CHAKA THE ZULU by Samuel Oyeboade
In the 18th century was a king named Zentzangakhoma, a king of the Amazulu kingdom. He was the successor to his father throne after his death during the chieftaincy of Zentzangakhoma, the Zulus were a small clan in the Mthethwa confederation which was .jpeg)
ruled by Dingiswayo. Zentzangakhoma name was derived from the Zulu word meaning “he who acts with a good reason”. Zentzangakhoma was said to have marry many wives and children. But his first son was said to be go from a illicit and unapproved love affair with a lady called “Nnandi”. Nandi was said to be a daughter of Bhebhe, a past chief of Langeni nation, she gave birth to son and named him “CHAKA”, in which his birth name is said to be “Chaka Zentzangakhoma. Chaka’s mother Nandi was said to be a hot-tempered person, and it was this character of hers that made the senior wives (Nandi senior wives) to drive her away from the palace and even the kingdom when Chaka was six. She left for her people and with her son Chaka, where he was said to have suffer from many tormention, Chaka can be said to be describe as a “Lowly Prince” Chaka was In question with the Zulu, if he was a royal blood, while Nandi’s people shun Chaka and Nandi pushing their bond even closer. Chaka spend his early years hunting cattle while also dueling other kinds in Zulu sticks fighting, chaka was good that most boys would not try to battle him After a nomadic existence for a period of time, in the late eighteen century, Nnandi and her son Chaka, eventually settled with Mthethwa people, here Chaka excelled in his youth as a fighter and son joined the warrior class of the Mthethwa. It was not unusual for male in the region to involve themselves in the military affairs once they entered their teenage years, but Chaka’s abilities is said to be brightly advance for his age, let there were also worrying of signs concerning the level of violence Chaka displayed even in his youth. According to history it was recorded that when the head of the Mthethwa, king Dingiswayo, a mentor of sorts to the future king of the Zulus sent Chaka and the others to attack the neighboring Amambata people, this was intended to be simple cattle raid, one which would only involve limited violence, but Chaka had the troops he commanded attack the tribes, purse them and kill many of them before he came back to Dingiswayo, with the stolen cattle, the king was extremely critical Chaka afterward, reprimanding him for his excessive use of force and stating that it was not the Mthethwa and the Zulus both then and now are a subgroup of the wider, Bantu people dominate much of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Congo, east to Kenya and all the way to the Cape of Good HopeIt is necessary to understand the dynamics around which Zulus society and wider Bantu Culture was organized and functioned in the early nineteenth century, before exploring further Chaka’s career and establishment of the Zulu kingdom. For example, the Zulu as well as the other Bantu’s people of African, are united by their use of the Bantu languages and largely based their economies and societies around the cattle, the Zulus resided in the between the Tugela River in the south and the Pongola a river in the North. In the 18TH century the Zulus were not a unified people, but were divided into several small clans, each of which controlled small swathes of territory, just large enough to support their people and livestock with adequate pasture for their cattle, these cattle provided a huge part of their diet in the shape of meat and milk, however by the second half of the 18th century, the Zulu population and herds of livestock under their control had expanded so much that their traditional lands no longer sustained them, therefore they began expanding to the southeast., displacing the Khoi Khoi people who lived there in the process, however the Zulus remained subordinate to the Nguni kingdom a fellow bantu people to the north west around what is now the border of SOUTH AFRICA and Mozambique, chief amongst the Nguni people, around the year 1800, were the Ndwedwe Zulus society maintained many traditions which had been practiced across sub-Saharan Africa for hundreds even thousands of years the small Zulu clans were each ruled over by a Inkosi, king or paramount chief whose household consisted of his wives and usually many children society further down was divided into the Kraals or Isibiya, which were homesteads or economic units, inhabited by individual families, these Kraals in turn were centered on the cattle owned be the Zulu people of a given region. Indeed society was entirely centered an cattle, and to a lesser extent the sheep and goats which an individual clan had dominion over, these were so important because milk curds were the staple of the Zulus diet as a result, cattle were the primary measure of wealth and also the forms of currency within Zulu land. Furthermore, Zulus culture was polygamous and men purchased their wives with cows and religious beliefs were paramount in their society, being focused on magic and ancestral spirits, which Zulus people believed manifested themselves in the physical world, particularly during fire rituals and other ceremonies conducted by with doctors, the equipment in the Bantu societies of priest. The technology of this society was primitive most tools were formed out of words and other flexible substance