Great Celebrities in Ancient History: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu King Shaka

Life's Hard Knocks

One of the most fascinating leaders of early Africa was Shaka, born in 1786 and died in 1828. Some people have called him a conqueror and despot. His story was that of being brought-up the hard way. His mother Nandi, who was seduced by a chieftain called Senzangakhona, was broiled in scandal about their love affair. When the chief of Elangeni, closely related to the Zulu clan, died, he left one his children, a strong-willed Nandi orphaned, caught the eye of Senzangakhona. They could not get married because Senzangakhona's mother was from the Elangeni people, and he already had two wives. Nonetheless, as a chieftain, he had no qualms flirting and flaunting the rule of exogamy respected among the clans. Shaka's father and mother were blood relatives, and their relationship was frowned-upon by both clans. When Nandi became pregnant, the clan was feeling humiliated because they had expected that the chief would show better judgement. When Shaka's mother asked the chief senzangakhona to send for her, the elders sent back a word that this was not a case of pregnancy but that her child was an 'ishaka' (a convenient intestinal beetle on whom menstrual irregularities were usually blamed) The chief sent fro her and made her his third wife around 1787. The presence of Nandi created a lot of friction around the kraal.

As a growing-up herdboy, Shaka lost a pet goat of his father, and his father, because of the pressure from the clan, sent her packing along with Shaka and his sister, back to her Elangeni people. Their stay with her mother's people was very disastrous for all them. They eLangeni people felt disgraced by her and they were forced to return the chiefs dowry, and her stubborn personality did not help better their situation whilst living with them. For the next ten years, Shaka looked after the cattle and was abused, taunted, beaten and tormented by his peers. They used to make fun of is crinkly ears and his short and stumpy phallus. He grew up alone, fatherless and very bitter. He was intelligent, and this was fueled by the abuse and meanness around him to make himself better. He was also conscious of his royal blood and the ordinariness of his tormentors. He retained a deadly hatred for the people of Elangeni until his death. They would later regret it very much, because Shaka never forgot about it.

He grew up to become a very hardened and unfeeling person. In the 1802 a heavy famine struck the area and they were thrown out of the people of Elangeni, and his mother too, was seen as quarrelsome, both were turned adrift, they went to live Shaka's grandfather, Gedeyana. He grew into puberty and was beginning to show signs of physical prowess, and both the Zulus and the eLangeni people vied for his return and services where, because of more family strife, they chased them out. Finally, Shaka's father, asked a headman of the Mtetwa clan, Ngomane, to give them a home, which Ngomane did, and was very kind to Shaka and his mother and sister. Shaka never forgot that, and when he became the supreme ruler of the Zulu people, he made Ngomane his second in command. It has been told that only two people mattered and were loved by Shaka, his mother and Ngomane. After seven years living with Ngomane, Shaka was put into the service of Dingiswayo, a famous Mtetwa chief, and when his father, Senzangakhona wanted him, and Shaka was due for his puberty ceremony, Shaka's arrogance and hostility caused them to have a very serious and horrible quarrel.

Shaka grew to six feet and three inches, and he earned his first cow for killing a leopard on a tree. He learned how to throw a light spear. He did not like the light throwing spear, so he redesigned it into an offensive weapon, with a sort handle and a broad blade. His shield was also made and offensive weapon of his shield, hooking with it left edge over the left edge of his opponents shield, spin his foe to the right with a powerful backhand sweep, Shaka's left was covered, and his opponent off balance and askew, could find no opening for his spear, hampered by his own shield which has been dragged across his front. The shield dragged the left arm over with it and turned his left armpit to Shaka, who could sink his spear in it in a movement that was a natural continuation of the shield hooking. As the victim slid off the assegai blade, Shaka would shout, "Ngadla!(I have eaten)." He threw away his ox-hide sandals, he hardened his feet on rocks and thorns, which added to his speed and surety of his footing in battle. These were the technique he developed earlier on, and he would later apply them to his Zulu army.

