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| Senzangakhona,
is chief of a small clan known as the Zulu. Shaka is born near present-day Melmoth sometime in the mid-1780's. His mother, Nandi, is a member of the eLangeni tribe and his father is Senzangakhona. Shaka's parents' marriage fails and Nandi is forced to take refuge amongst the Mthethwa clan. |
1780 |
The
social system of the Nguni people is based on a network of numerous
clans, each numbering no more than 1 000 in population and occupying
no more than
about 2 000 hectares. The people survive on subsistence farming with the womenfolk responsible for the growing of crops such as maize, sorghum, pumpkins and beans while the men build the distinctive beehive homesteads woven with saplings and grass. Their most important task is to tend their herds of cattle which provide meat and milk. |
| Shaka is taken under the wing of Dingiswayo, the powerful leader of the Mthethwa, and proves himself as a promising young soldier. | 1800
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| Senzangakhona
dies and Shaka is named Chief of the Zulu. Shaka immediately imposes a ramrod discipline over his troops and develops innovative battle strategies. |
1816 |
It is said his men can march over 80 kms in under 24 hours with no food and little water and then still fight a full-scale battle. |
| 1819 |
After Shaka's victory against his fiercest rivals at the Battle of Gqokli Hill, more and more clans tender their allegiance to the Zulu clan and call themselves Zulu.
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| Shaka's influence extends to the foothills of the Drakensberg and uMzimkhulu river in the south. | 1824 |
British
settlers establish a base at Port Natal (Durban) and thrive under
Shaka's protection, hunting for ivory and trading with the Zulus. |
| Nandi
dies of dysentry and this is followed by a period of mourning
during which thousands of people are reportedly killed. Resistance to his rule develops within the Royal Family. |
1827 |
Shaka
moves his capital to kwaDukuza (Stanger) to increase his authority
south of the Thukela River. |
| Shaka
is assassinated by his two half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana. Dingane is declared the new king. |
1828 |
King
Dingane is obliged to embark on an extensive purge of pro-Shaka
chiefs in order to secure his position. |
| 1837 | The
Voortrekkers, of Dutch descent, begin arriving on the western boundaries
of the Zulu kingdom on their trek away from the Cape colony. This
leads to a series of small skirmishes. |
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| Piet Retief, a Voortrekker leader, and his followers are killed at Mgungundlovu following negotiations over land concessions with Dingane. | 1838 | The
Voortrekkers, seeking vengeance on Dingane, engage the Zulu army
in the Battle of Blood River (the Ncome River), leaving over 3 000
Zulu soldiers dead and four Voortrekker men wounded. |
| With the aid of the Voortrekkers, Dingane's half-brother Mpande leads a successful revolt against Dingane, who is forced to seek refuge north of uPhongolo river. | 1840 | Dingane
is assassinated near the present-day border with Swaziland by members
of the local Nyawo clan. |
King
Mpande establishes his royal residence at kwaNodwengu
on the Mahlabathini plain. |
1850 | Mpande
opens Zululand to Christian missionaries and allows Hans
Schreuder of the Norwegian
Missionary Society to establish a station near the mouth of
Mhlatuze River. |
| The
Zulu nation is threatened by civil war over the the issue of succession. Mpande's sons clash at the bloody Battle of Ndondakusuka on the banks of the Thukela river. Cetshwayo is victorious but thousands - including six of the king's sons - are slaughtered or drown. Historians regard this as the bloodiest battle ever fought on South African soil. |
1856 | Natal
becomes a British colony
with Thukela River as its border with Zululand. |
| Mpande, now old, ailing and unable to walk, names Cetshwayo as his heir-apparent and Cetshwayo takes increasing control of the Zulu Kingdom. | 1861 | Cetshwayo
establishes John Dunn as
his 'white chief' on the coastal region between the Thukela and
Mhlatuze rivers. |
| Mpande
dies at the age of 74 and Cetshwayo is proclaimed the new king. King Cetshwayo moves his capital to Ondini. |
1872 | Tensions
develop over land disputes along the western boundaries with the
Boer settlers. |
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1877 | Britain
annexes the Transvaal Boer Republic and inherits the inflammatory
border disputes between the Boers and the Zulus. |
| Following
a series of border incidents, Cetshwayo is presented with an ultimatum
by the British calling for the disbanding of the Zulu army and the
subservience of the Zulu king to the British. The Zulu army prepares for war. |
1878 | John
Dunn deserts Cetshwayo and takes refuge in Natal. |
| Cetshwayo ignores the ultimatum deadline date and the following day British forces invade the Zulu Kingdom.
The war continues for another 6 months until King Cetshwayo is defeated at the Battle of Ulundi and he flees his capital.
|
1879 | One
of the first battles of the Anglo-Zulu War ends in a victory for
the Zulu at Isandlwana. Some 1 300 British soldiers are slaughtered.
Cetshwayo's
capital Ondini and other royal homesteads in the area are burnt
to the ground and the Zulu army is dispersed across Zululand. |
Cetshwayo
is allowed to sail to England for an audience with Queen
Victoria to present his case. |
1882 | |
Cetshwayo returns to Zululand and is restored as monarch but with limited powers.
|
1883 | Clashes
between pro-Cetshwayo factions and the independent chiefs lead to
a bitter civil war. |
| Cetshwayo suddenly collapses and dies after eating a midday meal.
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1884 | The
true cause of his death is never ascertained. Dinuzulu's main rivals are routed at the Battle of Tshaneni along Mkhuze river but as reward for their assistance, the Boers claim a large portion of northen Zululand - including access to the sea at St Lucia. |
Britain annexes most of Zululand as a British colony with Eshowe as its capital. Dinuzulu refuses to recognise the move and Britain responds by returning his arch rival Zibhebhu to his former chiefdom. |
1887 | Administration of the new colony is to be paid by a hut tax enforced on all Zulus. Renewed unrest breaks out with Dinuzulu and his supporters taking on the British as well as their Zulu collaborators. |
| Dinuzulu is charged and found guilty of high treason and banished to the island of St Helena. | 1889 | The
colony of Zululand
is annexed to Natal. |
Dinuzulu
returns to Zululand not as king but as a chief. |
1898 | |
| Zululand
Lands Delimitation Commission opens up 40 percent of the land for
farming and commerce for white settlers. Dinuzulu is again charged with treason after the Bhambatha Rebellion against the hut tax and he is banished to a farm in the Transvaal. |
1903 | Zululand and the Boer Republic merge with Natal after the Anglo-Boer War.
In 1910 Natal becomes a province of the Union of South Africa. |
| Dinuzulu dies and is succeeded by his son Solomon, who was born on St Helena. | 1913 | The
government of the Union of South Africa denies Solomon official
recognition as the King of the Zulu. It will only recognise him
as Chief of the uSuthu clan. |
| King Solomon is succeeded at his death by his brother Arthur as regent until Solomon's son, Cyprian, comes of age in 1948. | 1933 | A renewed sense of Zulu national consciousness and pride in its pre-colonial past develops around the 20th Century royal house. |
 King
Cyprian is succeeded by his son, King Goodwill Zwelithini. |
1968 | The apartheid government sets up the homeland of KwaZulu under the leadership of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi. It later becomes a self-governing territory comprising 29 separate pockets of land with retricted power. |
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The first democratic elections are held in South Africa in 1994 and under a new constitution, the institution, role, authority and status of the Zulu monarch are recognised in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. |
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King
Shaka establishes his capital at 
Mpande,
the third of Senzangakhona's sons to rule the Zulus, is proclaimed
king.
Cetshwayo's
15-year-old-son, Dinuzulu, is proclaimed king.l |
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