to make spoons, bowls and other household goods what iron ore could be easily found on the surface of the region was smelted, using basic forges and generally fashioned into spear tips and other weapons, this focus on the manufacturing weapons is hardly incongruous, as all adult males in the Zulus society were war riots, they fought in huge massive formations of fighters called “IMPIS”. They were no real apparel or armor to protect themselves, other than wooden shield covered with the cow hide, while the primary weapon was a six foot long spear called an assegai, also battle tactics were virtually non-existent, individual clans relying on sheer numerical strength to overpower their rivals.Thus, Chaka was born into a kingdom which was built around the idea of controlling cattle and man-power in order to rise to the top, his ascent would be based on his ability to do this effectively and also on some innovations which he introduced to Zulu warfare and society. Chaka’s rise to power began in 1816 when he was of his 20s, when his father Zentzangakhoma died, the Zulus chieftain had designated another one of his many sons, Sigujuna, to succeed him but Chaka the outcast son, was determined to interrupt this line of succession, and so it was that with help of Dingiswayo and his adoptive clan of Mthethwa, Chaka pressed his claim to rule the Zulu in 1816, demonstrating ruthlessness which would characterize his rule for years to come. To do this, he employed the service of another half-brother of his and Sigujana’s named Ngwadi to assassinated Sigujana, with this don, Chaka then returned to his itrh tribe at thr front of a daunting military escort which Dingiswayo had provided for him, of the Mthethwa troops, these now executed any men associated overtly with the previous regime and Chaka assumed the kingship of the Zulu people, he would rule as part of a formidable confederacy of Bantu tribes in southeast afraid, which was based around the alliances of the Zulu and the Mthethwa. This alliance might well have proved a moderating influence of Chaka going forward. As said earlier, Dingiswayo had chastised Chaka some years back for his excessive use of force in prosecuting the Amambata people was quickly lost as in 1819, just months of Chaka assumed the leadership of the Zulu the Mthethwa ended up in a conflict with the Ndwedwe people on their Northern border and under the kind Zwide Langa, Dingiswayo was captured early on by Zwide and was executed. The Mthethwa now placed themselves under Chaka’s over lordship, essentially subsuming their clan under the auspices the Zulus, these event not only robbed Chaka’s of his friend and mentor Dingiswayo, they also signaled the expansion of the conflict between the Zulus and Ndwandwe, the latter of which had excessive for two years through until 1891 and was the most significant period in the development of the Zulus kingdom as well as the establishment of Chaka’s predominance in the region, following mirror skirmishes in the 1817. The two sides which were the Zulus and the Mthethwa led by Chaka by one sides and the Ndwedwe and their allies to the North led by Zwide perhaps as many as 12,000 warriors into field and was advancing the south into the Zulu and where the confrontation took place by way on contrast.Chaka and his confederation had as little as half as many warriors but owing to a number of military innovations, the Zulus and their allies were able to win that day. Through Chaka tactics, formations and reforms, some of this reform that he help defeating Zwide was abduction of the exchange of the assegai for a short spear used to stab opponents, ordering his solider to fighting a bare foot-leg, without sandals in order to increase mobility and using the “Horn Formation’, which primarily consisted of the right and left planks surrounding the bulk of the opponent’s army. While the center was used which do as the main thrust against the enemy. After the battle, the Zulus were able to demolish Zwide’s Kral, forcing Zwide to flee from Chaka’s grasp, but Zwide did not long survive the destruction of his army, he was later killed. Despite the fact that Chaka defeated the Ndwedwe tribe, he was forced to confront them again in 1826 when Zwide ’son Sikhuyane rose to power and became a threat to Chaka. Chaka quickly dealt with his threat, attacking the Ndwedwe encampment that was situated in the vicinity of the Intombi River and slaughtering or significant number of Ndwedwe Warriors. Following this victory, Chaka took possession of 60,000. Ndwedwe cattle and killed the Ndwedwe women and children in the vicinity ending the Ndwedwe threat to his rule. Haven’t learnt two lesson in his life, first was the attack Ndwedwe in his 20s led to the re-attack and death of his mentor Dingwasyo. Killing only the Ndwedwe army including Zwide only, later brought up Zwide’s son again. And this made Chaka to adopt a way of warfare called “Total Deafest” that is, conquering and finish the defeat to the last thing in the conquering town or vicinity and their possessionFollowing Chaka’s victory over Ndwedewe, an event occurred that led or contributed to the downfall of Chaka. The history behind Chaka’s mother, Nandi’s death is controversial. Some says he killed his mother some said she died naturally. But I go with the view that he killed his mother, because has a mother she will always want to have a grandchild most especially for Chaka