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104-562: The origins of the republic can be traced to the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879, which had created a great deal of turmoil in the area bordering Zululand, with refugees overrunning the lands of border farmers, as well as disrupting the seasonal movement of livestock. This created a desire to impose order, as well as enticing its participants with the possibility of gaining new lands for the Boers, who were trying to extend their territories. To this end,

208-574: A 1 000 morgen farm. The Nieuwe Republiek was finally recognized by the British on 22 October 1886. However, under the agreement by which the republic was recognised by Britain, it was agreed that, the area in the Melmouth district be administered by the British, something for which the president and the Volsraad of the new republic received as much and criticism as the British themselves. This caused

312-603: A Boer force in Schurweberg , near Vryheid. In March 1901, Shepstone declared martial law in the region. After the Second Boer War the territory was transferred to the British colony of Natal in 1903. Anglo-Zulu War [REDACTED] British Empire 1st invasion: 16,500–16,800 17 cannons 7 Gatling guns 2nd invasion: 25,000 The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of

416-609: A British resident. This was unacceptable to the Zulus as it effectively meant that Cetshwayo, had he agreed, would have lost his throne. 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 ). In 1828 he was assassinated at Dukuza by one of his inDunas and two of his half-brothers, one of whom, Dinggh kaSenzangakhona , succeeded him as king. By

520-479: A Zulu war in addition to other greater and too possible troubles." However, Sir Bartle Frere had already been into the Cape Colony as governor and High Commissioner since 1877 with the brief of creating a Confederation of South Africa from the various British colonies, Boer Republics and native states and his plans were well advanced. He had concluded that the powerful Zulu kingdom stood in the way of this, and so

624-524: A battle for the succession broke out between two of Mpande's sons, Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. This culminated in 1856 with the Battle of Ndondakusuka , which left Mbuyazi dead. Cetshwayo then set about usurping his father's authority. When Mpande died of old age in 1872, Cetshwayo took over as ruler. In 1861, Umtonga, another son of Mpande , fled to the Utrecht district, prompting Cetshwayo to assemble an army on

728-515: A brother of the Zulu inkosi Sihayo organized a raid into Natal and carried off two women who were under British protection. The discovery of diamonds in 1867 near the Vaal River , some 550 mi (890 km) northeast of Cape Town , ended the isolation of the Boers in the interior and had a significant effect on events. The discovery triggered a diamond rush that attracted people from all over

832-546: A desire that his colour shall prevail, and it will not be until this hope is destroyed that they will make up their minds to submit to the rule of civilisation". Earlier in October 1877, Shepstone had attended a meeting with Zulu leaders near the Blood River to resolve the land dispute between the Zulus and the Boers. He suggested a compromise with the Boers and the meeting broke up without clear resolutions. He turned against

936-609: A despatch to Sir Michael Hicks Beach , who had replaced Carnarvon as Secretary of State for the Colonies: Mr. Smith, a surveyor in the Colonial Engineer Department, was on duty inspecting the road down to the Tugela, near Fort Buckingham, which had been made a few years ago by order of Sir Garnet Wolseley, and accompanied by Mr. Deighton, a trader, resident at Fort Buckingham, went down to the ford across

1040-412: A few antiquated muskets and other outdated firearms. Most Zulu warriors were armed with an iklwa (the Zulu refinement of the assegai thrusting spear) and a shield made of cowhide. The Zulu army drilled in the personal and tactical use and coordination of this weapons system. While some Zulus also had firearms, their marksmanship training was poor and the quality and supply of their powder and shot

1144-528: A land deal for the voortrekkers. In November, about 1,000 Voortrekker wagons began descending the Drakensberg mountains from the Orange Free State into what is now KwaZulu-Natal . Dingane asked that Retief and his party retrieve some cattle stolen from him by a local chief as part of the treaty for land for the Boers. This Retief and his men did, returning on 3 February 1838. The next day,

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1248-717: A large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, and was intended to bring the African Kingdoms, tribal areas, and Boer republics into South Africa . In 1874, Sir Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner for the British Empire to effect such plans. Among the obstacles were the armed independent states of the South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand . Frere, on his own initiative, sent

1352-559: A murderous campaign against other Nguni tribes and clans, setting in motion what became known as Difaqane or Mfecane , a mass-migration of tribes fleeing the remnants of the Ndwandwe fleeing the Zulu. The Ngoni people fled as far north as Tanzania and Malawi. The death toll has never been satisfactorily determined, but the whole region became nearly depopulated. By 1822, Shaka had conquered an empire covering an area of around 80,000 square miles (210,000 km ), covering Pongola to

1456-546: A new leader, Andries Pretorius , who led a successful defence of the Voortrekker position from the Zulu forces and Dingane at the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, when 15,000 Zulu impis (warriors) attacked a group of 470 Voortrekker settlers led by Pretorius. Following his defeat, Dingane burned his royal household and fled north. Mpande , the half-brother who had been spared from Dingane's purges, defected with 17,000 followers, and, together with Pretorius and

