The Zulus and Matabele: Warrior Nations

by Glen Lyndon Dodds

  Shaka did not allow his army to rest on its laurels. Other campaigns were now initiated, largely owing to a desire to seize cattle to sustain the growing machinery of the Zulu state, especially in view of the renewed onset of severe drought which took its toll on Zulu livestock and crops. In particular, Shaka concentrated on an area south of the Tugela—Natal. This region was so named after the Portuguese explorer Vasco de Gama logged its existence on Christmas Day 1497, referring to it as Terra Natalis. Its inhabitants were subjected to repeated and savage raids, a devastating period known as the mfecane, usually rendered ‘the crushing’. Some of the Natal clans resisted and paid a heavy price. They were defeated and the survivors expelled. Many less powerful clans simply fled to inaccessible strongholds, leaving the Zulus to plunder at will. Hundreds of homesteads were destroyed and thousands of livestock seized. Hunger inevitably resulted and led to more death and despair as clans, desperate for food, began attacking one another. By 1824 much of the region is said to have been entirely depopulated. As Leonard Thompson states: ‘In Natal organised community life virtually ceased.’

  Furthermore, from the mid 1820s Shaka exercised a loose control over the Tsonga kingdom of Maputo (or Mabhudu), that had formerly been under the sway of Zwide. Founded in the closing years of the 18th century in what is now southern Mozambique, the kingdom lay to the northeast of Zululand in the vicinity of Delagoa Bay, and through it the bulk of trade from the south to the bay was conducted. ‘In Maputo’, states Alan Smith:

  Shaka’s envoys interacted peacefully, and concerned themselves almost exclusively with matters of trade and apparently only resorted to force in cases of disagreement over trade. While the other chiefdoms of the bay, especially Tembe [to the west] were being desolated, Maputo remained well cultivated, populous, and continued to do a brisk trade. The reason that the Maputo were granted virtual independence by Shaka was that they had gained a reputation for being shrewd traders.

  Zululand — the State and its People

  Zululand, as noted above, lies on the south-eastern coast of Africa between the beautiful and imposing Drakensberg Mountains and the Indian Ocean. Geographically, it is one of the most favoured areas in southern Africa. From frequently cool inland heights, it descends in a series of terraces to a subtropical coastal belt and is bisected by a number of rivers and streams which, in some instances, have cut impressive gorges.

  In the 19th century, much of the high ground was heavily forested, while in the valleys and along the coastal belt thornbush grew profusely. There was moreover an abundance of game including antelope, elephant, lion and hippopotamus. Owing to a wide variety of grasses which matured throughout the year, and the comparative absence of the tsetse fly—the scourge of cattle in much of Africa—Zululand was ideal cattle country. Indeed, cattle were central to the Zulu way of life, for in addition to providing meat, milk curds and hides, they were an indicator of social standing and played a crucial role in marriage settlements. Such unions could only take place after an exchange of cattle.

  As mentioned, the Zulus belong to a cultural and linguistic group often referred to as the Nguni (a division of the negroid Bantu peoples) centred on the eastern coastal belt of southern Africa, with the tribal territories extending southwards from Swaziland to the Great Fish River. The Nguni comrprise people with dark brown skins and robust physiques who speak variants of the same language and share a number of cultural phenomena such as widespread polygamy and taboos against cousin marriages.

  The first Bantu tribes to settle in South Africa evidently did so by AD 300 (much earlier than was once thought) and were the vanguard of a long drawn out process of migration from central Africa by communities which apparently engaged in mixed farming and metal-working. They arrived in a region long inhabited by earlier settlers, the San and Khoikhoi (popularly known as the Bushmen and Hottentots), related non-Negroid peoples of small stature—especially in the case of the San— with light brown or olive skins and features that differed from those of the newcomers. The San were Stone Age hunter-gatherers, while the Khoikhoi were pastoralists. Conflict between the Bantu groups and the indigenous peoples occurred, but so too did peaceful interaction, including intermarriage. For instance, the speech of the southernmost Nguni people, the Xhosa, strongly betrays Khoisan influence in the form of many click sounds.

  Just when the Nguni first arrived in Zululand is uncertain. Monica Wilson has drawn attention to the fact that in 1554 people ‘very black in colour’ were mentioned south of the Mthatha River, and that in 1594 the survivors of a shipwreck recorded Nguni speech in the same area, showing that the foremost Nguni were already settled far down the coast from Zululand by the 16th century at the latest. More recently Laband has commented:

  After about AD 1500 the evidence indicates that the Iron Age people of the Natal-Zululand region were culturally, linguistically and physically the direct ancestors of today’s black population, and that their distinctive Nguni-speaking culture had developed within their own region.

  Hunter-gatherer communities continued residing in the area, however, and were present in the days of Shaka, having withdrawn to the inaccessible fastnesses of the Drakensberg.