The Zulu War Mean Machine

Under the Mtetwa clan, as a young soldier and leader, Shaka defeated and slew The Buthelezi Clan under Pungashe. He was awarded with a herd of cattle and was given charge of the Izicwe. He was also allowed to partake in the councils where they re-made the policy for military expeditions, and he taught his army ho to advance with their shields held at a proper angle at a proper angle. He created the Udibi , boys who were fifteen or sixteen, and they were used to herd the cattle. One to every three warriors were assigned the role of carrying sleeping mats, cooking pots, extra assegai and small amounts of grain and water. Senzangakhona was summoned to the court of Dingiswayo and it was suggested to him to make Shaka the chief after his death, at that time Senzangakhona was old and fat. But is great wife, Mkabai, dissuaded him into appointing Shaka, and she suggested her eldest son to be chief-Senzangakhona agreed with her. In the Council with Mtetwa, Shaka was now known as a ferocious warrior, but in the council knew him as a sage, giving sound and quiet advice which Dingiswayo, the Mtetwa chief approved-of. Shaka's concern was with the morale of his soldiers, a trait he learned from Dingiswayo and passed-on to his soldiers. When Senzangakhona died in 1816, Dingiswayo sent Shaka(who was now twenty-nine) to the Zulu kraals with a strong regiment of Izicwe . When the Great Wife put her son on the throne, Shaka came, had him killed and took the reins of a clan that had not seen him since he was six(more or less a quarter century had passed) and he rebuild the nation into one of the most powerful nations on earth. It was at this time, Shaka's younger half brother, Dingane, came along to dispute the chieftainship. Shaka met him and did not kill him, which was one of the most fatal mistakes Shaka ever made.

Shaka built a new kraal which he called kwaBulawayo(at place of He Who Kills, or the Killing Place). He improved the material culture and social system of the Zulus. Shaka started building the Zulu Army from scratch. He formed Izicwe into a standard formation requiring four groups, and these four tactical groups could be formed into numerous subdivisions. The strongest of these was the "chest," the one that closed in once onto the enemy and held it fast. The other two were the "horns" that surrounded the enemy until their tips met The fourth group was the reserve and known as the "loins," and they were placed behind the chest and remained seated with their backs to the fight so as not to become excited. This all depended on several movements which were carried-out over broken ground at top speed, silently while maintaining perfect formation and alignment. He then let the Izicwe to go back to the Mtetwas and proceeded to form the Amawombe composed of old men with head rings and married. He allowed them to keep their wives but built them a new kraal (by then he had executed and persecuted all those who had treated him and his mother, and abused him in his childhood,and those who treated Nandi badly Nandi, and had called him an iShaka). T he thirty year olds with a headring but not yet married were banded together and called uJubingqwana (The of the Headring Ukase), made them shave and they were made boys again). The rest of the mature men were created into a regiment, and since they were not so many, were brigaded into the izimPohlo (Bachelor boys' Brigade) Those who were left, were the herdboys who were fresh from the years tending cows and sheep, and the youngest of the bachelors, who had just come from being herdboys themselves, and he fashioned the uFasimba (The Haze and or Shaka's Own). These were the soldiers he trained in the methods of fighting he used earlier on in his career. He greatly relied on them and they became a prototyped for all the regiments he created thereafter. Shaka drilled his men very hard, taught them movements until they could cover fifty miles in a day. He made his army discard the sandals from cow skin. It is reported that European soldiers could cover up to fifteen miles on a paved road in a day. Shaka always led by example, and his soldiers learned songs and war cries, made various ornaments fashioned from feathers and fur, thus creating their own uniforms. Shaka never married.

He started attacking the smaller clans and rounded up all the young men. Most of them submitted without a fight. He used many deceitful techniques like bunching his army, and made his men carry their shields which made the enemy think they were few in number until when the horns raced out, then the men turned their shields towards the enemy, and his army would seem to double in an instant. His army would smash into the enemy, who when they ran into the women and children standing nearby to watch the fight, they would be butchered there too. By 1817, Shaka had grown and increased the Zulu population to four times its size. When he started, his army was made of 350 men. Now he had 2,000 trained men and those in uFasimba numbered more than 800 men. He did not allow three of his regiments to marry and they were forced into celibacy. Shaka, by then, was able to form other regiments provided for by the captives his four regiments. The ranks of his army swelled, and they still retained their original names. As the newcomers were incorporated into the Zulu army, they were subjected to Zulu drill and discipline.