1560-409: A party of Zulus, under Mehlokazulu, the chief son of Sihayo, and his brother, seized at the kraal where she had taken refuge, and carried back to Zululand, where she was put to death, in accordance with Zulu law... A week later the same young men, with two other brothers and an uncle, captured in like manner another refugee wife of Sihayo, in the company of the young man with whom she had fled. This woman

1664-531: A point on the Pongola River . The boundary was beaconed in 1864, but when in 1865 Umtonga again fled from Zululand to Natal , Cetshwayo, seeing that he had lost his part of the bargain (for he feared that the still living Umtonga might be used to supplant him, as Mpande had been used to supplant Dingane ), removed the beacon and claimed the land ceded by the Swazis to Lydenburg . The Zulus asserted that

1768-412: A provocative ultimatum on 11 December 1878 to Zulu King Cetshwayo . Upon its rejection, he ordered Lord Chelmsford to invade Zululand. The war had several particularly bloody battles, including an opening victory of the Zulu at the Battle of Isandlwana , followed by the defence of Rorke's Drift by a small British Garrison from an attack by a large Zulu force. However, the British eventually gained

1872-542: A purge of perceived dissidents within his kingdom. This resulted in numerous deaths, and the fleeing of thousands of refugees into neighbouring areas, including the British-controlled Natal. Many of these refugees fled with cattle, the main measure of the Zulu wealth. Mpande began raiding the surrounding areas, culminating in the invasion of Swaziland in 1852. However, the British pressured him into withdrawing, which he did shortly afterwards. At this time,

1976-624: A redirection of the war effort, and the British, though outnumbered, began winning small engagements and later larger setpiece encounters. The fighting culminated in the Siege of Ulundi , the Zulus' capital city, and the subsequent defeat of the Zulu Kingdom. Cetshwayo was captured a month after his defeat, and then exiled to Cape Town . The British passed rule of the Zulu kingdom onto 13 "kinglets", each with his own subkingdom. Conflict soon erupted between these subkingdoms, and in 1882, Cetshwayo

2080-543: A ruling white minority over a black majority, which would provide a large pool of cheap labour for the British sugar plantations and mines, Carnarvon, in an attempt to extend British influence in 1875, approached the Boer states of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal Republic and tried to organize a federation of the British and Boer territories but the Boer leaders turned him down. In 1877, Sir Bartle Frere

2184-542: A scheme was the presence of the independent Boer states of the South African Republic , informally known as the Transvaal Republic and the Orange Free State, and the Kingdom of Zululand . Bartle Frere wasted no time in putting the scheme forward and manufacturing a casus belli against the Zulu by exaggerating the significance of a number of recent incidents. By 1877, Sir Theophilus Shepstone ,

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2288-591: A source of hostile reports. While numerous Zulus of rival factions fled into Natal and some of the surrounding areas, Cetshwayo continued and maintained the peaceful relations with the Natal colonists that had prevailed for decades. Such was the political background when Cetshwayo became absolute ruler of the Zulus upon his father's death in 1873. As ruler, Cetshwayo set about reviving the military methods of his uncle Shaka as far as possible. He formed new age-set regiments and even succeeded in equipping his regiments with

2392-561: A state of war to exist. The British forces intended for the defense of Natal had already been on the march with the intention to attack the Zulu kingdom. On 10 January they were poised on the border. On 11 January, they crossed the border and invaded Zululand. The terms included in the ultimatum were delivered to the representatives of King Cetshwayo on the banks of the Thukela river at the Ultimatum Tree on 11 December 1878. No time

2496-692: A treaty was signed, wherein Dingane ceded all the land south of the Tugela River to the Mzimvubu River to the Voortrekkers. Celebrations followed. On 6 February, at the end of the celebrations, Retief's party were invited to a dance, and asked to leave their weapons behind. At the peak of the dance, Dingane leapt to his feet and yelled "Bambani abathakathi!" ( isiZulu for "Seize the wizards"). Retief and his men were overpowered, taken to

2600-528: A useful buffer between him and the Boers of the Transvaal.) Here, he took up residence on the Tafelberg, a flat-topped mountain overlooking the river. Something of a brigand, Mbelini made raids on anyone in his area, Boer and Zulu alike, accruing cattle and prisoners in the process. With the annexation of the Transvaal, Britain had also to deal with Mbelini and because Frere was convinced that the bandit chief

2704-611: A wave of Boer (also known as Voortrekkers) migration northwards from 1836 onwards in order to establish autonomous Boer states independent of British control. The Boers settlers began moving across the Orange River northwards. While travelling they first collided with the Ndebele kingdom, and then with Dingane's Zulu kingdom. In October 1837, the Voortrekker leader Piet Retief visited Dingane at his royal kraal to negotiate

