A small clan before Shaka
South African History Online’s list of Zulu kings traces the chiefs of the Zulu clan back through Mnguni, Nkosinkulu, Mdlani, Luzumana and Malandela kaLuzumana to Ntombela kaMalandela, and then to Zulu kaNtombela, “founder and chief of the Zulu clan from ca. 1709”. After him the list names Gumede kaZulu, then his sons Phunga (died 1727) and Mageba (about 1667 to 1745, chief 1727 to 1745), then Ndaba kaMageba (chief 1745 to 1763), Jama kaNdaba (chief 1763 to 1781) and Senzangakhona kaJama (chief 1781 to 1816). The list’s dates cannot all be right: it gives Jama and Senzangakhona the same birth year, about 1757. The page names no author and cites no sources.
The Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims says that until the death of Senzangakhona the amaZulu were a small polity, a loose confederation of several communities. Wikipedia says the Zulu were a small clan within the Mthethwa confederation under Dingiswayo, and gives Senzangakhona’s father as Jama kaNdaba and his mother as Mthaniya Sibiya. Our Qwabe page records the close link between the Qwabe, through Malandela, and the Zulu royal house.
Shaka and the kingdom
Wikipedia says Nandi, daughter of Bhebhe of the eLangeni, bore Senzangakhona’s son Shaka, and that because she was not the great wife Shaka was not the heir; mother and son left. The commission records that when Shaka came to the throne in 1816 he united the amaZulu communities under him as king, taking the title ingonyama (the lion) or isilo (the leopard). He attacked and subjugated most communities, while others submitted and paid tribute, and in doing so he created the kingship of the amaZulu. Dingiswayo’s Mthethwa are described on their page, and the Ndwandwe, whom Shaka defeated, on theirs: see Ndwandwe.
The kings after Shaka
The commission records that Shaka was assassinated by his brothers Dingane and Mhlangana, and that Dingane then disposed of Mhlangana. Mpande succeeded Dingane in 1840. Mpande failed to name a successor, and his sons Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi fought at the Battle of Ndondakusuka on 3 December 1856. Mpande died in October 1872 and Cetshwayo was installed in June 1873 at the Emakheni royal village. The Anglo-Zulu War followed, with the British defeat at Isandlwana on 22 January 1879. Cetshwayo was captured and exiled, and the commission says all of KwaZulu was vested in the British Queen by right of conquest in 1879. Cetshwayo was succeeded by Dinuzulu, who was tried for high treason in 1889 and exiled to St Helena. Solomon succeeded in 1913, Cyprian was installed in 1948, and Goodwill Zwelithini was appointed on 4 December 1971 after a regency. The sources give different reign dates for several of these kings. The commission has Cetshwayo reigning from 1873, South African History Online has 1872, and Wikipedia’s infobox gives 1856, so we give the commission’s dates above.
What the commission decided
In its determination on the amaZulu paramount chief, the commission concluded that the position held by Goodwill Zwelithini Zulu “is that of king of amaZulu as a whole”. It said that since Shaka’s expansion the kingship has passed from one generation to the next through customary law and at times through usurpation, that succession disputes were resolved by the royal family council and never split the kingdom, and that colonial and apartheid administrations replaced the title of king with “paramount chief”. It also records that Zulu succession follows male primogeniture, and that the successor is usually the first-born son of the great wife. Our Zulu people page covers the present king.
Izithakazelo and totem
We have not found a published text of the Zulu royal izithakazelo we could verify, so we are not printing one. If you know the praises and can say where they come from, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Commission on Traditional Leadership Disputes and Claims: Determination on the position of the paramount chief of amaZulu (about pp. 180 to 192 of the PDF)
- South African History Online: Zulu kings
- Wikipedia: Senzangakhona kaJama and Zulu Kingdom (the Senzangakhona article is flagged as needing more citations)
Do you carry the Zulu name or know the royal izithakazelo? Tell us what you know and where it comes from, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.