Visitors wishing to gain insights into the fascinating history of the Zulu people have several options:
  • They can visit one several excellent Zulu cultural villages - Shakaland and KwaBhekithunga in Nkwaleni valley, Simunye Zulu Lodge in the Melmoth area or Umuzi outside Ulundi.
  • They can hire a guide to take them to the cultural sites of the region, or
 • They can take a self-guided excursion of the various heritage sites listed below.
The Valley of the Kings - on the R34 beyond Melmoth - was the home of several clans who played a significant role in the formation of the Zulu kingdom. Besides being the birthplace of Shaka, the graves and royal capitals of four Zulu kings are located in this valley.
The beautiful and fascinating royal residences of King Dingane at uMgungundlovu and of King Cetshwayo at oNdini have been partially reconstructed and include small site museums. They give a fascinating insight into life in the Royal palaces of the kings and are both highly recommended.

The Spirit of eMakhosini: A symbolic traditional Zulu beer pot on a beaded ring marks the entrance to the Valley of the Kings. It is surrounded by sculptured horns and tusks of animals once found in this area. It is a useful starting point for your tour as it has panoramic views of the historic valley.

After assassinating his brother Shaka in 1828, Dingane became king of the Zulus and established his capital at Mgungundlovu in the Valley of the Kings. Extensive information of this most impressive of Zulu royal residences exists and is based on the detailed observations and drawings of white traders and missionaries who visited King Dingane.
In its layout, Mgungundlovu was oval in shape and consisted of between 1 400 and 1 700 traditional grass huts. These stood in rows six to eight deep, enclosing a huge open area known as the large cattle kraal or parade ground where the king inspected his army and cattle and officiated during rituals and festivals. A strong palisade of stout timbers protected the sweep of huts on the outside, though the inner palisade was not as robust and would have consisted in part of reeds or thatching grass.

Directly opposite the main entrance about 600m away on the higher slope was the isigodlo - the highly protected Royal Enclosure.
Here King Dingane kept about 500 women, divided into two groups. About 100 women formed the black isigodlo and they consisted of the women in the Royal Family - step-mothers, favoured maids-of-honour and concubines. If the king had any wives, they too would have lived in the black isigodlo. The only outsider who could freely enter the black isigodlo was the king - anyone who entered without being summoned was executed.
The remainder of the women - those who had not caught the eye of the king or who were servants - lived in the white isigodlo. Should there have been royal children, they too would have lived in the white isigodlo.
All the gates to the isigodlo were shut tight at night, and the king was the only male to sleep within its precincts. King Dingane's Great Hut where he held audience stood in this area and was unusually large and lofty with 10 pillars to support it.
The Great Hut could accommodate as many as 50 people and was a supreme example of the hut-builder's art. The king also had a smaller, more private 'bachelor' hut where he normally ate and slept. It had one pillar, decorated by maids-of-honour who entwined it from top to bottom with intricate patterns of red and white beads.
The maids-of-honour wore nothing except a few strings of opaque red and amber beads and wristlets of pure white beads. When they left the isigodlo to bathe in the stream, they were always accompanied by armed men. Anyone who met them on the path had to move aside quickly and fall face down in the grass lest he should look at them and be killed for his temerity. Similarly, people summoned into the isigodlo, including servants, kept their eyes carefully averted.
The women themselves - secluded and pampered since servant girls and widows did all the domestic chores - grew exceedingly fat and unfit, perspiring heavily onto the mats where they spent their days, anointing themselves with fat from the heavy tails of sheep. King Dingane particularly favoured the fat young women with pretty faces, and of an evening he especially enjoyed laying near the entrance to his hut with about 100 women singing loudly to him, their animated songs filling the air for many kilometres around.
Because of their corpulence they did not stand or dance as did other women when they sang, but sat on the ground and went through the usual movements with their arms only, becoming increasingly exhausted as the King demanded one song after another.

An artist's impression of the interior of Dingane's Great Hut with the King relaxing while his maids-of-honour sing for him.

When the Boers returned in late 1838 to exact revenge for the massacre of Pieter Retief and his followers as well as the subsequent attacks on Boer camps at Bloukrans and Weenen, King Dingane fled Mgungundlovu after ordering that the capital be burnt down.
In recent years, parts of the massive royal enclosure and military barracks which housed about 7 000 people, have been reconstructed. Archaeological excavations have uncovered the charcoal remains of the enclosure's outer palisade and have also revealed many of the dwellings' original mud-and-dung floors which had been baked hard by the fire.
One of the uncovered floors has a diameter of about 10m and was surrounded by the charred remains of 22 structural posts. The sheer size of the structure - thought to be the biggest ever built in traditional Zulu style - as well as the remains of a unique butterfly-shaped hearth (much like the one mentioned by early visitors to Mgungundlovu) indicate that this was, indeed, the king's residence.