2808-544: Is nothing to show that he has in any way punished him, and, on the contrary, it is quite certain that even if Umbilini did not act with the express orders of Cetywayo, he did so with the knowledge that what he was doing would be agreeable to the King. Frere has been accused of chicanery by taking deliberate advantage of the length of time it took for correspondence to pass between South Africa and London to conceal his intentions from his political masters or at least defer giving them

2912-411: Is to be avoided and a British invasion of Zululand prohibited. From 21 November dispatch: ... Her Majesty's Government have arrived, it is my duty to impress upon you that in supplying these reinforcements it is the desire of Her Majesty's Government not to furnish means for a campaign of invasion and conquest, but to afford such protection as may be necessary at this juncture to the lives and property of

3016-583: The Anglo–Dutch Treaty of 1814 had permanently ceded the Dutch colony of Cape Town to Britain, and its territory expanded very substantially in the 19th century. Natal , in south-eastern Africa, was claimed by the British as a colony on 4 May 1843, after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia . Matters were brought to a head when three sons (led by Mehlokazulu kaSihayo) and

3120-695: The British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom . Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Isandlwana and the British defence at Rorke's Drift . Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupled with military campaigns, might lead to a ruling white minority over a black majority in South Africa. This would yield

3224-589: The Union of South Africa . Shaka was the illegitimate son of Senzangakhona , Chief of the Zulus. He was born c. 1787. He and his mother, Nandi , were exiled by Senzangakhona, and found refuge with the Mthethwa . Shaka fought as a warrior under Dingiswayo , leader of the Mthethwa Paramountcy . When Senzangakona died, Dingiswayo helped Shaka become king of the Zulu. After Dingiswayo 's death at

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3328-641: The Zulu throne, land was given to them by way of cession by the new Zulu king along the banks of the Mfolozi River . The republic therefore initially gained the whole of the Northwest of Zululand. On 5 August 1884 the Boers formed the Nieuwe Republiek (New Republic) with recognition by Germany, Zuid-Afrikaanse Republiek (ZAR) and Portugal with Vryheid as its capital. However, the Boers and

3432-595: The Zulu Empire, was a monarchy in Southern Africa . During the 1810s, Shaka established a standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to the Pongola River in the north. A bitter civil war in the mid-19th century erupted which culminated in

3536-435: The 1830s migrating Boers came into conflict with the Zulu Kingdom, then ruled by Dingane. Dingane suffered a crushing defeat on 16 December 1838, when he attacked a group of 470 Voortrekker settlers led by Pretorius at the Battle of Blood River . Dingane's half brother, Mpande kaSenzangakhona , then defected with some 17,000 followers and allied with the Boers against Dingane. Dingane was assassinated and Mpande became king of

3640-623: The 1856 Battle of Ndondakusuka between the brothers Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. In 1879, a British force invaded Zululand, beginning the Anglo-Zulu War . After an initial Zulu victory at the Battle of Isandlwana in January, the British regrouped and defeated the Zulus in July during the Battle of Ulundi , ending the war. The area was absorbed into the Colony of Natal and later became part of

3744-650: The Boers and the Zulu remained stable until the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899. In June 1900, British forces entered Vryheid, the capital of the Nieuwe Republiek. Arthur Jesse Shepstone, the son of Sir Theophilus Shepstone , was sent to the area and worked together with British military intelligence officer J. Roberts to organise an alliance with the Zulus against the Boers . The British defeated

3848-460: The Boers from the Utrecht and Wakkerstroom regions initially approached the recently defeated Cetshwayo and offered support in return of grants of land. They were, however, rebuked. After Cetshwayo died, the Boers allied with the heir to the throne: Dinizulu, and offered their help in establishing his rule in exchange for land, to which Dinizulu agreed in April 1884. Around 150 Boers initially joined

3952-488: The British Secretary for Native Affairs in Natal, annexed the Transvaal Republic for Britain using a special warrant. The Transvaal Boers objected but as long as the Zulu threat remained, found themselves between two threats; they feared that if they took up arms to resist the British annexation, King Cetshwayo and the Zulus would take the opportunity to attack. The successive British annexations and in particular

4056-518: The British and the Boers, resulting in the British annexation of Natalia. Mpande shifted his allegiance to the British, and remained on good terms with them. In 1843, Mpande ordered a purge of perceived dissidents within his kingdom. This resulted in numerous deaths, and the fleeing of thousands of refugees into neighbouring areas (including the British-controlled Natal ). Many of these refugees fled with cattle. Mpande began raiding

4160-438: The British suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 where the Zulu army killed more than 1,000 British soldiers in a single day. The Zulu deployment at Isandhlwana showed the well-organized tactical system that had made the Zulu kingdom successful for many decades. This constituted the worst defeat the British army had ever suffered at the hands of a native African fighting force. The defeat prompted

