III.

Impact of the Mfecane

By the end of the 18th century two main rival chiefdoms had emerged in the region: the Ndwandwe and the Mthethwa. The Zulu chiefdom was allied with the Mthethwa as a subordinate state. Starting in the 1810s, intensifying conflict between the rival groups caused their weaker neighbors to move out of their way, dislodging other chiefdoms in their path. This period of turmoil and subsequent migrations, lasting in the region through the 1820s, is often referred to as the mfecane, meaning “the crushing” in Nguni languages.

In 1817 the Ndwandwe defeated the Mthethwa, leaving only the Zulu chiefdom to stand against them. When the Zulu chiefdom was a subordinate state, the Mthethwa chief Dingiswayo had encouraged Shaka, the Zulu chief, to build up his military power. Shaka had perfected the highly successful Zulu battle tactics. In battle, the Zulu army was meant to resemble a charging bull, and was therefore divided into three groups: the bull’s chest, horns, and loins. The chest, featuring the strongest warriors, was meant to hold down the enemy while the horns, two divisions containing the fastest warriors, surrounded the enemy. When the horns completely encircled the enemy, the chest would finish it off in hand-to-hand fighting with a stabbing spear. The loins were held in reserve to reinforce divisions and to pursue the enemy as it fled.

In 1818, through a combination of diplomacy and military aggression, Shaka consolidated Zulu power over the entire region once dominated by the Mthethwa. Chiefdoms that submitted to Zulu overlordship were given protection in return for providing manpower for the amabutho. Shaka further developed the amabutho system, making it central to social and economic life of his growing state, and extended it to include women as well. The system remained the basis of the Zulu leader’s power until the fall of the Zulu state in the late 19th century.

In 1819 Shaka defeated the Ndwandwe, taking over their territory to the north, and also defeated and dispersed lesser chiefdoms to the west and southwest. Shaka was now the preeminent ruler of what came to be known as the Zulu kingdom. The Zulu were not strong enough to establish a permanent presence in the more distant regions, however, and had to be satisfied with constant raids and with the payment of tribute. Defeated or terrified chiefdoms who attempted to move out of the range of the Zulu armies added to the general confusion and devastation of southeastern Africa.

In 1824 a small British trading settlement was established at Port Natal (later Durban), which fatefully connected Zululand to the colonial world. Shaka welcomed the British hunters and traders as suppliers of exotic goods and, because they had firearms, as mercenaries in his wars. In return he permitted them to live peacefully at Port Natal like chiefs living in his kingdom under his overlordship.