Shaka's Attempt to Create one Zulu Nation

As Shaka became more respected by his people, he was able to spread his ideas with greater ease. Because of is background as a soldier, Shaka taught the Zulus the most effective way of becoming powerful quickly was by conquering and controlling other clans. His teachings greatly influenced the social outlook of the Zulu people. The Zulu nation soon developed a "warrior mindset", which made it easier for Shaka to consolidate his armies. Shaka's hegemony was primarily based on military might, smashing and incorporating scattered remnants into his own arm. He supplemented this with a mixture of diplomacy and patronage, incorporating friendly chieftains, including Zihandlo of the Mkize clan, Jobe of the Sithole clan and Mathubane of the Thuli clan. These people were never defeated in battle by the Zulus. they did not have to be because Shaka won them over by subtler tactics of patronage and reward. The ruling Qwabe clanm for example, began re-inventing ther genalogies to give the impression that Qwabe and Zulu were closely related in the past, and in this was a greater cohesion was created, which, if one knows Zulu history, was not far from the truth, because each clan emerged, as far as Zulu lore goes, from 'isigodi' area,in accordance to the clan name.

After killing Sigujana, Shaka was accepted by the Zulus and still recognized Dingiswayo and his larger Mtehtwa clan as overlord and Shaka returned to the Zulu clan. some years later, Dingiswayo was ambushed by King Zwide of the Amadnwandwe and killed. Ot has often been postulated that Shaka betrayed Dingiswayo, but this was not true because the Zulu core had many-a-times retreated form the Mthetwa incursions, and the Mthethwa were the most aggressive of the whole Zulu peoples, and the whole Sub-region of South Africa.

Shaka was abe to form an alliance with the leaderless Mthetwa clan and was able to establish himself among the Qwabe, after Phakathwayo was overthrown with relative ease. With the Qwabe, Mkhize and Hlubi support, Shaka was finally able to summon a force capable of resisting the Ndwandwe(of the Nxumalo clan)/ .He was able to destroy Zwide of the Ndwandwe clane at the Battle of Gqokli Hill, and it was where he was able to hone and improve their encirclement tactics.(Donald Morris)

Another decisive fight eventually took place on the Mhlatuze river, at the confluence with the Mvuzane stream. In a two-day running battle, the Zulus inflicted a resounding defeat on their opponents. Shaka then led a fresh reserve some seventy miles to the royal kraal of Zwide, ruler of the Ndwndwe clan, and destroyed it. Zwide escaped with a handful of followers before falling foul to Quen Mjani, the ruler of the Ba-pedi clan. Zwide died mysteriously afterwards. Shaka's General, Soshangane (of the Shangaan) moved northwards to what is now Mozambique to inflict further damage on less resistant foes and took advantage of slaving opportunities, obliging the Portuguese traders to give tribute to him

Shaka moved on into the Hlubi(Xhosa clan) under Matiwane and after a week's long battle, the Hlubis, in 1823, were defeated and they broke-up into smaller bands. Manthatisi continued up north and kept on engaging the Basotho, who, under their leader, Moshoeshoe, who had gathered about 2,000 of his people onto the mountain top called Thaba Bosiu (Mountain of the Night) This plateau had only three access trails and on top a 150 acre of pasture. Moshoeshoe instructed his people to supply large boulders which he rolled down the mountain on the Manthatisi attackers, whom he finally defeated in 1852, under the leadership of Sikonyela, Manthatisi's son. Moshoeshoe also gave Matiwane, his enemy sanctuary after he was overrun by the British, the Boers and 18,000 Tembu soldiers. Finally,Matiwane got homesick and went back to Shaka, who in the end killed him. There was an African Queen or the Basothos(the baTlokwa stock) fought the amaHlubi by lining up unarmed children and women, causing the amaHlubi to run. Shaka went south up to the great Kei River and very close to British Kaffraria, where he nearly perilously close to British and Boer regulars. They had a close brush with the Griquas, who had clashes with Manthatisi and her people until she veered north into the African hinterland, where her power declined. These wars and movement of populations caused total chaos in the interior. Many clans crumbled and ran, mostly to the south of the country, where they came across the Xhosa people who were embroiled in wars with the Europeans in what was dubbed the Frontier Wars. The whole region was in total chaos and was known as the "Difaqane" in Sotho language or in Zulu language "Mfecane"(Scattering or wanderings). This was a time of cannibalism and no one dared built kraals nor tilled the land. The whole landscape was strewn with rotten carcasses and bones, and there was general chaos and disorder everywhere.