4264-581: The Dinizulu were faced with a challenge by Zibhebhu kaMapitha , chief of the Mandlakazi, who was not prepared to accept Boer demands, and who had previously defeated the Zulu king Cetshwayo. The two forces met on 5 June 1884 at the Battle of Tshaneni, where 100 Boers and an Usuthu impi of 7 000 Zulu defeated Zibhebhu. The success of the Boers had attracted 500 more volunteers to the force, brought there by

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4368-659: The Secretary for Native Affairs, Colenso found himself even further estranged from colonial society in Natal. Bishop Colenso's concern about the misleading information that was being provided to the Colonial Secretary in London by Shepstone and the Governor of Natal prompted him to champion the cause of the Zulus against Boer oppression and official encroachments. He was a prominent critic of Frere's efforts to depict

4472-514: The Swazis were their vassals and therefore had no right to part with this territory. For a year, a Boer commando unit , under Paul Kruger and an army under Cetshwayo were posted to defend the newly acquired Utrecht border. The Zulu forces took back their land north of the Pongola. Questions were also raised as to the validity of the documents signed by the Zulus concerning the Utrecht strip; in 1869

4576-585: The Tugela. The stream was very low, and ran under the Zulu bank, but they were on this side of it, and had not crossed when they were surrounded by a body of 15 or 20 armed Zulus, made prisoners, and taken off with their horses, which were on the Natal side of the river, and roughly treated and threatened for some time; though, ultimately, at the instance of a headman who came up, they were released and allowed to depart. By themselves, these incidents were flimsy grounds upon which to found an invasion of Zululand. Bulwer did not initially hold Cetshwayo responsible for what

4680-581: The Tugera Rivers. An offshoot of the Zulu, the amaNdebele, better known to history as the Matabele , created an even larger empire under their king Mzilikazi , including large parts of the highveld and modern-day Zimbabwe . [1] Shaka was succeeded by Dingane , his half-brother, who conspired with Mhlangana, another half-brother, and Mbopa, an induna , to murder him in 1828. Following this assassination, Dingane murdered Mhlangana, and took over

4784-569: The Union of South Africa was formed, Louis Botha became its first prime minister, and he arranged for his old ally Dinuzulu to return to South Africa and live in exile on a farm in the Transvaal, where he died in 1913. Dinuzulu's son Solomon kaDinuzulu was never recognised by South African authorities as the Zulu king, only as a local chief, but he was increasingly regarded as king by chiefs, by political intellectuals such as John Langalibalele Dube and by ordinary Zulu people. In 1923, Solomon founded

4888-510: The Voortrekkers, went to war with Dingane. Dingane was assassinated near the modern Swaziland border. Mpande then took over rulership of the Zulu nation. Following the campaign against Dingane, in 1839 the Voortrekkers, under Pretorius, formed the Boer republic of Natalia , south of the Tugela, and west of the British settlement of Port Natal (now Durban ). Mpande and Pretorius maintained peaceful relations. However, in 1842, war broke out between

4992-440: The Zulu army under King Cetshwayo and the potential threat to Natal – especially given the adoption by some of the Zulus of old muskets and other out-of-date firearms. In his new role of Administrator of the Transvaal, he was now responsible for protecting the Transvaal and had direct involvement in the Zulu border dispute from the side of the Transvaal. Persistent Boer representations and Paul Kruger 's diplomatic manoeuvres added to

5096-600: The Zulu empire. In 1839, the Boer Voortrekkers , under Pretorius, formed the Boer Republic of Natalia , south of the Tugela, and west of the British settlement of Port Natal (now Durban). Mpande and Pretorius maintained peaceful relations. However, in 1842, war broke out between the British and the Boers, resulting in the British annexation of Natalia. Mpande shifted his allegiance to the British, and remained on good terms with them. In 1843, Mpande ordered

5200-754: The Zulu kingdom as a threat to Natal. Colenso's campaigns revealed the racialist foundation underpinning the colonial regime in Natal and made him enemies among the colonists. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli 's Tory administration in London did not want a war with the Zulus. "The fact is," wrote Sir Michael Hicks Beach , who was to replace Carnarvon as Secretary of State for the Colonies, in November 1878, "that matters in Eastern Europe and India ... wore so serious an aspect that we cannot have

5304-490: The Zulu with paternal speeches, however they were unconvinced and accused Shepstone of betraying them. Shepstone's subsequent reports to Carnarvon then began to paint the Zulu as an aggressive threat where he had previously presented Cetshwayo in a most favourable light. In February 1878 a commission was appointed by Henry Bulwer , the lieutenant-governor of Natal since 1875, to report on the boundary question. The commission reported in July and found almost entirely in favour of

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5408-420: The Zulus with vengeance, saying he had come into possession of "the most incontrovertible, overwhelming and clear evidence" never previously disclosed, for supporting the claims of the Boers. He rejected Zulu claims as "characterised by lying and treachery to an extent that I could not have believed even savages are capable of". Shepstone, in his capacity as British governor of Natal, had expressed concerns about

