Page 29 - All About History - Issue 12-14

Heroes & Villains

SHAKA, KING OF THE ZULUS

A Zulu warrior charging with the iconic
short stabbing spear, the iklwa
Life in the time
of Shaka

The white settlers
During the time of Shaka, white settlers
began encroaching on the lands of the
Africans in increasing numbers. The African
tribes were forced to flee, fight or otherwise
accommodate the settlers as best they could.
Some tribes, like the Zulus, initially became
allies and trade partners with the invaders.
The Mfecane
The Mfecane or ‘crushing’ came at the end
of Shaka’s reign and was a direct result of
his constant warfare within the Natal region.
Refugees and scattered tribes were forced
out of the area and into the surrounding
landscape, creating widespread famine and the
scramble for crop-producing land led to the
killing of thousands of people.
Climate change
It is widely thought that changes in the
climate in south-eastern Africa caused the
largely peaceful farming tribes that lived in the
region, like the Nguni who became the Zulus,
to become more volatile and militaristic as
available farm land shrunk due to the weather
becoming much drier.
Zulu rites
Zulu society was highly ritualised and formed
around codes of kinship. One of these kinships
was manifested in the tribe’s military system,
where males as a rite of passage would
become a warrior with other males the same
age. When Shaka took over as king he used
this custom to expand his kingdom.
An oral tradition
Much of what we know about Shaka and his
early years comes from the rich Zulu oral
tradition, where history was repeated in stories
passed down from generation to generation
through word of mouth. It was only after
explorers came into contact with the Zulus
that their history was put down in writing.
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