to have an heir or successor to the Throne. To my view she nursed the child and the child in secret, in which Chaka later discovered what his mother did. Out of anger was he said to have kill the mother of the child, the child, and his mother in 1827, but “OUT OF ANGER”. In which he may have regretted his action of killing his mother who they both suffered together from the start.To show his grieve and anger at the same time, he order that milk must to be extracted from cows for drinking, nor were the Zulu permitted to grow crops threatening the Zulu with starvation. He also stipulated that women who were discovered to be with child within one years of Nandi’s death were to be executed along with their husbands. Women of the same age of when Nandi died were to also be executed. Nandi’s deaths of many of the Zulu, as Chaka executed people for not mourning his mother’s death in his given terms and some for not attending to him at the time of his Mother’s death. Even after he ended the terms of the period of mourning, the he continued this inconsistent behavior in 1828. His grief led to deadly behavior, he ordered to induce famine, anyone decide was not grieving properly or sufficiently he kill, and the number of people he killed during his mother grievance rises up to 7000 peopleHowever when his behavior continues and it threaten to destroy the Zulu Tribe, Chaka ‘brothers, however not his direct brother but half-brothers named Dingane and Mhlangana assassinated him. However before chaka’s death after his brother stabbed him? He made his last word which he cursed his brother that he would not last on the throne. Chaka words came to pass in 1840, when Pretorius and a force of 400 Boers helped Mpande n his revolt against his brother Dingane, which resulted in his overthrown and death. At the battle of Maqongqo, many of Dingane had his general, Ndlela Kasompisi, executed, and with a few followers, he sought refuge in Nayawo territory on the Lubombo montains. A group of Nyawo and Swazi assassinated him in one forest called Hlatikhulu Forest. He was succeeded as king by Mpande, who was a half-brother to both Dingane’s rave is near Ingwavuma in the Hlatikulu Forest.In conclusion, however to be a great empire or kingdom requires a great king. Even though Chaka played violence throughout is life, he still has some positive impact such as;He united and centralized the Zulu kingdomHe made Zulu kingdom a fearful and respectful kingdomHe gained soldiers for ZuluHe created a fighting forced that devastated the entire kingdomAll his life was dedicated for the Zulu kingdomHe introduced reforms of socially, culturally and politicallyHe also invented a new short dagger which forced his men to approach the enemy face to face before stabbing them to death and also a large shield
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ruled by Dingiswayo. Zentzangakhoma name was derived from the Zulu word meaning “he who acts with a good reason”. Zentzangakhoma was said to have marry many wives and children. But his first son was said to be go from a illicit and unapproved love affair with a lady called “Nnandi”. Nandi was said to be a daughter of Bhebhe, a past chief of Langeni nation, she gave birth to son and named him “CHAKA”, in which his birth name is said to be “Chaka Zentzangakhoma. Chaka’s mother Nandi was said to be a hot-tempered person, and it was this character of hers that made the senior wives (Nandi senior wives) to drive her away from the palace and even the kingdom when Chaka was six. She left for her people and with her son Chaka, where he was said to have suffer from many tormention, Chaka can be said to be describe as a “Lowly Prince” Chaka was In question with the Zulu, if he was a royal blood, while Nandi’s people shun Chaka and Nandi pushing their bond even closer. Chaka spend his early years hunting cattle while also dueling other kinds in Zulu sticks fighting, chaka was good that most boys would not try to battle him After a nomadic existence for a period of time, in the late eighteen century, Nnandi and her son Chaka, eventually settled with Mthethwa people, here Chaka excelled in his youth as a fighter and son joined the warrior class of the Mthethwa. It was not unusual for male in the region to involve themselves in the military affairs once they entered their teenage years, but Chaka’s abilities is said to be brightly advance for his age, let there were also worrying of signs concerning the level of violence Chaka displayed even in his youth. According to history it was recorded that when the head of the Mthethwa, king Dingiswayo, a mentor of sorts to the future king of the Zulus sent Chaka and the others to attack the neighboring Amambata people, this was intended to be simple cattle raid, one which would only involve limited violence, but Chaka had the troops he commanded attack the tribes, purse them and kill many of them before he came back to Dingiswayo, with the stolen cattle, the king was extremely critical Chaka afterward, reprimanding him for his excessive use of force and stating that it was not the Mthethwa and the Zulus both then and now are a subgroup of the wider, Bantu people dominate much of sub-Saharan Africa, from the Congo, east to Kenya and all the way to the Cape of Good HopeIt is necessary to understand the dynamics around which Zulus society and wider Bantu Culture was organized and functioned in the early nineteenth