5512-424: The annexation of West Griqualand caused a climate of simmering unease for the Boer republics. Shepstone railed against the disruptive effect of allowing Cetshwayo's regime to remain. "Zulu power", he said, "is the root and real strength of all native difficulties in South Africa". In December 1877, he wrote to Carnarvon "Cetshwayo is the secret hope of every petty independent chief hundreds of miles from him who feels

5616-420: The basis for the ultimatum with which Frere knew Cetshwayo could not comply, giving Frere a pretext to attack the Zulu kingdom. The first two incidents related to the flight into Natal of two wives of Sihayo kaXongo and their subsequent seizure and execution by his brother and sons and were described thus: A wife of the chief Sihayo had left him and escaped into Natal. She was followed [on 28 July 1878] by

5720-464: The best of my power. But I cannot really control him without a telegraph (I don't know that I could with one) I feel it is as likely as not that he is at war with the Zulus at the present moment. Frere wanted to provoke a conflict with the Zulus and in that goal he succeeded. Cetshwayo rejected the demands of 11 December, by not responding by the end of the year. A concession was granted by Bartle Frere until 11 January 1879, after which Bartle Frere deemed

5824-439: The border dispute, but in 1877 he led a small force into the Transvaal and persuaded the Boers to give up their independence. Shepstone became administrator of the Transvaal, and in that role saw the border dispute from the other side. Shepstone claimed to have evidence supporting the Boer position but, ultimately, he failed to provide any. In a meeting with Zulu notables at Blood River in October 1877, Shepstone attempted to placate

5928-488: The border to the sea from the mouth of the Mhlatuze river to St Lucia Bay, since there were more claimants to the land than there was land itself. A lottery was held to allocate the lands, with a committee member(one of the initial founders of the enterprise) being entitled to a 3 000 morgen farm, a volunteer who had enlisted before the 10th of June 1884 to a 2 000 morgen farm and a volunteer who had enlisted after that date to

6032-410: The boundary commission report with the Zulu representatives to also present a surprise ultimatum he had devised that would allow British forces under Lord Chelmsford, which he had previously been instructed to use only in defense against a Zulu invasion of Natal, to instead invade Zululand. Three incidents occurred in late July, August and September which Frere seized upon as his casus belli and were

6136-469: The colonial regime in Natal. In 1874 he took up the cause of Langalibalele and the Hlubi and Ngwe tribes in representations to the Colonial Secretary, Lord Carnarvon. Langalibalele had been falsely accused of rebellion in 1873 and, following a charade of a trial, was found guilty and imprisoned on Robben Island . In taking the side of Langalibalele against the colonial regime in Natal and Theophilus Shepstone,

6240-504: The colonists. Though the present aspect of affairs is menacing in a high degree, I can by no means arrive at the conclusion that war with the Zulus should be unavoidable, and I am confident that you, in concert with Sir H. Bulwer, will use every effort to overcome the existing difficulties by judgment and forbearance, and to avoid an evil so much to be deprecated as a Zulu war. After considerable discussion and exchanges of views between Sir Bartle Frere and Sir Henry Ernest Gascoyne Bulwer , it

6344-403: The contention of the Zulu. However, Sir Henry Bartle Frere , then high commissioner and still pressing forward with Carnarvon's federation plan, characterized the award as "one-sided and unfair to the Boers", stipulated that on the land being given to the Zulu, the Boers living on it should be compensated if they left or protected if they remained. In addition, Frere planned to use the meeting on

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6448-513: The delay which would have been involved in consulting Her Majesty's Government upon a subject of so much importance as the terms which Cetywayo should be required to accept before those terms were actually presented to the Zulu king. Hicks Beach had earlier admitted his helplessness with regard to the Frere's actions in a telling note to his Prime Minister: I have impressed this [non-aggressive] view upon Sir B. Frere, both officially and privately, to

6552-461: The ejection of the Disraeli government from office in 1880 , after only one term. By the 1850s, the British Empire had colonies in southern Africa bordering on various Boer settlements, native African kingdoms such as the Zulus and the Basotho and numerous indigenous tribal areas and states. Various interactions with those groups followed an expansionist policy. Cape Colony was formed after

6656-436: The expedition, as well as some Germans from the Luneburg settlement, with some Boers participating having resigned their posts in the government of Transvaal, due to the disapproval that the government had expressed for the expedition. However, this disapproval was most probably nominal, due to the involvement of so many local officials in the affair, as well as the possibility of obtaining a coastal area from this expedition, in

6760-450: The expedition, so as to have a substantial number of people to found a republic. This was initially resisted by the Usuthu, however, seeing that they were in no position to negotiate, were forced to give in, an thus, on the 16th of August, Dinuzulu issued a proclamation granting 1 355 000 morgen(1 morgen being about 2 acres) of Zulu territory to the Boers for the establishment of a republic. The surveying committees therefore went on to extend

