A HISTORICAL CONTEXT: THE SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL WITH THE ISANDLWANA CLASP (1879)

By:  Anzel Veldman- 

Curator, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History

King Cetshwayo kaMpande (*1826 -1884†) ascended to the throne in 1872, succeeding his father king Mpande, and inheriting the internal and external socio-political pressures that had marked his father’s reign. The Anglo-Zulu War did not arise from a single, specific ‘charge sheet’, but rather from a series of political decisions by both the British and Cetshwayo, ultimately leading to warfare. With Cetshwayo’s enthronement as king, Sir Theophilus Shepstone laid down coronation laws. These ‘laws’ stipulated that king Cetshwayo must avoid unnecessary bloodshed, prevent civil conflict, and respect the British Natal borders. Additionally, no Zulu person could be executed without a trial and/or the right of appeal to the king. For minor crimes, as defined by British law, fines were to be imposed rather than executions (e.g., Canonici & Cele 1998).

Cetshwayo, like his predecessors, ruled according to Zulu law. In 1876 the king gave permission for the inDlondlo and uDlokwe regiments to marry. These men had to acquire prospective brides from the inGcugce female ward. The women from the inGcugce age-set were much younger than the men they were expected to marry, and some were already in romantic relationships with men of their own age group. Couples unwilling to part with one another fled to British Natal or the Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (ZAR), thereby evading Zulu law. Additionally, relatives who opposed their daughters marrying men from the inDlondlo and uDlokwe regiments, lied about their daughters’ ages to avoid the marriages. Upon receiving complaints about this unlawfulness, Cetshwayo decided to punish those who broke the law and executed some women who refused to marry into the declared age-sets (Cope 1995). This act ‘violated’ the coronation laws set by Shepstone (Krige 1936; Cope 1995).

Cetshwayo also deemed it necessary to subjugate the Swazi-kingdom to Zulu sovereignty, ostensibly to prevent civil conflict. However, this move would also grant him control over Tsonga tribute and trade at Delagoa Bay. Cetswhayo sought to defeat rivals such as Hamu and Zibhedu, who were geographically closer than the Swazi polity. He never officially invaded Swaziland due to protests and pressure from his own councillors, the ZAR and the British. Yet, Zulu-regiments were occupying the intended areas for conquest, leading to skirmishes, and just like the Zulu kings before him, Cetshwayo executed those he viewed as opponents or threats. In summary, the king’s definition of ‘unnecessary bloodshed’ and ‘minor crimes’ differed from British Law, frustrating colonial officials with their ‘humanitarian’ Victorian worldview, and particularly the missionaries. Cetshwayo was openly opposed to missionary work because evangelisation weakened the authority of the Zulu king and undermined traditional belief systems. Cetshwayo’s regiments attacked missionary stations and the king expelled missionaries from Zululand. Enraged by how they were treated, and hearing rumours about the possible annexation of Zululand, missionaries used incidents like the inGcugce executions to portray Cetshwayo as a bloodthirsty tyrant, appealing to the British authorities to ‘save’ the Zulu people from their king (e.g., Krige 1936; Guy 1994; Cope 1995).

During the 1870s, the British sought to secure and sustain their supremacy in South Africa while simultaneously expanding capitalist development, driven by the discovery of diamonds and gold within the independent Republics of the Orange Free State and ZAR. By 1875 the British were already in dispute with the Republic of the Orange Free State over ownership of its diamond fields, but the Republic was not about to give up the area easily. In the ZAR, farmers expanded their lands into Pedi (Sotho-Tswana) heartland, leading to warfare between the ZAR and the Pedi in 1876. Then, in 1877, another border dispute erupted between Cetshwayo and the ZAR when people settled on the northern borders of Cetshwayo’s kingdom without his permission. The king requested the British to intervene and expel these settlers from his territory. Simultaneously, Mbilini (Swazi-chief) launched attacks on the Dutch-speaking farmers occupying this area (Cope 1995; Laband 1995; Canonici & Cele 1998).  Sir Bartle Frere, the British High Commissioner, used the above-mentioned events of Cetshwayo violating the coronation laws as an excuse to prosecute the king. Frere demanded that Cetshwayo disband the entire Zulu army, pay 600 head of cattle in reparations for the attacks on the Dutch-speaking farmers, restore relations with the missionaries previously expelled from Zululand, and submit to British authority. King Cetshwayo refused to comply, and British troops invaded Zululand in 1879 (Guy 1994; Cope 1995; Canonici & Cele 1998).

The Battle of Isandlwana, 22 January 1879, was the opening battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. The British commander, Lord Chelmsford, decided to establish a temporary encampment at Isandlwana Hill. He considered it temporary, given the camp’s need to transport supplies from Rorke’s Drift. Lord Chelmsford also believed that the Zulu forces would not attack Isandlwana, but instead would be positioned in the region of Qudeni bush and the Mangeni River to disrupt Chelmsford’s supply lines once British forces advanced further into Zululand. He was gravely mistaken and underestimated the Zulu forces. Zulu-speaking soldiers attacked Isandlwana and decimated the British troops. However, this victory was unfortunately short-lived. Chelmsford’s army advanced again into Zululand and inflicted heavy defeats at Gingindlovu, Khambula and Ulundi. Thereafter, King Cetshwayo had to flee but was captured at Ngome forest in August 1879 (Laband 1995).  

After being defeated, the Zulu kingdom was brought under British rule and King Cetshwayo was exiled to Cape Town as a prisoner. The region was divided into 13 autonomous chiefdoms, with latent conflicts emerging between rulers when King Cetshwayo returned from exile in 1883. These former tensions eventually led to civil war, culminating in King Cetshwayo’s death in 1884. Ultimately, in 1897, British Zululand became part of British Natal.

References

Canonici, N.N. & Cele, T.T. 1998. Cetshwayo kaMpande in Zulu Literature. Alternation 5: 72-90.

Cope, R.L. 1995. Written in characters of blood? The reign of King Cetshwayo kaMpande 1872-1879. Journal of African History 36: 247-269.

Guy, J. 1994. The destruction of the Zulu kingdom: The civil war in Zululand, 1879-1884. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.

Krige, E.J. 1936. The social system of the Zulus. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter and Shooter.

Laband, J.P.C. & P.S. Thompson 2000. The Illustrated Guide to the Anglo-Zulu War. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.

Laband, J.P.C.  1995. Rope of Sand: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Kingdom in the Nineteenth Century Jonathan Ball: Johannesburg.

Thompson, P.S. 1990. A Fighting Retreat. Journal of Natal and Zulu History 13: 27-32

Thompson, P.S. 2007. The many battles of Isandlwana: a transformation in historiography. Historia 52: 172-217.