Shaka was pursuing Dingiswayo's Grand Design: this was a dream of political union of the whole country. Shaka had this idea too, but he blindly struck out at the smaller clans or smaller nations throughout the country. He waged war for the sake of war and with Dingiswayo's idea in mind. The Zulus became rich form the hundred of thousand of cows his army brought back from the raids. He also waged war so that his army did not become idle. In 1822 he invaded Natal. Because of this push, hundreds of thousands of refugees streamed and spread southwards and right up to the Tugela River. Shaka sent his General Mzilikazi to attack Moshoeshoe, who defeated him and Mzilikazi, and then betrayed Shaka by creating his own Matebele nation and headed north where he got entangled with the Boers who ended defeating him in 1836. By 1820, four years into his reign, and at age thirty-four, Shaka was ruling the land the size of France. His people were wealthy. His enemies had been subdued, and his people began fighting amongst themselves. He put thousands to death. Ngomane and his mother tries hard to dissuade him from slaughtering people. When his mother died, 7,000 people were put to death. Among the dead were those who did not cry or came to his royal city to mourn.

Henry Fynn writes about these period as follows:"After his mother passed away, Shaka went into his hut, and came out wearing his full war regalia. He was crying and he let out some frantic yells. The signal was enough. The chiefs and people, to the number of about fifteen thousand, commenced the most dismal and horrid lamentations. The people from the neighboring kraals, male and female, came pouring in, each body as they came in sight, at a distance of half a mile, joining to swell the terrible cry. Through the whole night it continued, none daring to rest or refresh themselves with water; while at short intervals, fresh outbursts were heard as more distant regiments approached. The morning dawned without any relaxation, and before noon the number had increased to about sixty-thousand. The cries now became indescribably horrid. Hundreds were lying faint from excessive fatigue and want of nourishment; while the carcasses of forty oxen lay in a heap, which had been slaughtered as an offering to the guardian spirits of the clan. At noon the whole force formed a circle with Shaka in the center, and sang a war song,which afforded them some relaxation during its continuance. At the close of it, Shaka ordered several men to be executed on the spot; and the cries became, if possible, more violent than ever. No further orders were needed; but, as if bent on convincing their King of their extreme grief, the multitude commenced a general massacre. Many of them received the blow of death while inflicting it on others, each taking the opportunity of revenging his injuries, real or imaginary. Those who could no more force tears from their eyes- those who were found near the river panting water- were beaten to death by others who were mad with excitement. towards the afternoon, I calculated that no fewer than seven thousand people had fallen in this frightful indiscriminate massacre. the adjacent stream to which many had fled exhausted to wet their parched tongues, became impassable from the number of dead corpses which lay on each side of it; while the kraal in which the scene took place, was flowing with blood." These were some of the cruel indiscretions Shaka indulged in to the consternation of his close cohorts, family and nation.

Shaka in Regalia

Flynn, in 124, wrote: "On the following morning we were requested to mount our horses and ride to the King's kraal. On our arrival, we found him sitting under a tree, in the act of decorating himself. He was surrounded by about two hundred people, a servant standing at his side, and holding a shield over him to keep the glare of the sun from him. Round his forehead he wore a turban of otterskin, with a feather of a crane erect in front, full two feet long. Earrings of dried sugar cane, carved round the edge, with white ends, and an inch in diameter, were let into the lobes of the ears, which had been cut to admit them. From shoulder to shoulder he wore bunches, three inches length, of skins of monkeys and genets, twisted like the tails of these animals, and hanging half down the body.