6864-470: The form of St Lucia , which the landlocked country of Transvaal was desperately trying to achieve. The expedition commenced in the May of 1884, by which time the number of volunteer Boers participating had doubled, with volunteers coming 'from as far afield as Grey town', and included the future prime minister of the Union of South Africa: Louis Botha . After Boer farmers, who lived in the area, helped Dinuzulu defeat his rival Zibhebhu for succession of

6968-405: The hands of Zwide , king of the Ndwandwe , around 1816, Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mthethwa alliance. Shaka's clan at first numbered no more than a few thousands, but eventually grew in size to 45,000 after absorbing neighboring clans. His military reforms included new battle techniques, training, and tough discipline, as well as the replacement of long-throwing spears in exchange for

7072-574: The house of Shaka. The original complaint carried to Cetshwayo from the lieutenant-governor was in the form of a request for the surrender of the culprits. The request was subsequently transformed by Sir Bartle Frere into a "demand". Frere wrote to Hicks Beach, 30 September 1878: Apart from whatever may be the general wish of the Zulu nation, it seems to me that the seizure of the two refugee women in British territory by an armed force crossing an unmistakable and well known boundary line, and carrying them off and murdering them with contemptuous disregard for

7176-454: The independent Republic of Vryheid. This alarmed the British who wanted to prevent the Boers access to a harbour. The British then annexed Zululand in 1887. Dinuzulu became involved in later conflicts with rivals. In 1906 Dinuzulu was accused of being behind the Bambatha Rebellion . He was arrested and put on trial by the British for "high treason and public violence". In 1909, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on St Helena island. When

7280-400: The intent of instigating a war with the Zulu, Sir Henry Bartle Frere , on his own initiative and without the approval of the British government, presented an ultimatum to the Zulu king Cetshwayo in terms with which he could not possibly comply: that the Zulu army be disbanded and the Zulus accept a British resident. British forces crossed the Tugela river at the end of December 1878. Initially,

7384-482: The justification that was used, as several matters had arisen in the meantime. One of them was Cetshwayo's apparent breaking of promises to Mr Theophilus Shepstone at the king's "coronation" in 1872. That farcical piece of theatre had been agreed to by Cetshwayo simply to satisfy the wishes of Shepstone and meant nothing to the Zulu people. Indeed, his real Zulu installation had taken place several weeks earlier when he had been acclaimed by his izinduna. A second addition to

7488-425: The more effective short-stabbing spears. Conscripted men were segregated from the rest of Zulu society to be trained as an organized standing army called the amabutho . The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill (1818). Within two years, Shaka had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlatuze River (1820) and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began

7592-462: The nearby frontier. According to claims later brought forward by the Boers , Cetshwayo offered the farmers a strip of land along the border if they would surrender his brother. The Boers complied on the condition that Umtonga's life was spared, and in 1861 Mpande signed a deed transferring this land to the Boers. The south boundary of the land added to Utrecht ran from Rorke's Drift on the Buffalo to

7696-424: The nearby hill kwaMatiwane, and executed. Some allege that they were killed for withholding some of the cattle they recovered, but it is likely that the deal was a plot to overpower the Voortrekkers. Dingane's army then attacked and massacred a group of 250 Voortrekker men, women and children camped nearby. The site of this massacre is today called Weenen , ( Dutch for "to weep"). The remaining Voortrekkers elected

7800-494: The necessary information until it was too late for them to act. The first intimation to the British government of his intention to make 'demands' on the Zulu was in a private letter to Hicks Beach written on 14 October 1878. The letter only arrived in London on 16 November and by then messengers had already been despatched from Natal to the Zulu king to request the presence of a delegation at the Lower Tugela on 11 December for

7904-528: The new province of KwaZulu-Natal . The name KwaZulu translates roughly as Place of Zulus , or more formally Zululand . The Zulu Kingdom is currently part of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal (of which the King of the Zulu Nation is the monarch), one of the country's nine provinces, under the leadership of King MisuZulu ka Zwelithini . A large portion of the territory is made up of wildlife reserves and

8008-442: The opportunity of impressing upon you the importance of using every effort to avoid war. But the terms which you have dictated to the Zulu king, however necessary to relieve the colony in future from an impending and increasing danger, are evidently such as he may not improbably refuse, even at the risk of war; and I regret that the necessity for immediate action should have appeared to you so imperative as to preclude you from incurring

8112-624: The organisation Inkatha YaKwaZulu to promote his royal claims, which became moribund and then was revived in the 1970s by Mangosuthu Buthelezi , chief minister of the KwaZulu bantustan. In December 1951, Solomon's son Cyprian Bhekuzulu kaSolomon was officially recognised as the Paramount Chief of the Zulu people, but real power over ordinary Zulu people lay with South African government officials working through local chiefs who could be removed from office for failure to cooperate. KwaZulu

