The History of Shaka Zulu - Essay Example

The History of Shaka Zulu Affiliation The history of Shaka Zulu Shaka kaSenzangakhona is a renowned powerful king of the Zulu kingdom of South Africa. He was a great king and conqueror, and he lived in the southeast area between the Drakensberg and the Indian Ocean where many Nguni chiefdoms lived (Ritter, E. A., 1978). His reign is considered to have brought together many chiefdoms that even after his death; attempts to break them up were futile. Shakas efforts of conquering all the neighboring kingdoms and incorporating them into his kingdom led to a strong Zulu army. In a period of barely seven years, he had conquered all the neighboring armies in the present Natal (Zulu, 1955). So, who is Shaka Zulu? The following essay seeks to give a brief history of the man considered a military genius and an all-time great military commander. Shaka was born in circa 1787 to a young chief, Senzangakhona kaJama and a young woman Nandi (Wylie, 2006). He was illegitimately conceived during ukuhlobonga, a kind of sexual foreplay that was allowed to couples who were not married and did not include penetration. Nandi eventually got pregnant for they had broken the rules. When Senzangakhona was confronted about the pregnancy, he arrogantly answered that Nandi was suffering from an iShaka beetle infection that brought about intestinal problem. Despite efforts by the chief to deny paternity, he was required by customs to marry Nandi, which prompted him installing her as the third wife. The boy was to be named after the iShaka beetle.As a six-year-old boy, Shaka began looking after his fathers sheep. An incident that saw a dog attack and kill one of the ships led to his father getting angry with Shaka and when Nandi stepped between to defend her son, the chief dismissed them from the kraal (homestead). This opened doors to a life of misery and derision and abuse as Shaka and his mother spent their lives moving from one kraal to another looking for shelter. At the time of Great Famine, known as the Madlantule (c. 1802), Shaka and his mother were taken to the Muthethwa people in Nandis aunts home where they finally found settlement. Shaka, therefore, grew up in King Dingiswayos kraal. At age 16, he gained King’s appraise when he single-handedly stood against a leopard that wanted to attack the herd and killed it. He gained respect and became the chief herds boy (Ritter, 1978). At 21 years, he had already developed masculine features. He was integrated into the army at a time when the art of war involved two rival groups standing 40-50yards apart in a battlefield throwing assegais towards each other until one group gave in and ran away. Further pursuits would see the retreated group place arms on the ground signifying defeat so that their lives could be spared. Shaka saw this as stupid and instead went closer to the enemy blocking the assegais thrown at him by use of his shield. When he got the enemy, he could hook his shield with his left part exposing the enemys body bare for a deadly attack killing them instantly. He argued that his sandals slowed the pace- a stand he upheld after he became ruler. His fighting tactics and skills saw him rise in the ranks of a leader. At the age of 23, he had already designed an improved design of assegai called the aniklaw due to the sound it made upon being plunged into the victims body and upon withdrawal (Hamilton, 1998). This was later to become the primary Zulu weapon. Shaka led to the defeat of the Buthelezi when a renowned Buthelezi warrior challenged Shaka into a fight. Using his close-in tactics and strength, Shaka won the fight that led to Shaka and his friends taking over Buthelezi and scaring away other soldiers. King Dingiswayo was to be compensated with cattle and he gave Shaka 10 heads of cattle and promoted him to be in command of 100 warriors. He later shaped his 100 warriors into three bodies that included one large at the center and two smaller bodies on each side of the large body. The formation looked crescent shaped. Several regiments formed a dense body isifuba (chest) while the sides were guarded by regiments moving forward to form a horn. As the horns curved inwards trapping the enemy, the larger body closed in and killed all those who could not break away from the horns (Hamilton, 1989). This paved way to the traditional buffalo’ head formation. Shakas battlefield advances gained appreciation from the king who offered to oversee a reconciliation between Shaka and his father who promised to make Shaka his heir of the thrown. When Shakas father died in 1816, Shakas younger half-brother Sigujuna assumed the throne. With the help of Dingiswayo and his half-brother, Shaka assassinated Sigujuna assuming power while still remaining a vessel for the Muthethwa kingdom. He was given a regiment by the king to enforce his chieftain. From his royal kraal, Shaka would go to the end of his domain in just an hour since it was only 100 square miles. He called upon all young men who were able to take up arms and joined the army of 500 warriors (Morris, 1994). A year later, Dingiswayo died in a battle in the hands of Zwide, the king of Ndwande nation. Shaka reformed the Muthethwa people and other tribes to defeat the Ndwandeans later. Shaka used his position as ruler to exact revenge on whoever had talked ill or insulted his mother. He first went against his mother’s tribe. He marched 25 miles to get to the capital kraal. He ordered his army to invade the