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The people known today as Zulu are formed together about 165 years ago. Many independent clans combining, all of whom had lived in the eastern coastal parts of South Africa for centuries, formed them. The name "Zulu" itself was originally the name of one man whose descendants made up the Zulu clan. In 1816 this small clan gained a new ruler by the name of Shaka (Chaka). An expert militarist, he led the small Zulu clan in a conquest of his neighbors. The Zulus soon became a very powerful empire ruling over a vast amount of land and peoples.
The first white settlers came to Southern Africa in 1488 when the famous Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias around the southernmost tip of the continent of Africa. Starting at 1600, the English, the Dutch, and the French set up chartered companies to conduct trades in the East Indies. Of the three, only the Dutch formally set up a base in the region. The base became important as a halfway point to provide fresh food to ships traveling from Europe to the East.
Over the years Dutch and German Settlers, and some French Protestant refugees, continued to arrive. From 1658 on, enslaved Africans were regularly imported. Society developed between free whites, which had civil rights, and enslaved Africans, who had very few rights. All of this did not go unnoticed by the many African groups, the Zulus included, and who occupied southern Africa. In 1795, the British controlled the Cape of Good Hope. By then the white settlers, mostly Dutch, began to find an attachment to their newly settled / conquered land.
They called themselves Afrikaner or Boer, meaning framer, and they had their own language (Afrikaans) derived from 17 th Century Dutch. The colony's frontiers had also extended, leading to much conflict with native African Khoisan and Bantu peoples. Five thousand settlers were brought out from Britain in 1820 and were given farms along the eastern frontier. Most, however, became townsmen, and traders. A few settled farther to the north in the land of the Zulus, which is now Durban.
Although their main army had not been defeated, the Zulus realized that their weapons and war tactics were no match for gunmen on horses. In 1840, his brother Mpande had overthrown Dingane. His son Cetshwayo succeeded Mpande in 1872. The British wished to control the Boer republics and decided to make the Zulu nation submit to British rule.
They annexed the Transvaal in 1877, supporting false Boer land claims against the Zulus. This unfair treatment so angered Cetshwayo; he began to enlarge his army. A British commander arrived, demanding that the Zulu army be dismissed and that a British diplomat reside there to enforce British rule. Cetshwayo would not meet these demands and in January 1879, the British invaded the Zulu nation. Despite their use of spears against the British guns, the Zulus put up one of the greatest fights of resistance on the continent, stopping almost wiping out what was considered the greatest European army of the day. So fierce a resistance did the Zulus put up that even their enemies were forced to acknowledge their skills.
Benjamin Disraeli said, "A remarkable people the Zulu. They defeat our generals, convert our bishops, and put an end to a great European dynasty. " Unfortunately in July, the Zulus were defeated at Ulundi. Cetshwayo was exiled and his kingdom was divided into thirteen chiefdom's ruled by chiefs trusted by the British. The Zulus however did not accept them and rebellious wars continued. Cetshwayo even visited London and met Queen Victoria in 1822. Insisting to be treated as an equal monarch, he attracted large crowds wherever he went.
Disdainful of the spectacle he told the Europeans who gawked at him, "I do not care to be made a show of. If English people have never seen a black man before I am sorry. I am not a wild beast; I did not come here to be looked at. " Cetshwayo was restored as ruler in 1883, but the troubles of his people did not end. Nevertheless, today Zulus recognize Zwelithini Goodwill, the descendant of Mpande and Cetshwayo, as their king, even though there is no longer an independent Zulu kingdom. The resistance that fueled the Zulu wars would remain to fight the new South Africa and its history of Apartheid. Warrior-king of the Zulu, Shaka was born in 1787 to Senzangakona, a Zulu chieftain, and Nandi, an orphaned princess of the Langeni clan.
At age six, Senzangakona and Nandi separated. Nandi took Shaka with her back to the Langeni. Around 1802, the Langeni drove Nandi and her son out and she found shelter with the Dletsheni, a subclass of the Mtetwa. When Shaka was 23, Dingiswayo, the Mtetwa chieftain, called up Shaka's age group for military service.
As a young man serving in the army of Dingiswayo, Shaka's acts of bravery won him Dingiswayo's admiration. Upon Senzangakona's death, Dingiswayo gave Shaka the military assistance to ascend to power. It was Shaka's aim to rule all Africans. Shaka implemented a new system of military organization that incorporated regiments from defeated tribes. When a chiefdom was conquered it became a territorial segment of Shaka's kingdom-at-large.
The warriors became a part of his royal army and were drilled and fought beside combatants from other chiefdom's. To maintain his royal army, Shaka established military towns and provided his army with the best training and provisions. He demanded the strictest of discipline and perfection from his regiments. His soldiers were required to remain celibate during their period of enlistment. Any violation of this rule was punished by death. He also killed any soldier that exhibited signs of fear.
Shaka also revolutionized the Zulu army's weaponry and its military tactics. He perfected several complex battle formations that outflanked and confused his enemies. It was customary for Zulu warriors engaged in battle to throw their spears and retreat. Shaka considered this method both unsatisfactory and cowardly. Shaka therefore designed a short handled stabbing spear, an "assegai", allowing his men to retain their weapons and advance right up to their enemies behind protective shields.
Shaka unified many tribes of the South African region and his efforts are directly credited with saving that region from European domination during his lifetime. Shaka met with a violent death at the age of forty-two at the hands of his half-brothers. He was repeatedly stabbed to death and his body was thrown to the vultures. At Isandlwhana, the British were encamped in an unaltered formation - which was to lead to their destruction. This column was under the command of Col. Pulliene and served as logistics camp to the advanced column of Lord Chelmsford who was moving towards the Zulu king's kraal at Ulundi.
The colors, as near as I can place them were near Pulliene's HQ at the start. The Zulu Impi (as their army was called) had outmaneuvered the British who were basically arrogant about their foes. They didnt believe the Zulus would or could literally march over a mountain range to fall on their unprotected rear areas, but that is exactly what they did do! A younger Zulu warrior could run for over 20 miles and still fight a battle when he arrived and the Zulus were some of the finest light infantry ever in military history. The main impi did just that - marched over a mountain and got in between the two British columns. Napoleon would have been quite pleased with this maneuver that he called "the strategy of the central position." The British did not know where the main impi was and the Zulus had detached some regiments (organized by age grouping BTW) to draw Chelmsford closer in to their kraal.
The British cavalry units, largely Natal Native Contingent, were all over the place trying to find the main body of Zulus. One troop of British cavalry while chasing down a herd of beef driven by some Zulus for food discovered the main body not long after they had crossed the mountains resting in a valley. They did not plan to attack until the next day but seeing their discovery they charged out of the valley after the fleeing troopers who fought a withdrawing skirmish back towards the main camp at Isandlwhana. With the sound of gunfire the camp called "stand to" and formed lines of battle to the Northwest to East of the camp area with the regular infantry and the NNC infantry. Pulliene also had two howitzers (7 pounders) and a rocket battery as support.
The Zulus drove the cavalry patrol back to the camp and formed along a low ridge overlooking it. The 1700 or so British and native troops must have about died when they saw the line of 20, 000 Zulus before them! The Zulu attacked in a formation called "the horns of the buffalo" which was a disciplined formation designed to bait their foe into assaulting their center and then the "horns" would close around the foe and flank and envelop his sides for annihilation. The Zulu...
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