8216-694: The party. Cetshwayo also treated the complaint rather lightly, responding Cetywayo is sorry to have to acknowledge that the message brought by Umlungi is true, but he begs his Excellency will not take it in the light he sees the Natal Government seem to do, as what Sirayo's sons did he can only attribute to a rash act of boys who in the zeal for their father's house did not think of what they were doing. Cetywayo acknowledges that they deserve punishing, and he sends some of his izinduna , who will follow Umlungi with his words. Cetywayo states that no acts of his subjects will make him quarrel with his fathers of

8320-491: The popularity of Lucas Meyer and the ruling clique to plummet. Seeking to maintain their position, Lucas Meyer therefore decided to not hold promised elections, and to seek the incorporation of the republic into Transvaal. Within a few months the British annexed a stretch of the coastline of the Nieuwe Republiek and the Zulu Kingdom north of the Thukela river (1887) in order to prevent the new Boer republic from having access to

8424-491: The pressure. There were incidents involving Zulu paramilitary actions on either side of the Transvaal/Natal border, and Shepstone increasingly began to regard King Cetshwayo, as having permitted such "outrages", and to be in a "defiant mood". King Cetshwayo now found no defender in Natal save the bishop of Natal, John Colenso . Colenso advocated for native Africans in Natal and Zululand who had been unjustly treated by

8528-469: The prospect of gaining land. These volunteers were not only Boers, however, with Harriet Colenso stating that Natal provided as many 'filibusters and landgrabbers' for the expedition as did the Transvaal. The arrivals of these volunteers prompted the Boers to make bigger demands of the Usuthu peoples and Dinizulu, in order to have enough land to distribute amongst the claimants as a reward for participation in

8632-518: The purpose of receiving the Boundary Commission's findings. Had Hicks Beach then sent off a telegraph forbidding any action other than the announcement of the boundary award, it might have arrived in South Africa just in time to prevent the ultimatum being presented. No prohibition was sent and could hardly be expected to have been, for Hicks Beach had no means of knowing the urgency of the events that were in train. Nowhere in Frere's letter

8736-663: The remonstrances of the Natal policemen, is itself an insult and a violation of British territory which cannot be passed over, and unless apologised and atoned for by compliance with the Lieutenant Governor's demands, that the leaders of the murderous gangs shall be given up to justice, it will be necessary to send to the Zulu King an ultimatum which must put an end to pacific relations with our neighbours. In reply, in at least three dispatches, 17 October, 21 November and 18 December, Hicks Beach emphatically states that war

8840-665: The sea, which they needed for a harbor. British annexation of the Zulu territory resulted in a revolt, led by Dinuzulu in June 1888, which was quickly suppressed. Dinuzulu was tried for high treason in Eshowe and sentenced. The annexation of Zululand led to residents in the Nieuwe Republiek fearing they would be annexed by Britain. On 20 July 1888 the New Republic was incorporated with the Transvaal Republic on its own request, although enjoying considerable autonomy. The relations between

8944-488: The services of the lieutenant-governor of Natal, then Robert William Keate , were accepted by both parties as arbitrator, but the attempt then made to settle disagreements proved unsuccessful. In spite of his dislike for their activities, Cetshwayo permitted European missionaries in Zululand. Though he did not harm or persecute the missionaries themselves, several converts were killed. The missionaries, for their part, were

9048-496: The surrounding areas, culminating in the invasion of Swaziland in 1852. However, the British pressured him into withdrawing, which he did shortly. At this time, a battle for the succession broke out between two of Mpande's sons, Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. This culminated in 1856 with the Battle of Ndondakusuka , which left Mbuyazi dead. Cetshwayo then set about usurping his father's authority. When Mpande died of old age in 1872, Cetshwayo took over as ruler. On 11 December 1878, with

9152-493: The throne. The academic Roberto Breschi notes that Zululand had a flag from 1884 to 1897 but this is pure conjecture as A.P. Burgers notes in his book. It consisted of three horizontal bands in equal width of gold, green and red. Dinuzulu made a pact with the Boers of his own, promising them land in return for their aid. The Boers were led by Louis Botha . Dinuzulu and the Boers defeated Zibhebhu in 1884. They were granted about half of Zululand individually as farms, and formed

9256-479: The throne. One of his first royal acts was to execute all of his royal kin. In the years that followed, he also executed many past supporters of Shaka in order to secure his position. One exception to these purges was Mpande , another half-brother, who was considered too weak to be a threat at the time. In the Cape Colony , increasing tensions between some Dutch Settlers and the British colonial authorities led to

9360-466: The ultimatum, which seems almost like an afterthought, required the surrender of Mbelini kaMswati. Mbelini was the son of a Swazi king who unsuccessfully disputed the succession with his brother, resulting in his exile from the kingdom. He took refuge with Cetshwayo and was granted land in the region of the Intombe River in western Zululand. (It is entirely possible that Cetshwayo regarded him as

