Back to: o level History of south Africa
Effects of his reforms.
.What were the impacts of Shaka’s reforms in South Africa?
- Effects of his reforms. He made the Zulu kingdom to be feared and most respected
- He united the Zulu people against the neighbors
- He imparted loyalty among the Zulu people
- A common language was introduced (Ngoni)
- Many people lost their lives
- He led and intensified Mfecane period
- Many people became refugees during his regime His policies led to the collapse of the kingdom
- He introduced tax payments
- There was destruction of cattle and other properties
- He contributed to massive migration of people for example. the Nguni up to East Africa
- There was famine because food that was grown was not enough to feed the population
- Cow horned type of fighting was taken to other societies
- Suffering , anarchy , misery was spread to so many peoples due to force migration
- Many strong states like Basuto, Swazi cam into existence in an attempt to defend them against Shaka
The Down Fall of Zulu State
Explain the factors for the decline of Zulu kingdom.
- The great man of Zulu was killed on 24th December 1827
- It was in abroad day light
- His aunt Mkabayi (Senzakona’s sister)plotted his death
- The aunt had suspected Shaka to have killed his mother Nandi and therefore wanted to make revenge
- Dingane and Muhalangane who were soldiers in shaka’s army supported Mkabayi and they were brothers to shaka
- On 24th December shaka sent the amry to go and stop Soshagane who were running away from shaka’s policies
- The two brothers stopped in the way and return to shaka’s palace where he was shoot defenseless
- This was because he had sent all the soldiers to for Soshangane
- Dingane returned to his brother Muhalagane and killed him
- From there, dingane became the king and promised the soldiers to have a period of rest after the so many years of fighting
- Therefore the kingdom which had grown bigger and powerful came to a stand still because shaka who had kept the army active had died
- The mfecane period made many people to migrate from Zulu land hence decrease in population
- Mpand’s peaceful policy that had not trained as a soldier couldn’t defend the society from intruders
- The succession wars made the state defenseless because the royal kraal was divided
- Out break of diseases and pests attacked the citizens and made them defenseless
- The prolonged drought brought in famine and made the Zulu people to ask assistance from whites
- The discovery of minerals in south Africa made the whites to ensure all resentful states in south are defeated first
- Disunity amongst African societies who couldn’t defend the Zulu against the whites ffor example basuto , sotho
- The military weaknesses of Zulu people against white man’s gun
- The great trek made the Zulu to fight with the Boer trekkers e.g. at blood river led the Zulus to be defeated
- Zulu’s collaboration with the whites made the later to defeat the Zulu
- The 19th century was a period of scramble and partition that had to leave the Zulu down
- The dictatorship of shaka made the Zulu state unpopular hence its collapse
- The death of shaka’s mother and the childish way of reaction by shaka
- The migration of able generals like Zwangendaba, Mzilikazi from Zulu
- The expansion and vastness of Zulu kingdom made it difficult to control
- The British annexation of Natal in 1843 made her to loose control to the British
- The defeat of Centeswayo and the battle of Ulundi in 1879 covered the Zulu in the basket
- Centeswayo’s killing of the white missionaries alarmed the British over Zulu’s stubbornness’s
- Dingane ‘s failure to acquire guns from the Boer trekkers weakened the state
- The denial of people to take milk, play sex and have a period of unhappiness plus the killing of 700 people by shaka led to collapse of Zulu kingdom
Dingiswayo of mthetwa state.
Explain the career and achievement of Dingiswayo of Mthetwa
- Dingiswayo was a son of Jobe of Mthetwa chiefdom
- Dingiswayo grew up with his father in the royal kraal of Mthetwa
- At his youthful stage, he planned to kill his father so that can take over leadership
- The plot failed and was forced to fled in Hlubi were he spend most his youthful time
- He was trained military technique by Robert Cowen while in exile
- When he ws in exile his father died and was succeeded byMawawe
- Around 1797 Dingiswayo returned to Mthetwa land and dispose Mawawe
- Mawawe was forced to fly into muto
- While he was in exile was tricked and returned to Mthetwa where he was put to death from
- Dingiswayo now became a full leader of Mthetwa
- As a leader he protected his people against enemies liekZwide of Ndwandwe
- He set up a strong army and divided it into Ntanga
- Each Ntanga was to have different spear and shield color and shape
- At the beginning the soldiers increased he set up a standing army
- He created friendly relationship with conquered people and employed them in the army
- He forced the defeated tribes to pay him attributes
- He allowed the conquered people to remain with their leaders for example the zulu remained with Senzogakona
- In order to increase loyalty in his kingdom he gave cattle, land to conquered people
- He encouraged marriage or intermarriages amongst clans
- He made his people to trade with Europeans
- He set up a skin and hide industry were they tried to make wools like those from Europe
- He promoted people people on merit for example Shaka even thought were not from Mthetwa land
- He relied more on ideas from traditional elders and Ndunas
- He expanded the Mthetwa to around 200 miles diameter
- In 1818 Zwide of Ndwadwe killed him during the mfecane period.
