Shaka zulu

Shaka

(1787-1828)

Shaka was the son of Senzangakona, a Zulu chief, and Nandi, daughter of a chief of the nearby Langeni. Conceived as a result of his parents' loss of control during uku-hoblonga, Shaka's entire life was probably shaped by this event. Not only did they violate the rules of uku-hoblonga, they transgressed the strict rule of exogamy, as Nguni kinship rules disallowed marriage or sexual relations between kindred.

Rejected by his father's clan when Nandi's pregnancy was discovered, he was pejoratively referred to as I-Shaka, "the parasite". Nandi and Shaka were deposited at Senzangakona's kraal, until they were tossed out when Shaka, at age six and becoming a herdboy, allowed a dog to kill his father's pet sheep.

In his early years, Shaka endured a series of humiliations. His father neglected him and his mother. He was scrawny and constantly ridiculed by the other boys.

Nandi took her son and a younger daughter back to her people, the Langeni, where she was less welcome than with the Zulu. Subsequently displaced because of a famine in Langeni land, Nandi moved to her aunt's kraal. Here, they were relatively happy and Shaka developed into a powerful young man. He was muscular, over six feet tall and had a commanding presence. He displayed exceptional military prowess and leadership abilities.

At age 23, he was conscripted into the Izi-cwe regiment of the army of Dingiswayo, the Mtetwa king. It was during this period that Shaka developed the fighting techniques, which made his warriors terrorize southeastern Africa.

Shaka revolutionized the ancient techniques of warfare. First, he observed that hurling the light throwing assegai at a distant enemy was mostly ineffective and was equivalent to throwing the weapon away. Shaka developed the short, stout assegai, especially designed for close combat. He converted the shield into an offensive weapon. He lengthened the shield and used it to hook that of his opponent, thus providing an opening to use his stabbing assegai. He prohibited the use of sandals, thus acquiring more mobility.

Shaka's major innovation was the battle formation known as the "cow horns". The chest was the main army comprised of the strongest warriors, which engaged the opponent immediately. The two outspread horns encircled the enemy until their points converged. The formation was further refined by the addition of the loins, comprised of the reserves who remained seated with their backs to the battle until they were mobilized. This became the distinctive Zulu battle position, which was executed as a synchronized mass movement, carried out at top speed and over rough terrain. Shaka developed and maintained a standing army with disciplined and well-trained warriors, who executed their maneuvers flawlessly and in perfect alignment. Also, he organized his regiments on the basis of the social institution of age-grades.

Dingiswayo recognized Shaka's ability as a leader, and envisioned him as a chieftain rather than a soldier. Shaka succeeded Dingiswayo, who was killed in 1818. Shaka expanded the kingdom and the army, with 50,000 well-trained warriors, was the core of the state. Where Dingiswayo resorted to war after palaver failed, Shaka was preoccupied with total annihilation of the enemy. In addition, Dingiswayo allowed the conquered chiefs to rule their people. Shaka preferred to incorporate those chiefs who submitted into the Zulu kingdom, frequently replacing them with members of his family, and killed those who did not.

Shaka's kraal was located at Bulawayo. He was the absolute monarch, the source of all power and decision-making, and every citizen swore allegiance to him. With his marauding army extending the boundaries of Zululand, Shaka was building a unified nation, with a single Zulu language. However, an element of fear pervaded this unification, which led to the dislocation of neighboring states accompanying the rise of the Zulu nation.

The mfecane, which means "crushing" in Bantu languages, began with the migrations of the northern Nguni, but was commonly associated with the military and socio-political activities of Shaka. These migrations ultimately spread through southern, central and east Africa.

These migrations sent refugees in all directions, but it accentuated the military tactics and political skills of African political leaders, giving rise to states such as Lesotho and Swazi, which are still in existence today. Military states of the mfecane, such as the Zulu and Ndebele, fell victim to European hegemony.

Additionally, the mfecane depopulated an extensive portion of southern Africa, providing the Boers with an ideal opportunity to occupy African lands. Subsequently, they entrenched themselves in these areas, annexing the best lands for themselves and enslaving the Africans.

In 1828, Shaka was assassinated by his half-brothers, including his successor, Dingane, and unceremoniously buried in a pit.

Shaka has been described as a despot and tyrant because of the many atrocities he committed against his enemies and his people. Nevertheless, through his military genius and leadership abilities, he expanded his sphere of influence from a petty chiefdom of 100 square miles to the Zulu empire, which extended over 200,000 square miles.

Shaka Zulu was a fierce warrior, brilliant military strategist, Leader expecting complete fearlessness from his warriors, and a murderous ruler. The Zulu nation today still takes pride in this revolutionary leader, who carved out the Zulu empire from simple beginnings. But Shaka was also brutal and fearless. During his reign he would execute men at will. The constant wars Shaka engaged in and the arbitrary executions eventually led to his downfall, when he was stabbed to death by a half-brother.