century, before exploring further Chaka’s career and establishment of the Zulu kingdom. For example, the Zulu as well as the other Bantu’s people of African, are united by their use of the Bantu languages and largely based their economies and societies around the cattle, the Zulus resided in the between the Tugela River in the south and the Pongola a river in the North. In the 18TH century the Zulus were not a unified people, but were divided into several small clans, each of which controlled small swathes of territory, just large enough to support their people and livestock with adequate pasture for their cattle, these cattle provided a huge part of their diet in the shape of meat and milk, however by the second half of the 18th century, the Zulu population and herds of livestock under their control had expanded so much that their traditional lands no longer sustained them, therefore they began expanding to the southeast., displacing the Khoi Khoi people who lived there in the process, however the Zulus remained subordinate to the Nguni kingdom a fellow bantu people to the north west around what is now the border of SOUTH AFRICA and Mozambique, chief amongst the Nguni people, around the year 1800, were the Ndwedwe Zulus society maintained many traditions which had been practiced across sub-Saharan Africa for hundreds even thousands of years the small Zulu clans were each ruled over by a Inkosi, king or paramount chief whose household consisted of his wives and usually many children society further down was divided into the Kraals or Isibiya, which were homesteads or economic units, inhabited by individual families, these Kraals in turn were centered on the cattle owned be the Zulu people of a given region. Indeed society was entirely centered an cattle, and to a lesser extent the sheep and goats which an individual clan had dominion over, these were so important because milk curds were the staple of the Zulus diet as a result, cattle were the primary measure of wealth and also the forms of currency within Zulu land. Furthermore, Zulus culture was polygamous and men purchased their wives with cows and religious beliefs were paramount in their society, being focused on magic and ancestral spirits, which Zulus people believed manifested themselves in the physical world, particularly during fire rituals and other ceremonies conducted by with doctors, the equipment in the Bantu societies of priest. The technology of this society was primitive most tools were formed out of words and other flexible substance to make spoons, bowls and other household goods what iron ore could be easily found on the surface of the region was smelted, using basic forges and generally fashioned into spear tips and other weapons, this focus on the manufacturing weapons is hardly incongruous, as all adult males in the Zulus society were war riots, they fought in huge massive formations of fighters called “IMPIS”. They were no real apparel or armor to protect themselves, other than wooden shield covered with the cow hide, while the primary weapon was a six foot long spear called an assegai, also battle tactics were virtually non-existent, individual clans relying on sheer numerical strength to overpower their rivals.Thus, Chaka was born into a kingdom which was built around the idea of controlling cattle and man-power in order to rise to the top, his ascent would be based on his ability to do this effectively and also on some innovations which he introduced to Zulu warfare and society. Chaka’s rise to power began in 1816 when he was of his 20s, when his father Zentzangakhoma died, the Zulus chieftain had designated another one of his many sons, Sigujuna, to succeed him but Chaka the outcast son, was determined to interrupt this line of succession, and so it was that with help of Dingiswayo and his adoptive clan of Mthethwa, Chaka pressed his claim to rule the Zulu in 1816, demonstrating ruthlessness which would characterize his rule for years to come. To do this, he employed the service of another half-brother of his and Sigujana’s named Ngwadi to assassinated Sigujana, with this don, Chaka then returned to his itrh tribe at thr front of a daunting military escort which Dingiswayo had provided for him, of the Mthethwa troops, these now executed any men associated overtly with the previous regime and Chaka assumed the kingship of the Zulu people, he would rule as part of a formidable confederacy of Bantu tribes in southeast afraid, which was based around the alliances of the Zulu and the Mthethwa. This alliance might well have proved a moderating influence of Chaka going forward. As said earlier, Dingiswayo had chastised Chaka some years back for his excessive use of force in prosecuting the Amambata people was quickly lost as in 1819, just months of Chaka assumed the leadership of the Zulu the Mthethwa ended up in a conflict with the Ndwedwe people on their Northern border and under the kind Zwide Langa, Dingiswayo was captured early on by Zwide and was executed. The Mthethwa now placed themselves under Chaka’s over lordship, essentially subsuming their clan under the auspices the Zulus, these event not only robbed Chaka’s of his friend and mentor Dingiswayo, they also signaled the expansion of the conflict between the Zulus and Ndwandwe, the latter of which had excessive for two years through until 1891 and was the most significant period in the development of the