  Shaka’s subjects lived in family homesteads known as imizi (sing., umuzi) which dotted the countryside. They were normally located on an east-facing slope, were surrounded by stockades, and consisted of a collection of thatched, domed huts, situated in a circle around a central cattle pen. Each hut contained a shrine where the spirits of dead forebears were believed to reside. Opposite the entrance, and thus at the far end of the umuzi, was the hut of the most senior wife, while those of the most junior members of the family or dependents were located nearest to the entrance. The family head spent his time in the huts of his wives, though if he were a man of importance he would have a hut of his own into which he could retire for privacy. When a son married (he could only marry a woman from another clan because the Nguni practised exogamy), he forsook the homestead and established one of his own, and in time his descendants could develop into a new clan.

  Daily life for men entailed tending cattle and undertaking other tasks such as building fences, making baskets and erecting huts. On the other hand, in addition to household duties, women spent much of their time cultivating vegetables and grain in small plots in the vicinity of the homestead—work normally deemed beneath a man’s dignity.

  Everyday costume was basic. Men were required to wear a sheath of plaited grass and leaves over the end of the penis. This constituted decent dress. Normally, though, this was overlaid by a loin covering which, at this date, consisted of a kilt of strips of fur twisted together to resemble tails, although by the 1830s it comprised a bunch of tails in the front and bullock-hide over the buttocks. Unmarried females wore a small leather skirt or a fringe of brown strings low on their hips, whereas married women were distinguished by a large pleated skirt.

  Among important members of society were medicine men, izinyanga (who employed a wide range of herbal remedies and poultices to cure or treat wounds) and diviners, izangoma, who were frequently women and officiated at ‘smelling out’ ceremonies when persons believed to be possessed by evil spirits, and thus deemed to be either wizards or witches, were detected. On such occasions, the diviner, dressed in exotic garb and arrayed with magical charms, danced around in the midst of a chanting circle of people and ultimately struck one of those present with a wildebeest’s tail, whereupon the hapless victim was dragged off and despatched by having a sharpened stake rammed up their anus.

  As king, Shaka was paramount. Final decisions of state rested with him, as did supreme command of the army. But he was also invested by tradition with other powers. He was viewed as the mouthpiece of his nation with the spirit realm—a role of crucial importance—and played a decisive part in the annual ‘First fruits’ ceremony which ushered in the new harvest.

  Shaka’s kingdom of course consisted of a conglomeration of many clans. As noted
, some of these had allied themselves with the ascendant Zulu, but others were brought under his sway by conquest and had their chiefs replaced by more acceptable nominees, and a desire to keep an eye on things no doubt contributed to Shaka’s practice of regularly moving about his realm. Although inevitably subordinate to Shaka, clan chiefs nonetheless enjoyed a considerable degree of power over their own people and in many cases were members of the advisory royal council of ‘great ones.’ Though at times Shaka accepted the council’s advice, he certainly did not always defer to its wishes. Indeed, it was not unknown for him to execute councillors who disagreed with him, which no doubt made others disinclined to speak their mind.

  Key figures in the Zulu state were officials known as izinduna (popularly referred to in modern literature as indunas), who were representatives of the king. They held important administrative or military posts and indirectly served to counter-balance the influence of clan chiefs. Indunas were appointed by the king and were often of exalted birth, but Shaka had no qualms about elevating men of modest origin if he deemed them worthy of such promotion.

  Shaka’s Army

  Shaka’s regiments comprised the great power-house of the Zulu state. The military system was based upon the institution of age-set units called amabutho (sing. ibutho) which evidently developed from the ancient practice among the Natal Nguni of assembling male youths for circumcision shortly after they had reached puberty. By the early 19th century, though, in the area later dominated by the Zulu kingdom, the practice of circumcision had died out or was in the process of doing so. Nonetheless, chiefs continued banding together youths of comparable age who would perform various services on their behalf, both economic and military, when called upon to do so. Ian Knight, in The Anatomy of the Zulu Army, states:

  There is considerable evidence to suggest that these guilds were already being used as battlefield tactical units during the wars which preceded Shaka’s rise, and that Shaka simply went one step further, turning them into the basis of a fully-fledged national army.

  Amabutho thus formed the principal units of Shaka’s army, and were commanded by izinduna appointed by him. The regiments were not organised on a clan basis for that could have undermined the stability of the state. Instead, in line with the old practice of bringing youths together for initiation purposes, Shaka’s regiments were organised on an age basis. Youths who had reached their late teens were brought together from the various clans to form a new regiment. The majority of them would have already experienced a period of cadetship in their respective localities.

  A newly formed regiment was given a name, a distinctive uniform, and ordered to construct a regimental barracks or ikhanda (pl. amakhanda). These were located at strategic points around the country and served as centres of the king’s authority, for in addition to housing regiments they also functioned as royal homesteads and were often placed in the charge of female members of the royal house. Amakhanda were enclosed by a stockade, and at least in some cases these consisted of two rows of stakes pointing inwards so that they crossed at the top, with thornbush filling the gaps in between. The warriors occupied shared huts arranged in a circle around a central open space that not only held the regimental cattle—which belonged to Shaka—but also functioned as a parade ground. At the top of each barracks was a fenced off area, the isigodlo, where the king or his representatives dwelt when in residence. It also housed young women reserved for royal service and when a regiment (or regiments) were present, guards were posted outside it to keep the warriors at bay.