Dingane Of Zulu People
Qn Explain the career and achievements of Dingane between 1828-1840
- Dingane was a son of Senzagakona
- He took over power of the Zulu people from his brother Shaka in 1828
- He ruled Zulu nation between 1828-1840
- To take over power he collaborated with Muhalagene whom they are associated with Shaka
- Then the Zulu army came back while tired from Soshangane’s war he promised them a rest
- Therefore unlike Shaka’s regime Dingane’s regime had many weaknesses
- Dingane at 1st abolished hard military training
- He abolished age regiments
- He allowed soldiers to marry even if they are not yet 40 years
- He stopped adventure and raids in the army
- Because of such idleness many soldiers started going to Natal to work in white farms
- Dingane forced to remilitarize the Zulu to prevent his over throw
- During his regime Quebe under the chief Ngeto break away from the zulu people
- Dingane was forced to fly up to Swaziland where he was murdered
- He attacked the Portuguese and killed some
- He solicited support of guns from whites at Natal
- He fought with boer Trekker, Dingane signed an agreement with capital allen Gardner
- Later Dingane was attacked by pretorious ( a new boer trekker leader) with assistance of his dingane’s brother Mpande where he was defeated
- His brother Mpande now took over the leadership.
Problems faced by dingane.
What were the problems faced by Dingane 1830-1840.
- He failed to unite people into a purposeful militarism
- He was naturally a weak leader
- He trained a weak army
- He signed a bogus/ silly treaty with the Boers that gave Boers some of his land
- He lost his cattle during his regime to Tolkwa
- The boers took his land
- He lacked support from the royal family
- The Portuguese threatened his leadership because they wanted to occupy his land
- The Boers took his land
- He lacked support from the royal family
- Many tribes/ clan broke away from the zulu
- Idleness of the army, which made it to look for other alternative jobs
- He faced taxation wars
- The growth of Mpande and his collaboration with the Boers
- He relaxed discipline in the army
- He was a brutal rule for example he killed his brother
- Population increased to peaceful situation
- Solders hatred his extra peaceful ways
- He was hatred by his neighbors for example swazi
- Faced attacks from Boers for example battle of blood river
Mpande of the Zulu (1840-1872)
Show the importance Mpande in the Zulu kingdom
Explain the career and achievements of Mpande of the Zulu people.
- Mpande was a son of senzagakona
- He was a brother of Shaka and Dingane
- In 1838, Dingane was fought by the Boer trekkers and defeated by them at the battle of Blood River
- Mpande had assisted the Boers to defeat his brother Dingane
- Because of his assistance in 1840 Pretorius proclaimed/ crowned him the Zulu king
- He ruled the zulu kingdom from 1840-1872
- He became Dingane’s successor
- During his leadership, the Zulu enjoyed prosperity and peace He received a lot of support from the Boers
- He avoided wars with the other people
- He made the people who were refugees to return in their homesteads
- He forgot that the Zulu state had been set up out of war
- He didn’t aim at expanding the Zulu kingdom like his brothers
- He had a dull youthful time
- He hatred wars like Dingane and his sons longed for his death
- He allowed whites to come and settle in the Zulu land
- He made the army to be idle which they hated
- After the discovery of diamond in 1867, he allowed the whites to exploit it
- Mpande was a puppet of the Boers
- He made all that in order to recover the nation from the wounds of Mfecane and blood river
- Because of that boring reign/ regime and his old age he made his sons Cetshwayo and Mbulazi succession war
- This weakened his powers and that of a state
- In 1872 Mpande died
- Cetshwayo had defeated Mbulazi and became a successor of his brother
- Mpande had left little and remarkable history compared to his brother Shaka.
Cetshwayo of The Zulu (1872-1884)
Qn. describe the achievements of cetshwayo of the zulu people
Cetshwayo was a son of Mpande
- He was a nephew of Shaka
- He took over the Zulu leadership in 1856 after defeating his brother Mbulazi
- He was crowned in 1873, as the Zulu king by sir Theophialus Shepstone [ a british secretary] for nation affairs
- Cetshwayo as a winner was assumed a responsibility of leadership before the death of his father in 1872
- He began political activities in 1856 until the death of his father in 1872
- As a leader, he first remilitarized the zulu people
- He revived the age regiments
- He made diplomatic contacts with the Portuguese with the aim of acquiring guns
- He encouraged peace by being a fair leader
- Later he encouraged trade with Portuguese at Mozambique
- He preserved the zulu independence for seven years ie between 1872-79
- In January 1879 was attacked by the British
- He fought them at the battle of Isandlwana and defeated them
- In 1879 july the British retreated for Cetshwayo and the later was defeated at the battle of Ulundi
- He was exiled to London in 1882
- Later was brought back and restored as a ruler with little privileges
- Cetshwayo was also put in a reserve were he died in 1884
- His son Dinizulu succeeded him.