Zulus kingdom as well as the establishment of Chaka’s predominance in the region, following mirror skirmishes in the 1817. The two sides which were the Zulus and the Mthethwa led by Chaka by one sides and the Ndwedwe and their allies to the North led by Zwide perhaps as many as 12,000 warriors into field and was advancing the south into the Zulu and where the confrontation took place by way on contrast.Chaka and his confederation had as little as half as many warriors but owing to a number of military innovations, the Zulus and their allies were able to win that day. Through Chaka tactics, formations and reforms, some of this reform that he help defeating Zwide was abduction of the exchange of the assegai for a short spear used to stab opponents, ordering his solider to fighting a bare foot-leg, without sandals in order to increase mobility and using the “Horn Formation’, which primarily consisted of the right and left planks surrounding the bulk of the opponent’s army. While the center was used which do as the main thrust against the enemy. After the battle, the Zulus were able to demolish Zwide’s Kral, forcing Zwide to flee from Chaka’s grasp, but Zwide did not long survive the destruction of his army, he was later killed. Despite the fact that Chaka defeated the Ndwedwe tribe, he was forced to confront them again in 1826 when Zwide ’son Sikhuyane rose to power and became a threat to Chaka. Chaka quickly dealt with his threat, attacking the Ndwedwe encampment that was situated in the vicinity of the Intombi River and slaughtering or significant number of Ndwedwe Warriors. Following this victory, Chaka took possession of 60,000. Ndwedwe cattle and killed the Ndwedwe women and children in the vicinity ending the Ndwedwe threat to his rule. Haven’t learnt two lesson in his life, first was the attack Ndwedwe in his 20s led to the re-attack and death of his mentor Dingwasyo. Killing only the Ndwedwe army including Zwide only, later brought up Zwide’s son again. And this made Chaka to adopt a way of warfare called “Total Deafest” that is, conquering and finish the defeat to the last thing in the conquering town or vicinity and their possessionFollowing Chaka’s victory over Ndwedewe, an event occurred that led or contributed to the downfall of Chaka. The history behind Chaka’s mother, Nandi’s death is controversial. Some says he killed his mother some said she died naturally. But I go with the view that he killed his mother, because has a mother she will always want to have a grandchild most especially for Chaka to have an heir or successor to the Throne. To my view she nursed the child and the child in secret, in which Chaka later discovered what his mother did. Out of anger was he said to have kill the mother of the child, the child, and his mother in 1827, but “OUT OF ANGER”. In which he may have regretted his action of killing his mother who they both suffered together from the start.To show his grieve and anger at the same time, he order that milk must to be extracted from cows for drinking, nor were the Zulu permitted to grow crops threatening the Zulu with starvation. He also stipulated that women who were discovered to be with child within one years of Nandi’s death were to be executed along with their husbands. Women of the same age of when Nandi died were to also be executed. Nandi’s deaths of many of the Zulu, as Chaka executed people for not mourning his mother’s death in his given terms and some for not attending to him at the time of his Mother’s death. Even after he ended the terms of the period of mourning, the he continued this inconsistent behavior in 1828. His grief led to deadly behavior, he ordered to induce famine, anyone decide was not grieving properly or sufficiently he kill, and the number of people he killed during his mother grievance rises up to 7000 peopleHowever when his behavior continues and it threaten to destroy the Zulu Tribe, Chaka ‘brothers, however not his direct brother but half-brothers named Dingane and Mhlangana assassinated him. However before chaka’s death after his brother stabbed him? He made his last word which he cursed his brother that he would not last on the throne. Chaka words came to pass in 1840, when Pretorius and a force of 400 Boers helped Mpande n his revolt against his brother Dingane, which resulted in his overthrown and death. At the battle of Maqongqo, many of Dingane had his general, Ndlela Kasompisi, executed, and with a few followers, he sought refuge in Nayawo territory on the Lubombo montains. A group of Nyawo and Swazi assassinated him in one forest called Hlatikhulu Forest. He was succeeded as king by Mpande, who was a half-brother to both Dingane’s rave is near Ingwavuma in the Hlatikulu Forest.In conclusion, however to be a great empire or kingdom requires a great king. Even though Chaka played violence throughout is life, he still has some positive impact such as;He united and centralized the Zulu kingdomHe made Zulu kingdom a fearful and respectful kingdomHe gained soldiers for ZuluHe created a fighting forced that devastated the entire kingdomAll his life was dedicated for the Zulu kingdomHe introduced reforms of socially, culturally and politicallyHe also invented a new short dagger which forced his men to approach the enemy face to face before stabbing them to death and also a large shield
Written by Samuel Peace Oyeboade
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