Round the ring of the head... were a dozen bunches of the red feathers of the loorie, tastefully tied to thorns which were stuck into the hair. ARound is arms were white ox-tails, cut down the middle so as to allow the hairs to hang about the arm, to the number of four each. Round the waist, a petticoat, resembling the Highland plaid, made of skins of monkeys and genets, and twisted as before described, having small tassels round the top, the petticoat reaching to the knees, below which were white ox-tails to fit around the legs, so as to hang to the ankles. He had a white shield with a single black spot, and an assegai. While he was thus dressing himself, the people proceeded as on the day before, to show droves of cattle, which were still flocking in, and repeatedly varying the scene by dancing and singing. Meanwhile, it became known to us that Shaka had ordered that a man standing near us should be put to death, for what crime, we could not learn: but we soon found it to be one of the common occurrences in the course of the day....

Shaka's Murder

Nine years into his reign, his brother, Dingaan, and some of Shaka's domestic workers plotted on killing him. The Zulu people were growing restive, and Shaka had sent out his army to go further inland and destroy, capture women and youth and cattle, that some were beginning to run away from his kingdom. When Shaka had sent his army of more than 20,000 up north, his brothers Mhlanga and Dingaan feigned illness, and Mbopa, their cousin, was told to tell Shaka that the two were sick. Shaka said nothing in response, and the two were able to plan their attack of Shaka. They crept into his hut and stabbed him as he sat net to the fire. John Stuart said about Shaka: "In his own unenviable carrier of unbridled ferocity, celerity and cunning, he stands alone and unrivaled; whilst among barbarians in strategy and tactics, and executive capacity he is again probably without a peer. He, in short, seems to have turned a page, albeit a dark one, that no mortal, white, red, yellow, brown or black, has ever before managed quite to turn. In that sense he is, I should say, at the head of all other despots. He shows what an able man in power can accomplish, once his passions and ambitions have free play and opportunity serves." Shaka had a heart of a lion, and this, was devastating combined use of military skill of Caesar and Napoleon, the organizing genius of Alexander the Great, the Stern discipline of Lycurgus, the inflexibility of Bismarck, and the destructive power and force of Attila.

The story of Shaka has even more gory and horrible details of what he did coming from authors like Theal, Cory, Eric Walker, Arthur Keppel-Jones, Eileen Krige, Stow, De Kiewiet, James Stuart and many more, we are able to catch the glimpses of a ruler who was so great that he only lost one war, and ruled by fear and total war. There is more about Shaka that it needs to be written about, that it will form one other upcoming part about Shaka and his rule. When Dingaan and his cabal had stabbed him and he lay dying, it's been reported that he said that, "Yes, I can see that you have betrayed me and are killing me; but, know this fact, I can see the one with ears made to shine by the sun, and they will be the ones who will rule this land." He was right because Dingaan, although he defeated the British at the war of Isandlwane , he was finally defeated by the Boers at the battle of Blood River, so named because the blood of the dead Zulus made the river red.

Shaka has been credited with the initial develoopment of the famous "bufalo horns" formation. It was composed of three elements:

1. The main force the "chest", closed with the enemy Impi(force) and pinned it in position.
2. The "horns", while the enemy Impi(force) was pinned by the "chest". would flank the Impi from both sides and encircle it; in conjunction with the "chest" they would then destroy the trapped force.
3. The "loins", a large reserve, was placed, seated, behind the "chest" with their back to the battle. The "loins" would be committed wherever the enemy Impi threaten to break out of the encirclement.

A number o historians have argued and correctly so, that Shaka changed the nature of warfare in southern Africa from a ritualized exchange of taunts with minimal loss of life in a true method of subjugation by wholesale slaughter of the opposition. By the time of his assassination in 1828, he had made the Zulu Kingdom the greatest power in Southern Africa and a force to be reckoned with , even against Britain's modern army in 1879, known as the Batlle of Isandlwana. Shaka was the greatest military commander to come out of Africa. At the time of his death, Shaka was a ruler of over 250,000 people and he could muster more than 50,000. He ruled for ten years before he was murdered.