King Cetshwayo of the Zulu Kingdom, was born in 1826 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, to Zulu king Mpande, and Queen Ngqumbazi. His son was Dinizulu. However, Shaka Zulu and Umtonga were his brothers.
In 1856, Cetshwayo demonstrated his military prowess by defeating and killing his brother Mbuyazi in a battle on the banks of the Tugela River. His strategic acumen was further evident in 1861 when he drove his brother, Umtonga, out of the Zulu Kingdom and consolidated power in his hands. His actions were not without controversy, however, as in the same year, he ordered the death of his father’s favorite wife, Nomantshali, and her children.
In 1872, Cetshwayo officially became the king of the Zulu Kingdom, a rule which lasted 11 years. His seizure of the throne was not supported by his father, Mpande, who favored a younger brother, Mbuyazi, the son of one of Shaka’s widows. During his rule, Cetshwayo established a new national capital of the Zulu Kingdon in South Africa which he called Ulundi. After the British took control of South Africa, it served as the capital of the Bantustan of KwaZulu.
Cetshwayo expanded his army to 40,000 men and readopted many methods against enemies and political rivals made famous by Shaka. Initially supported by the British, by 1877 they now saw the Zulu Kingdom as a threat to their creation of the British confederation of South Africa. Two years later in 1879, the British launched an invasion of Zululand. Underestimating the strength and tactics of Cetshwayo’s forces, he defeated them at the Battle of Isandlwana. This was a rare victory of an African nation over the British Empire.
Eventually the British had their revenge, defeating Cetshwayo in 1882 at the Battle of Ulundi, and exiled him to the British controlled Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of South Africa. Much of his kingdom was annexed which accelerated British expansion across South Africa but ironically it eventually led to conflict with the Dutch settlers in the interior which caused the Boer War from 1899 to 1902.
Despite his exile, Cetshwayo in 1882 sought support from the British government in London, England, and was granted permission to meet with Queen Victoria. He was allowed to return in 1883 to Zululand and restore his monarchy over a small part of Zululand. Even this independence was short-lived, however, as the British soon annexed the remaining part of Zululand not yet under their control.
Despite a combination of military resistance, strategic leadership, and diplomatic efforts, by 1884 King Cetshwayo was permanently removed from power. He had first tried to unite all of the Zulu People in resistance to British encroachment, but his defeat came in part because the discovery of diamonds in 1867 and gold in 1886, fueled British expansion across Southern Africa and sealed the fate of the Zulu people.
King Cetshwayo kaMpande, the last independent ruler of the Zulus, died on February 8, 1884, from respiratory complications. He was 58. In 2016, the King Cetshwayo District Municipality, a district of KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. was named after Cetshwayo.