  When resident at amakhanda, warriors were provided with meat and drink by the king. Other sustenance, however, had to be brought by members of their families who would bring them grain and other provisions. For warriors whose relations lived some distance away this could, and did, result in hardship, for they would receive supplies intermittently and experience periods of hunger.

  The warriors based at these military homesteads were bachelors and remained such until their regiments were given permission to marry by the king, licence usually granted when the men were nearly forty. It is sometimes maintained that when not engaged on military or other service, unmarried warriors spent all their time in their respective barracks, but it appears that after a few months or so of rudimentary training, members of a newly raised regiment were allowed to return home. Thereafter they would assemble at the ikhanda for a few months each year.

  Single warriors were effectively subject to whatever national service the king dictated. Military training was of course regularly undertaken. But warriors also tended the king’s cattle and, in contrast to life at home, sowed and reaped his crops. They also looked after their huts and participated in organised hunts and ceremonial gatherings. By prolonging the bachelorhood of his warriors, Shaka was able to utilise the manpower of his state more effectively than would otherwise have been the case, and as the single warriors had no resources of their own, they were dependent on his bounty.

  Upon being granted permission to marry, the men chose their brides from a specified group of usually younger females, for women were also formed into age-grades, though these were not required to perform military service or live in amakhanda. Marriages did not occur en masse in grand ceremonies. After being granted permission to take wives, a regiment dispersed and the men would seek suitable partners. In many cases, they did so with women with whom they had already formed an attachment and had engaged in love-making that was not expected to entail full sexual intercourse. Following marriage, the men set up homesteads of their own. Henceforth their primary allegiance was to their family and clan chief, though they nevertheless remained within the amabutho system and could be called up again to serve alongside their former colleagues if required in exceptional circumstances.

  Apart from assembling for major military campaigns, the army gathered to observe the annual harvest festival, the great umKhosi or first fruits ceremony, which was usually held at the end of December or in early January and was the most significant festival of the year. Its main purpose was to secure the blessing of the ancestral spirits of the Zulu clan on the new harvest. Prior to the ceremony, messengers were sent to order the commanders of distant regiments to converge with their men on what was normally the king’s principal homestead: regiments whose barracks were in closer proximity would use them as a base throughout the subsequent rituals, while the less fortunate warriors from further afield would have to erect temporary huts nearby to serve as accommodation.

  The regiments mustered for the umKhosi were resplendent, sporting their full regalia. During the ensuing rituals, the king would be repeatedly smeared with medicine by izinyanga, with the aim of warding off evil spirits and making him receptive to the influence of his deceased ancestors. Moreover, at the height of the ceremonies—the great umKhosi lasted several days—a young regiment was ordered to kill unarmed a fierce black bull taken from the herd of an enemy, and the animal was not always the only fatality on such occasions.

  Utimuni, a nephew of Shaka. ©MuseumAfrica

  Regiments varied in strength, from about 600 men to 1,200. Organisationally, they were divided into two wings, one led by the regimental commander, the other by a subordinate induna, both of whom were chosen by the king and usually came from an experienced regiment which had been granted permission to marry. Regiments were further subdivided into izigaba or sections with their own commanders. Each of these divisions was made up of companies consisting of men who had spent their period of cadetship at the same ikhanda. The strength of both izigaba and their constituent companies varied within regiments and from one regiment to another. Some companies, for instance, numbered only some 50 men whereas others were about 200 strong.

  The Zulu armoury included the knobkerry—a club, cut from a single piece of wood, with a stout straight handle and a heavy knob at the end. However, the standard weapon was the stabbing spear or iklwa. This evidently had a tapering blade about 18 inches long and an inch and a half
wide. In contrast to shields, which were the property of the king, warriors had to obtain their own spears.

  Warriors’ oval shields were made from the hides of the king’s cattle and were kept in stores in each barracks until required for a campaign. Every man would then choose a shield appropriate to his height, for shields could be over 50 inches long by 30 inches. They were made of cowhide reinforced at the back by a vertical piece of wood held in place by a double row of hide lacing. The top and bottom of the stick projected beyond the hide, and while the top was ornamented with a piece of fur, the base was cut to a point so that it in combat it could be jabbed at an enemy’s feet and ankles.

  The shield of each regiment was distinctive—though the distinction was sometimes slight—for when Shaka established a new ibutho he granted it a herd of cattle comprising animals whose hides were uniform, and from whom the cowhide for the shields was obtained. On this point Ian Knight comments: ‘Judging from the extensive terminology used to describe the patterns on hides used for shields, the distinctions between the different amabutho were, in Shaka’s day at least, quite specific.’ Moreover, the colour of shields indicated the standing of a regiment. Newly formed amabutho had shields that were predominantly black while those of senior regiments were generally white.

  Although the identifying shield is sometimes said to have been a novel feature introduced by Shaka, Fynn tells us that Dingiswayo’s regiments had been distinguished ‘by the colour of the shields carried by the men.’ Furthermore, Shaka is also often credited with introducing impressive uniforms. However, again, Fynn comments that these were likewise not an innovation, for Dingiswayo had ‘introduced imposing war-dresses’ among his amabutho.