Re: THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES. (knot kneerlie as lung as Tym's) -- Early World History, Level I

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Date Posted: 14:33:38 05/08/02 Wed
Author: Chris Zegel
Subject: Re: THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES. (knot kneerlie as lung as Tym's)
In reply to: J CURBOY 's message, "THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES." on 11:52:20 04/24/02 Wed

Chris Zegel 05/08/02

The Zulu Empire: An Enlightened Theocracy

The rise and fall of the Zulu people occurred in the blink of an eye as far as the scales of time are concerned, yet their existence leaves a lasting impression upon today�s world. In turn, such happenings can be seen as the story of a great, although short-lived empire. Strong leadership of the Zulus under Shaka brought them immense power, but as easily as it came it was taken away by both his own personal character flaws and the inevitable outside force of the whites as a people.
The Nguni people had migrated southwards across the continent of Africa with their cattle for over 1000 years. One small clan of these peoples, led by a chief by the name of Malandela, settled in the area of the Umfolozi River. Malandela and his wife, Nozinja, had two sons, Quabe and Zulu. After Malanedla died, Quabe claimed the small herd that the clan possessed for his own and so Nozinja, Zulu and a servant moved a small distance away to make a new home.
Eventually Zulu married and his lineage, all bearing the name Zulu, was Punga, Mageba, Ndaba, Jama, and Senzangakhona. The Zulu clan was quite small, and occupied only a few square kilometers of land. Senzangakhona had a brief affair with Nandi, the daughter of a neighboring chief, and she gave birth to a son, Shaka, in 1787. His name comes from uShaka, a beetle said to live in the intestines and create a bloated abdomen, such like Nandi�s pregnancy.
As a child Shaka was taunted because of his illegitimacy, but this turned him into a hardened and fearless man. When his father died, Shaka took over the role of the Zulu chief, now controlling the Zulu clan�s 1,500 people and 150 square kilometers of territory. Shaka was unwavering in his plan to take over each neighboring clan, and the ritual skirmishing that was traditionally used to settle disputes would quickly change. Shaka developed the short, large bladed stabbing spear called the asagi, and a means of employing it. He developed the battle tactic of �Chest and Horns�, where a force surrounded the enemy and eradicated them. Within eleven years Shaka had created a force of over 50,000 warriors. However, Shaka did not colonize conquered territories, but annihilated them, destroying crops, burning buildings, driving off cattle, killing or capturing the men for military service, and carrying off the women and children. As a result of this, many surrounding clans fled at the news of Shaka�s approaching army, rather than stay and be destroyed.
Shaka was a tyrannical ruler, putting both commoners and high-ranking officials to death for little or no reason. Gradually, Shaka�s people, while at first extremely fearful or their leader, became intolerant of his unjust ways and slaughter of innocents. This was known to Shaka, which only made things worse. In October of 1827 Nandi died. Shaka ordered that some people be put to death to pay respects to his mother, but as people were summarily rounded up for killing, the fear of Shaka was so great that people set upon one another in an attempt to show devotion to Nandi, and by the time it was over 7000 citizens lay dead. A year later, Shaka was killed by his half brothers Dingane and Mhlangana.
Dingane was named successor to Shaka, and ruled for a period of years. He attempted to make treaties with the English colonizers coming to the area, although did so quite tentatively. Mpande followed him, and allowed the British to have excessive power over his people. By the time he died in 1872, the Zulu people were tired of dealing with British rule. When Cetshwayo ascended to the throne, he tried in vain for six years to avoid confrontation with the British. Due to border conflicts with the Boers in the west and the English in the south, conflict seemed inevitable.
Everything erupted at once when in 1878 diamonds were discovered elsewhere in South Africa, forcing the English to take a new look at the independent African nations. They handed an ultimatum to the Zulus, and one that both parties knew could never be fulfilled. A month later, three columns of British soldiers invaded the Zulu land. Within the fist month of fighting, the British were defeated in their initial invasion. However, reinforcements and superior weaponry devastated the Zulus outright. Cetshwayo was captured and exiled to Britain, where he met with Queen Victoria. He was restored to the throne that was established as one of the thirteen chiefdoms created by the British. The Zulus were also involved with the Boer Wars of 1899-1902. Although not officially employing blacks, both sides used the men to ride transports and dig trenches. Eventually, the British incorporated them into their official army. Cetshwayo eventually died in 1882, and was succeeded by Dinizulu. He in turn ruled until 1913 when he was replaced by Soloman and then by Cyprian in 1948. The current King of the Zulus is King Goodwill Zwelethini.
After the second Boer War, the Zulus were the first people to be the subject of the white man�s rule. They were segregated and forced to abide by strict regulations. The Union of the African nations came in 1910, and the Republic of South Africa was born. In 1948, the Afrikaner ruled National Party succeeded in taking control of the South African Parliament and started disenfranchising those blacks that still had the right to vote. The policy of separateness (apartheid) was reinforced and embellished with many tyrannical acts passed by Parliament, such as the Job Reservation Act, the Mixed Marriages Act, the Group Areas Act, and many more. The black nations were split into homelands, and the Zulus into kwaZulu, comprising thirteen fragmented areas. In 1990, in response to the continued internal resistance and international sanctions, every previously banned black political party was unbanned, race laws were abolished, and political prisoners were freed. In 1994, the first democratic elections were held and the homeland of kwaZulu was dissolved. The entire province of Natal was renamed kwaZulu-Natal.
It seems like the Zulu empire seems to have followed the general form for the life of an empire quite solidly. They began as a small group of people, relatively weak, and grew in number from there. Once ruled by Shaka, the Zulu empire exploded in size and power. Under his rule, the Zulus conquered each surrounding clan, and incorporated them into their vastly growing numbers. In a matter of years the Zulus went from being nothing to being the strongest group of people on the African continent. However, just as quickly as Shaka brought the Zulus to power, he managed to overuse his rule and destroy them from the inside out nonetheless. Just as the general slope of an empire�s life rises and falls, so does the Zulu lifespan. After Shaka�s death, the Zulus were conquered by the English, and succumbed to white rule ever since. Just now in the past few years are the blacks once again starting to rise in power in modern-era South Africa, and perhaps the Zulus will rise again as a renewed power in the near future.

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[> [> Re: THE CARE AND FEEDING OF EMPIRES. (knot kneerlie as lung as Tym's) -- Chris Zegel, 07:49:44 05/09/02 Thu

HAH! Just kidding. The Zulus weren't a theocracy at all. I just emulated Tim's form without even thinking. I retract the title of my post. Just a comment... it's a real shame that it's impossible to alter posts once they've been added to the board.

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