The Anglo Zulu War In 1879
Qn Why did the Zulu fight with the Boers in 1879?
- This can also be called the battle of Isandlwana / Battle of Ulundi
- It took place between the Zulu and the British
- Cetswayo led the Zulu and lord chelmford led the British
- It was fought on two battles ie Isandlwana and at Ulundi
- 13,000 british soldiers attacked the zulu impi
- Cetshwayp’s determination to revive the zulu military culture annoyed the British hence a war
- Cetshwayo’s age regiments up lifted the zulu’s nationalism which caused the war
- The increase in Zulu’s soldiers up to 30,000 alarmed the British hence war
- The Zulu were defending themselves from foreign invaders who were coming in their land eg the British
- The Zulu and the British were fighting for the area around the blood river as a way of defending the Boers interest
- The rumors that the Zulus had murdered white missionaries increased the war fever
- The British occupation of Natal in 1840s made the war an avoidable because of their aggressiveness
- It was periods of imperialism therefore the Zulu were to fight the war or to collaborate
- The decline of Transvaal and Natal, which the British feared that the Zulus were to attack them, therefore Zulu had to be attacked before
- The landless youth Zulu people wanted to shift the Zulu boundary beyond fish river hence the war
- The disrespect of African leaders by the whites
- The Zulu’s refusal to disarm the age regiments as it had been requested by lord Chelmsford
- The murdering of the two adulterous women by the British in natal caused the war
- The uncompromising nature of Cetshwayo and Chelmsford
- Famine and drought that affected the British made them to raid the Zulu in order to get what to eat
- The need to federate south Africa by the British caused the war
- The discovery of minerals in 1867 created the need to defeat the Africans so that they can fully be exploited
- The effects of the war were political, social and economic
- Cetshwayo was defeated and exiled to London were he was later picked and put to death in 1884
- It exposed Dinizulu in the politics of south Africa
- Zulu’s military mighty was defeated and since then had never resurrected
- Zulu’s nation was disintergrated nad divided in 13 white districts
- Zulu’s loyal clan members lost their respect to levels of commoners
- There was distraction of property like cattle
- Poverty emerged
- The zulu lost their land to the whites
- Famine set in due to stand still in agriculture.
- Dinizulu became a mere chief of Usutu village
- Many people were displaced
- Due to loss of lives, there was depopulation
- It I ncreased African nationalism
- It formulated a back ground for Bambatha rebellion of 1906
- The zulu nation was finely colonized
- Africans were forced to provide forced labour to the whites
- Suffering and misery set in among the zulu people because they fought during drought period.
Bambatha rebellion.
Qn Why did the Bambatha conflict with the British in1906?
- Bambatha rebellion was a conflict which took place between the Zulu of zondi reserve and British
- The Zulu were under the leadership of Bambatha chief
- The rebellion took place during the regime of king Dinizulu
- It took place after the discovery of minerals in south Africa that made many Africans to be put in reserves get land for exploitation
- Mineral discovery changed the economic social life of Africans for example youth Africans took up temporary settlements in urban centres
- Bambatha was dismissed for having failed to pay / raise the whites tax
- This made him to re-organise the zulu people against the whites
- The Africans used the bambatha opportunity to raise the anger/ annoyance about Cetswayo’s exile
- This portrayed long term haterage, suspicion and mistruct between the whites and the Zulu hence the war
- In addition to the above they said that they want their independence
- The heavy taxes imposed from the zulu people of about 1 pound per head caused the war
- The making of the zulu people landless and putting them in infertile reserves caused the rebellion
- The making of the Zulu people tenants on their motherland and increase of land rent
- The disrespect of Dinizulu since they treated him as mere headsman but not as a king
- The granting of Zulu land to the hands of British administrators at natal caused the rebellion
- Forced labor and low payment to the Zulu people in urban centers led to the war
- The brutal and unfair methods of collecting tax caused the war
- The descending of British troops in Zulu land that led to cattle grabbling angered the Zulu the more
- The rise of Africa nationalism due to the coming up of independent churches
- The success of Anglo-Zulu war at the battle of Isandlwana inspired the bambatha war
- The wide spread of famine caused need to route each other’s property [food] for survival hence the conflict
- The outbreak of floods, earth quakes, diseases etc were interpreted as misfortunes that the whites come wit therefore a need to be chased a way
- The deculturalisation of the zulu especially by British missionaries annoyed the Zulu so much
- The role of African traditional region increased the war stigma
- The Anglo Boer wars that the British lost inspired the Africans hoping to defeat them also