At the time of Shaka's birth, chief Senzangakona the ruled by the Zulu nation of probably 10,000¹. His betrothed wife, Nandi, became pregnant, but according to legend she claimed a certain intestinal beetle caused it. Soon Nandi gave birth to an illegitimate son, who was appropriately named Shaka, for beetle or parasite. In 1794 they were exiled to the Langeni.² According to stories, Shaka and his mother were constantly fighting and disliked. Shaka began to display his aggressive character in his fights with other boys.³ When his mother married and bore a son Shaka left home to be protected by the ruler of the Mthethwa.

Shaka first served as a warrior under Dingiswayo in 1809, and quickly became distinguished as a fierce warrior. Recognizing Shaka's ability, Dingiswayo made him the commander of a regiment, and in 1816, became the Zulu chief.⁴

Shaka radicalized African warfare in order to conquer effectively; during that time warfare had not been very damaging. The opposing parties would line up against each other and hurl insults. Eventually they began to throw light spears, and after a few casualties were taken the armies retired. It was designed to raid cattle, not to conquer an enemy. By replacing the light throwing spear with the heavy, short, close quarters, stabbing spear called an assegi and adding improved cowhide shields to knock aside an enemies shield⁵, Shaka made battle significantly more deadly. Also Shaka redesigned the battle formation in order to capture the enemy and slaughter him completely. Using a formation similar to the Macedonian phalanx, the Zulu armies would form a "cow horn" formation in which the flanks of the enemy were surrounded by troops while a close-formation covered by cowhide shields advanced in the center.⁶ Shaka also enforced iron discipline on his troops. Having learned to run barefoot, Shaka trained his men to do the same in order to increase speed. Anyone who showed pain could be killed as a coward. To drop a warrior's assegi meant execution.⁷

Although Shaka was successful, Dingiswayo was still his overlord until the Mfecane. At this point the Ndwandwe defeated the Mtethwa and killed Ndwandwe. Shaka took advantage of the resulting confusion called Mfecane, or "time of troubles." Absorbing the Mthethwa into his Zulu army, Shaka defeated the Ndwandwe and successfully absorbed his enemies into his army or slaughtered them.⁸

Eventually, however, Shaka's control over his empire became stressed under Shaka's ruthless rule. Chieftains unhappy to join the Zulu nation were discontent. The constant war campaigns exhausted the people. When Shaka's mother, Zandi, died, Shaka mandated that the nation mourn for her. His Mother's death so grieved him that he killed a number of people because he thought they did not show enough grief in 1827. Fearing an heir might take his kingdom away from him, Shaka killed a number of pregnant women.⁹ An assistants surgeon who visited Shaka in 1824 wrote, "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."¹⁰ Shaka's wanton murder eventually brought about his downfall.

Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's two half-brothers, assassinated Shaka in September 24, 1828 along with the help of Shaka's personal assistant.¹¹ Thus ended Shaka's short yet radical 10-year reign that is still proudly celebrated by the Zulu people.

Nkosi Bayeti (a Zulu short story)
By ~ Chanti   


Share     Print    Save    Author Tracker

A short story based on the birth of an extraordinary Zulu leader, Shaka

Her screams seemed to reverberate through the amorphous membrane of darkness to grate annoyingly upon the nerves of the hard knot of gathered women. The girl, however, was to be given no assistance through the birthing process. The women were there to act only as observers of the birth of iShaka, the 'beetle'. Grunting and panting violently, she crawled at their feet, a hand clutched to her engorged belly, copious tears mingling with the streams of red dust-stained perspiration that streaked her young body with vivid colour. The pains were close now, almost one on top of the other. Her time had come. A sudden violent contraction caused her eyes to roll back and her throat to convulse and a scream became as guttural as that of a wild animal in its final death throws.

The beautiful young maiden of the clan of Zulu bathed in a river and sang with childish abandon, completely oblivious to the intense eyes that watched from the riverbank. Her creamy coffee-coloured skin gleamed as droplets of water separated in rivulets as they ran off her taut young body. A lighter coloured skin was admired among an ebony dark people. Nandi was a rare beauty and 18-year-old Senzangakona swallowed as he stared lasciviously at her nubile 14-year-old form.

The women watched, stoically immobile and on the surface unmoved by the girl's agony and obvious panic and fear. Only the faint twitching of Sibongile's hands and the strong pulse in her neck betrayed her conflicting emotions. She and Nandi were the same age and had been childhood playmates. It was hard to relate the pretty giggling girl of then to the screaming pain-crazed creature before her. Sibongile clasped her hands tightly together and allowed her eyes to glaze over to block out the disturbing images. The abomination would soon be born and they would kill it. The customary way to do this was to take the infant by the feet and smash its head against a rock. This baby had been conceived out of wedlock - the illegitimate child of Senzangakona, a Zulu prince. He would not recognise this child because it had been conceived with a girl from what was considered to be a lesser tribe.