tribe the tribe at night. This, however, did not end to in bloodshed as they surrendered without fighting to Shaka’s army. His strong rules and military ideas were felt throughout Zulu for he taught them that the most effective way of becoming powerful is by conquering and controlling other tribes. Shaka declared war against the Buthelezi as his second war declaring total annihilation of the unimportant remnants of war. This was the new kind of war. Shaka ensured that all his forces were disciplined and executed when they tried to disobey his rules. He carried on with the tradition of forming the male and female ambutho. Young men from across the kingdom were enrolled in their appropriate age-regiment producing a sense of commonality among them. Royal cattle were supplied to the ambuthos to supply meat and cow hide for making shields. The female ambutho was also set up to dance and sing during ceremonies. Organized in equal age regiments as the male ambutho, when a male ambutho was allowed to marry, the female ambutho was disintegrated to get married to the male regiment. Before this time, sexual intercourse was highly prohibited among the male and female ambutho. Transgression was capitally punished by death. Shaka then ended his feud with the Ndwandes after killing five of Zwides sons. After the first war had been won by the Zulu at Gqoli Hill, Zwide had sent his army to invade the Zulu land led by his son. Shaka pretended to be retreating from the Ndwandes hence drew them deep into his territory. Knowing they were all exhausted, he flung his regiments on them thus defeating them at River Mhlathuze. In Mhlathuze River, all Ndwandes who could not swim were all slayed to death. At nightfall, Shaka ordered his army to pursuit Zwides kraal but failed to capture the army chief as he had fled 200 miles away (1994). The Zulu army swept through Ndwandeland and killed all Ndwandes, burnt their huts and seized livestock. This defeat shattered all the Ndwandes and they all fled for their lives. Shaka took all the remnants who were strong enough and trained them in his combat ways thus increasing his army. This victory opened his kingdom all over Nguni and created the Zulu empire. This was his last major war in his conquest of present day KwaZulu/Natal (Peires, 1981). He became an absolute ruler by gaining large wealth and punishing all those who did not follow his rules (Madi, 2000). He ordered execution of warriors who showed little signs of sickness and punished the warriors who insisted on going into battleground in sandals. All warriors were made to walk bare feet for long distances in the sun to make their feet strong. Shaka never fathered or claimed a wife for he feared that his heir might betray and plot against him. All of his concubines who were found to be pregnant were killed. He expelled all rainmakers self-declaring himself the maker of rain. Shaka’s wars were highly characterized by great slaughter and caused many migrations by the war-torn kingdoms. It is documented that the effects of these wars was felt higher north of the Zambezi River (Hamilton, 1989). His fear led to kings running away up north hence destroying other kingdoms before reinstating their kingdoms. A series of migrations in the parts of the southern Africa was because of Shaka’s wars between 1818 and 1828. This resulted into destruction of old chiefdoms and creation of new ones as refugee groups smashed every chiefdom that they came across. In 1824, Shaka was in control when the first white traders settled in Port Natal. Henry Francis and Francis Farewell did visit him that same year. He accorded the white settlers accommodation and treated them well. He permitted them to build settlements. He was curious about their culture and warfare they represented. He encouraged trade with them. During his time, no conflict ever appeared between the whites and the Zulus (Madi, 2000). His mothers death in October 1827 saw him massacre thousands of people in his kingdom so that they could mourn with him. Clearly insane, his half-brother Dingane and his bodyguard Mbopha took advantage of his army’s absence on 22 September 1828 and slayed Shaka for fear of his life and took over the throne (Ritter, 1978). He killed all those who would protest against the action and have Shakas body buried in an unmarked grave. Shaka at the time of his death ruled over 250000 people and was master to over 50000 warriors. His exploits in the semi-Prryahic at the battle of Gqoli Hill and in the second Ndwandwe war remain among the highlight of his military prowess, which make him one of the greatest war commanders of all time. References Hamilton, C. (1998). Terrific majesty: the powers of Shaka Zulu and the limits of historical invention. New Africa Books. Hamilton, C. A. (1989). A positional gambit: Shaka Zulu and the conflict in South Africa. Radical History Review, 1989(44), 5-31. Madi, P. M. (2000). Leadership Lessons from Emperor Shaka Zulu the Great. Knowledge Resources. Morris, D. R. (1994). The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of the Zulu Nation under Shaka and its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879 (Vol. 148). Random House. Peires, J. B. (Ed.). (1981). Before and after Shaka: papers in Nguni history. Institute of Social and Economic Research, Rhodes University. Ritter, E. A. (1978). Shaka Zulu. Viking Pr. Wylie, D. (2006). Myth of iron: Shaka in history. Univ of Natal Pr. Zulu, S. (1955). The rise of the Zulu empire. By EA. Read More