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A NEW KING |
Broken Rope and a New King
The Zulu people and Zulu nation were thus split along ideological lines, the Dingane- Mpande conflict having 'broken the rope that holds the nation together'. To Mpande fell the difficult task of plaiting the nation back together and healing the rift between his followers and those of the recently killed Dingane. As with King Shaka, Dingane had left no legitimate heir to the throne and Mpande's Boer allies hailed him as 'Reigning Prince of the Emigrant Zulus'. The Mpande-Boer alliance was, however, never without mutual suspicion - the Zulu monarch foresaw a Boer land-grab, while they in turn kept vividly alive the memories of their 'Place of Weeping'.
Changing Horses
The 1842 Boer-British confrontation in Port Natal-Durban that led to Dick King's historic ride to summon reinforcements - and subsequent Boer submission to the Crown of England - also saw King Mpande switch allegiance from Boer to Brit. He signed a British-authored document naming him 'King of the Zulu Nation' and declaring the Thukela River as official Natal-Zululand boundary. Boer leaders were incensed and embarked on yet another exodus, the rigours and tragedies of their Great Trek having resulted only in further British dominion. The seeds of their War of Independence and the terrible Anglo-Boer War that followed were truly sown.
More Puppets and Purges
As was now the norm, Mpande consolidated his realm by replacing potentially threatening subordinate chiefs with his own favourites. The 'enemy within' reappeared in 1843 when the king's advisors urged him to kill his half-brother Gqugqu for harbouring aspirations to the throne. Mpande duly ordered a purge, starting with Gqugqu and his entire family, and extending to every alleged conspirator the king's henchmen could lay their hands on. Thousands of refugees took flight across the Thukela River into the protective arms of the British, joined by 'emigrating' Zulu people seeking a more 'liberal' existence outside of strict customary practices. Vast cattle herds accompanied these population transfers, so Mpande's army - brandishing the firearms now demanded from white would-be traders in Zululand - began raiding neighbouring states.
The King's Rise and Fall
These incursions peaked in 1852 with the successful, full-scale invasion of Swaziland. Following Dingane's rationale, Mpande figured on a second, 'stand-by' kingdom, should he lose Zululand to either the British or the Boers. Anticipating an unwanted influx of Swazi refugees, the British pressured Mpande into withdrawing his army. A long and drawn out struggle for future succession then erupted between two of Mpande's sons, Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi, culminating in the 1856 'Battle of the Princes' that left Mbuyazi among the thousands of dead. Cetshwayo immediately set about usurping the authority of his aged father, whose sphere of influence and health declined until he died - of natural causes, surprisingly - in late 1872.
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| Currency data courtesy coinmill.com |
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