She gathered her isidwaba to her bruised body and rose stiffly to her feet – blood stained her tender thighs. He had been brutal but nobody had paid any attention to her screams for help. Her head held high, she walked the remaining distance from the river back to the kraal. Others averted their heads. Her virginity taken, she would not be permitted to participate in the upcoming Umkhosi woMhlanga.

Nandi clutched and clawed at Sibongile's legs, her huge dark eyes imploring and desperate but her friend remained rigid and unmoving. The 'beetle' seemed to literally be tearing her young body apart.
"Ngiyafa!" …I am dying! "Ncedani bo!" …Help me!

An elder placed her hands roughly under Nandi's armpits and dragged her away from Sibongile. She could see the girl was weakening but there would be no help. If she died in childbirth it would not be a bad thing. She was a shame to the clan of Zulu.

In a vision she saw her son high upon a hilltop; his arms thrust high in victory. A shield clasped in one hand and an assegai in the other. She heard voices raised in unison, crying, "Nkosi Bayete! Bayete Nkosi!" We salute our king.

There was a hush of silence at the moment of birth. Even the young mother in the grip of bearing down had become silent. The 'beetle', looking suspiciously like any other baby, slid from his mother's body in a sluice of blood and water. The Sangoma lifted the child by its feet while an elder cut the cord and finally ministered to the exhausted mother. The child remained silent and as frozen as an effigy.

Shaka came from a humble and harsh childhood to become the founder of the Zulu nation. Much like Genghis Khan he won his place and power through his own prowess and ability rather than any birth right. At the end of the 18th century the Zulus were a small tribe of no more than 1,500 ruled by a king called Senzangakona who met and got pregnant a woman from another clan. When she became pregnant he refused to take responsibility and said that she must have a iShaka a parasite that affects the menstrual cycle. when she gave birth the her tribe demanded that he collect her and her iShaka and hence Shaka (which is the Anglicised version) received his name in the shame of his child birth a name which he would make famous and bring great honour to. Although the Zulu chief did marry Shaka's mother it did not last and he and his mother wandered between tribes exiled until in 1803 they found haven with the Mtetwa tribe who were expanding rapidly under a skilled king. This king noticed that the young Shaka who had grown up to be skilled warrior of great strength had natural ability and he was groomed to be the future chief of the Zulus who were by now part of the Mtetwa tribe's hegemony. Shaka was given his own regiment the iziCwe Shaka reformed his regiment discarding the light thrown spear for a short broad bladed stabbing spear (assagai) and a larger cow hide shield which gave his troops the fighting style of a Roman legion. He trained his troops well and toughened them to jog over hills for up to 50 miles in a day without shoes. On the march young boys would carry gear for the warriors with one of these porters for every three warriors. He developed the classic 'Buffalo' formation which the Zulus would make their trade mark and use many years later against the British during the Zulu War. Shaka took the Zulu throne in 1816 when his father died and raised many more regiments according to age group and ability and made them live in celibacy (although he was unable to father children and possibly a homosexual). Discipline was rigid and often brutal, even lethal. Due to his childhood Shaka had tremendous aggression and bordered on being a psychopath, even after he had killed all those who had tormented him as a child. By 1817 he had 2,000 men and struck out with tremendous ruthlessness, rival tribes submitted or were massacred. When his king died Shaka was going to his aid and rallied the demoralised Mtetwa tribe at the battle of Gqokli Hill with a brilliant defensive battle. As the Mtetwa Empire crumbled Shaka stepped into the vacuum. Shaka continued his campaign of conquest now on a larger scale but with his trade mark brutality. By 1824 Shaka had an Army of 20,000 and had destroyed an area of land 100 miles wide south of Tugela. By the time of his death in 1828 he ruled 250,000 people and could put 40,000 warriors into the field having killed an estimated 2,000,000 people during his reign. He had such wealth that he bred cattle herds of the same colour and his cruelty and mass executions keep him in power until he started to overstrain his army and the unrest caused by the enforced celibacy became too much. On 23rd September 1828 his half brothers assassinated him and he died screaming for mercy. His body was quickly buried but the location is unknown but is believed to be somewhere under the Natal village of Stanger. A tremendous war leader haunted by the demons of his childhood Shaka remains one of great villains of military history although often overlooked by Eurocentric Historians.

The man who ruled over the Zulu clan at the time of their greatest glories, who had led their growth from a small clan into the dominant power of coast of south-east Africa, was called Shaka.