9464-477: The upper hand at Kambula , before taking the Zulu capital of Ulundi . The British eventually won the war, ending Zulu dominance of the region. The British made the Zulu Kingdom a protectorate and later annexed it by the British Empire in 1887. But the war did shatter prior colonial notions of British invincibility, due to their massive early defeats. Together with famines , diplomatic misadventures , and other unpopular wars overseas, it may have contributed to

9568-406: The urgent need of strengthening Her Majesty's forces in South Africa were based upon the imminent danger of an invasion of Natal by the Zulus, and the inadequate means at that time at your disposal for meeting it. In order to afford protection to the lives and property of the colonists, the reinforcements asked for were supplied, and, in informing you of the decision of Her Majesty's Government, I took

9672-493: The world, which turned Kimberley into a town of 50,000 within five years and drew the attention of British imperial interests. In the 1870s, the British annexed West Griqualand , site of the Kimberley diamond discoveries. In 1874 Lord Carnarvon , Secretary of State for the Colonies , who had brought about federation in Canada in 1867, thought that a similar scheme might work in South Africa, The South African plan called for

9776-544: Was a bantustan in South Africa , intended by the apartheid government as a semi-independent homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980. It was led until its abolition in 1994 by Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi of the Zulu royal family and head of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). It was merged with the surrounding South African province of Natal to form

9880-566: Was allowed to visit England. He had audiences with Queen Victoria and other famous personages before being allowed to return to Zululand to be reinstated as king. In 1883, Cetshwayo was put in place as king over a buffer reserve territory, much reduced from his original kingdom. Later that year, however, Cetshwayo was attacked at Ulundi by Zibhebhu , one of the 13 kinglets. Cetshwayo was wounded and fled. Cetshwayo died in February 1884, possibly poisoned. His son, Dinuzulu , then 15, inherited

9984-594: Was also carried back, and is supposed to have been put to death likewise; the young man with her although guilty in Zulu eyes of a most heinous crime, punishable with death, was safe from them on English soil; they did not touch him. The third incident occurred in September when two men were detained while on a sandbank of the Thukela River near the Middle Drift. Sir Bartle Frere described this matter in

10088-455: Was clearly not a political act in the seizure and murder of the two women. I have sent a message to the Zulu King to inform him of this act of violence and outrage by his subjects in Natal territory, and to request him to deliver Up to this Government to be tried for their offence, under the laws of the Colony, the persons of Mehlokazulu and Bekuzulu the two sons of Sirayo who were the leaders of

10192-410: Was decided to arrange a meeting with representatives of the Zulu king. The ostensible reason for this indaba was to present the findings of the long-awaited Boundary Commission to the Zulu people. The occasion was also to be used to present the king with an ultimatum. When the ultimatum was presented, the two infractions by Sihayo's sons and the roughing up of Smith and Deighton had become only part of

10296-418: Was dreadful. The Zulu attitude towards firearms was summarized: "The generality of Zulu warriors, however, would not have firearms – the arms of a coward, as they said, for they enable the poltroon to kill the brave without awaiting his attack." The tension between Cetshwayo and the Transvaal over border disputes continued. Sir Theophilus Shepstone , whom Cetshwayo regarded as his friend, had supported him in

10400-497: Was in the pay of the Zulu king, his surrender was included in the ultimatum. The light in which Mbelini was regarded is shown in a paragraph from a memorandum written by Sir Henry Bulwer: The King disowned Umbilini's acts by saying that Umbilini had been giving him trouble, that he had left the Zulu country in order to wrest the Swazi chieftainship from his brother, the reigning Chief, and that if he returned he should kill him. But there

10504-399: Was made High Commissioner for Southern Africa by Lord Carnarvon. Carnarvon appointed Frere to the position on the understanding that he would work to enforce Carnarvon's confederation plan and Frere could then become the first British governor of a federated southern African dominion . Frere was sent to South Africa as High Commissioner to bring this plan about. One of the obstacles to such

10608-412: Was receptive to Shepstone's arguments that King Cetshwayo and his Zulu army posed a threat to the peace of the region. Preparations for a British invasion of the Zulu kingdom had been underway for months. In December 1878, notwithstanding the reluctance of the British government to start yet another colonial war, Frere presented Cetshwayo with an ultimatum that the Zulu army be disbanded and the Zulus accept

10712-443: Was specified for compliance with item 4, twenty days were allowed for compliance with items 1–3, that is, until 31 December inclusive; ten days more were allowed for compliance with the remaining demands, items 5–13. The earlier time limits were subsequently altered so that all expired on 10 January 1879. Zulu Kingdom The Zulu Kingdom ( / ˈ z uː l uː / ZOO -loo ; Zulu : KwaZulu ), sometimes referred to as

10816-459: Was there anything to indicate how soon he intended to act, nor was there anything to suggest how stringent his demands would be. In January 1879, Hicks Beach wrote to Bartle Frere: I may observe that the communications which had previously been received from you had not entirely prepared them (Her Majesty's Government) for the course which you have deemed it necessary to take. The representations made by Lord Chelmsford and yourself last autumn as to

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