion into Natal came inevitable conflict. In December 1878, the British delivered an ultimatum to King Cetshwayo, demanding that the Zulu Kingdom disband its army and submit to British sovereignty.
Cetshwayo refused, and war broke out. The British, confident of victory, marched an army into Zululand and made camp without taking the necessary defensive precautions. The Zulu army took the British by surprise, and the British suffered their biggest-ever defeat against Natives. The Battle of Isandlwana on January 22, 1879 was the opening shot of the Anglo-Zulu War and was a complete disaster for the British. A Zulu regiment that had not engaged in the fighting then marched on the mission station of Rorke’s Drift, where they were defeated by a handful of British soldiers.
Having learned their lesson, the British were not as careless in the following months, and by July 4, the Zulu Kingdom had been defeated. The British split the land into smaller chiefdoms, which were under nominal British control. The British strategy of divide-and-rule, however, precipitated further conflict.
These chiefdoms fought among themselves, and in a bid to stop the fighting, the British reinstalled Cetshwayo as king. However, the Zulus turned on him, and he was forced to flee. His 15-year-old son, Dinuzulu, became king. Zululand was completely subsumed into the British Empire, first as a protectorate in 1887 and then as a part of Natal in 1897.
Bambatha Rebellion
Although the Zulu Kingdom ceased to exist as a powerful entity, the royal line was still observed, and the Zulu people have had kings up to the present day. The Zulu people kept their identity through the disasters and times of strife that would follow. In the 1890s, Zulu crops were devastated by locusts, and disease killed their cattle. Driven to poverty, many Zulu men left their homes and traveled to Johannesburg, where they sought work in the gold mines or the rapidly growing city.
Meanwhile, the colonial administration in Natal imposed harsh policies on the Zulu people. They issued a poll tax of £1, intended to induce the Zulu people to labor on the farms. This triggered a rebellion led by a Zulu chief named Bambatha kaMancinza.
Suspecting that Bambatha was preparing an insurrection, the British summoned him to Greytown, but Bambatha refused to attend the meeting. Bambatha consulted with Dinuzulu before being deposed by the Natal government. Thereupon, Bambatha fled to the Nkandla Forest and, with the support of like-minded individuals, launched guerilla attacks.
In April 1906, the British responded in force. Several weeks of fighting ensued, but the Zulu insurrectionists did not have modern weapons and were completely outmatched. It is estimated that between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulus were killed during the rebellion. The British established complete control, imprisoning thousands, including Dinuzulu.
Apartheid
In 1910, the Union of South Africa was formed, and the four colonies of the Cape, Natal, Orange Free State, and Transvaal were united into an autonomous dominion. The Zulu became a population group under the legal jurisdiction of the Union.
In 1948, the National Party (NP) was elected into government and implemented the policy of apartheid, which separated South Africa’s racial groups. Over the decades, Bantustans were formed — homelands for the various Black groups in South Africa. It was envisioned that these Bantustans would eventually become completely self-governing, independent states. In the early 1970s, a Bantustan called KwaZulu was formed as a homeland for the Zulu people.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi was elected as Chief Executive of KwaZulu. He was also the leader of Inkatha, which later became the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). This party opposed apartheid and homeland independence and promoted non-racial democracy for South Africa. Nevertheless, the IFP cooperated with the NP government wherever possible.
In many ways, Buthelezi became representative of the Zulu people, along with King Goodwill Zwelithini, who was his nephew.
The Zulu people, like other Black people in South Africa, were subject to apartheid laws and brutal repression by the South African government and the South African Police.
The End of Apartheid and Beyond
In the early 1990s, apartheid (along with its Bantustans) was dismantled, and South Africa’s first fully democratic elections took place in April 1994. The IFP contested these elections and won 10.54% of the national vote and a majority in the KwaZulu-Natal province.
The African National Congress, led by Nelson Mandela, won the elections and, despite winning a two-thirds majority, formed a government of national unity with the NP and the IFP. Mangosuthu Buthelezi was named as the minister of home affairs.
Although the IFP was predominantly Zulu, many Zulus voted for other parties, mostly the ANC, as the ANC was representative of all South Africans and drew its support from across ethnic divides.
Since then, the IFP’s power has waned as Zulu people have shifted their allegiances to various other parties, such as the ANC and the newly created uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK) party led by former president Jacob Zuma, who is Zulu.
The Zulu Kingdom is ruled over by King MisiZulu ka Zwelithini, who took the reins of power after his father’s death, King Goodwill Zwelithini, in December 2021.
Today, the Zulu culture is very much alive and well. It is the largest ethnic group in South Africa, and many Zulu people still adhere to the cultural traditions of the Zulu.
The history of the Zulu people is an integral part of South African history. While the power of the Zulu Kingdom at its height may have waned, the political power the Zulu people wield in South African society is considerable. Their culture is a dominant feature in a land of huge diversity.