At the beginning of each winter the all-conquering Zulu regiments would gather in their ancestral lands to pledge themselves to new conquests with the salute: "Ngathi impi" and "Because of us, war." The man who ruled over the Zulu clan at the time of their greatest glories, who had led their growth from a small clan into the dominant power of coast of south-east Africa, was called Shaka. He was a fierce and militaristic king, contributing to the murder of a million people.

But to understand the man we know today as "King Shaka", we have to understand the driving force that made him to be the noted leader he was.

Shaka's mother was a child of a deceased chieftain of the eLangeni clan and her name was Nandi. Shaka's father was a chieftain of the small, then unknown Zulu clan and his name was Senzangakona. Three months after they had met, word reached Senzangakhona that Nandi was pregnant. A failed marriage forced Nandi to return to her tribe, but she was less welcomed there than with the Zulus. Shaka grew up fatherless among people who despised his mother and him. He grew up lonely and bitter with his only companion being his mother, whose life also was miserable. The intelligent and naturally sensitive boy knew of his royal blood and the origins of his tormentors. He harbored great hatred for them till his death.

However, in due course Shaka's physical development outstripped those of his peers and his stature became that of a true Zulu warrior. By the time he was 21 Shaka was 6' 3" tall, with a magnificently proportioned body, well muscled and with a true royal bearing. As a teenager, he showed exceptional fighting ability and bravery. At the age of 19 he single-handedly killed a leopard which was attacking the livestock.

At the age of 23, he was called to serve as a Mtetwa - warrior, and did so for the next six years. In battle, he found an outlet for his pent-up frustrations and developed his political policy. He saw battle as the one safe method of political growth and was never satisfied with a clan's submission before being taken to war.

Shaka became king of the Zulus in 1816 when he was about 30. Over the next few years he systematically attacked every independent group in the vicinity, either driving them away or absorbing them in the Zulu nation. The first people he attacked were the eLangeni.

Shaka's Zulu warriors or amabutho were truly legendary, and stories of the grueling and often cruel training are innumerable. However, Shaka never expected his men to do anything he couldn't or wouldn't do himself, and he set the example. He spared himself no luxury of a true king.

Forced marches of up to 70km a day, carrying weapons, and surviving on what they could
find in the bush, proficiency in handling their weapons, and the methods of dispatching the enemy were the order of the day. Shaka had soon discovered that the crude sandals traditionally worn by Zulu men hampered his speed and agility, and as a result the army marched, ran, and fought bare foot - on sharp stones, through thorn bush, in deep sand, rivers and every type of terrain possible. Another innovation of Shaka's was the short stabbing spear; a great improvement on the longer handled throwing assegais which broke when used against the enemy at close range.

One of the most successful of Shaka's great battle tactics was the fighting formation he devised. Known as the "horns of the buffalo", it was supremely simple. The warriors forming the "horns" encircled the enemy, while the "boss" or "chest" took on the main weight of the attack. Reinforcements were held in reserve behind the safety of the "chest".

At 23, Shaka was triumphant. His army was supreme, his followers delirious with success. Cattle, loot and women simply poured into their hands, and the once peaceful valley was too small to contain them all.

In the winter of 1823 Shaka began to build a new capital on site overlooking the valley of the Mhlatuze River. He named it kwaBulawayo ("the place of the persecuted man"). It was here that his mother, Nandi died in 1827. In grief, Shaka ordered several men executed but in the chaos, over 7,000 people died. Shaka practically ordered his clan to death by starvation in reverence to his mother. After three months, order was finally restored, but the seed of anguish against Shaka had been sowed. Shaka and his army began to go downhill, as Shaka seemed to increasingly lose touch with reality.

Towards sunset on 22 September 1828, Shaka was waiting to receive tribute from a visiting party of Tswanas. Two of his half brothers, Mhlangana and Dingane, suddenly strode into the cattle enclosure where Shaka was waiting and stabbed him to death.

The next day his corpse was bundled into ox-hide and buried, with a few of his belongings, in an empty corn pit.

Although some historians have described Shaka as a tyrant and a monster, his actions should be seen in the context in which they took place. A harsh land called for harsh measures, and Shaka was quick to use them. He ruled his kingdom fairly and in many cases with compassion. Shaka remains one of the greatest kings and warriors of our time. His legacy, to this day, still echoes and lives on.
Along the road between Eshowe and Melmoth, is the location of three excellent and increasingly popular Zulu "living museums" that offer visitors day-long and overnight "kraal experiences". The biggest is Shakaland, which was built for the TV epic Shaka Zulu and now comprises of a hotel, a kraal of 120 beehive huts (with en suite bathrooms) and other Zulu specialities.