The
journey to Ulundi takes the visitor to the very heart of the
old Zulu order. It was the 19th Century capital of the Zulu
kingdom at its most omnipotent and was briefly restored once
more in this role by the homeland policy of the apartheid regime.
The last battle of the Anglo-Zulu
War took place close to present-day Ulundi in 1879. Only
12 men on the British side were killed, while the Zulu were
thought to have lost up to 1 500 in the battle which effectively
ended the war, the rule of King
Cetshwayo and the independence of the Zulu kingdom.
Those killed in the battle are buried in a garden of blood-red
flowering aloes and today white stones mark the position of
the British square on the Ulundi battlefield. A picturesque
domed stone memorial bears the inscription:
"In memory of the brave warriors who fell here in 1879
in defence of the old Zulu order".
Nearby, King Cetshwayo's residence at Ondini
has been recreated on the exact site of the Royal capital following
extensive archaeological excavation and the discovery of the
original preserved mud and dung floors of the huts. In the centre
of Ulundi there is a small memorial which marks the site of
Nodwengu
- the capital and burial site of King Cetshwayo's father, King
Mpande. |
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The memorial to those killed in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War.
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