History of Shaka Zulu

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2. Born: 1787
Died: 24 September 1828, Stanger, Natal
Senzangakhona Nandi
Father Mother
Ruler of a very small chiefdom,
the Zulu.
Daughter of the
Langeni chief.
SHAKA ZULU
The relationship of Senzangakhona and Nandi seems to have been unhappy and
ended in the chieftain driving Nandi from his court.
Nandi and her son sought sanctuary in the Mhlathuze Valley of the Langeni people.
Here, growing up as a fatherless child, Shaka seems to have been the victim of
humiliation and cruel treatment by the Langeni boys.
HALF-BROTHERS:
Dingaan
Mhlangana

3. King Shaka developed a new Zulu Military system
Under his strict leadership, they became the most
powerful tribe in the history of Southern Africa.
(Autocratic rule)
Some of his developments:
(1) The assegai. He realised that the longer traditional spear was
not suitable and developed a short-handled spear for hand-to-
hand combat.
(2) The bull-horn formation. A number of regiments extending
several ranks deep formed a dense body known as the chest
(isifuba), while on each side a regiment moved forward forming
the horns. As the horns curved inward around the enemy, the
main body would advance killing all those in its way.
(3) Discipline. By means of much drilling and discipline, Shaka built
up his forces, which soon became the terror of the land.

4. King Shaka was betrayed by his own kinsmen.
He was murdered by his two half-brothers.
As the great King Shaka's life ebbed away, he called out to his
brother Dingane:
“Hey brother! You kill me, thinking you will rule, but the swallows
will do that.”
He meant the white people, because they made their houses of
mud, like the swallows and they arrived from the North. According
to members of his family, Shaka's last words were:
“Are you stabbing me, kings of the earth? You will come to an end
through killing one another.”
Hastily they buried his body in a grain-pit nearby. Having died
without an heir, Dingane succeeded him