History Of The Zulu Tribe Of Africa

Register to read the introduction… Towards the end of the 18th century, Jama was succeeded by Senzangakona, who became involved in an “illicit” love affair with a young girl by the name of Nandi. Around 1787 Nandi bore the chief a son, and named him Shaka7. Young Shaka’s childhood was not happy, and he and his mother were banished by Senzangkona, and they left to make a living as best they could. This had a dramatic effect on the life of Shaka and greatly influenced his very productive life. Shaka was highly intelligent, extremely strong, and ambitious. These were very lucrative attributes to have to be considered a great solider. The Dingiswayo, the chief of the Mthethwa, encouraged Shaka to join his army. When Shaka’s father died, Dingiswayo supported Shaka in overthrowing Shaka’s half-brother and natural heir to the …show more content…
Many chiefdoms remained in the independent Zulu kingdom, while others come under the British colony of Natal. In 1869, there were huge amounts of diamonds found north of what was then called the Cape Colony. The British were desperate to add this potentially lucrative mineral territory to its growing empire16. Surprisingly, in 1879 the British conflicted with the still strong Zulu kingdom in order to get to the diamonds. The leader of the Zulus since 1872 was Cetswayo, and he sent the entire Zulu army against the British and soundly defeated them at what is called the battle of Isandhlwana. After its victory, the Zulus then faced an eight-month campaign launched by the British until the white empire prevailed. The Zulus were weakened by the division of the kingdom’s strength that lead to a famished Zululand controlled as a British colony in 1887. Today, as white rule had become more oppressive17, the Zulu identity and memories of the powerful independent kingdom of the past becomes a distant memory of the …show more content…
Since the 1980’s, there has been severe conflict between followers of an African National Congress, who is strongly against tribal heritages, and an Inkatha Freedom Party, who is lead by tribal influences and reflects primitive hostility and ferocity of their tribal past. Most of the conflict has been Zulu people fighting other Zulu people in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The causes for conflict are usually related to poverty or politics, but the fighting is also about what Zulu ethnic or national identity should be in relation to South African national identity22. The Zulu people are deeply divided over what it means to be Zulu. With such a turbulent past, it is very difficult to remain proud of one’s heritage and look forward the civilized