Chaka

by Thomas Mofolo

  Mntwanamuhle, Mhlekazi!

  Uteku lwabafazi bakwaNomgabi!

  Ababelutekula behlezi emilovini!

  Beautiful child, Most Excellent One!

  Sport of the women of Nomgabi!

  Of which they made fun as they basked in the sun!

  He was praised in that teasing manner: “uteku lwabafazi bakwaNomgabi” means “sea of the women of Nomgabi”; “ababelutekula behlezi emilovini” means “which they fondled, or played with, while they lived with happiness, contentment and peace in their hearts”.

  Before we end our description of this city, we should state that Chaka was in the habit of walking in this section disrobed of his skin kaross, wearing only his fringe skirt. This he did at the request of his “sisters” so that they might feed their eyes on his beautiful body, because Chaka was a strikingly beautiful man. He was taller than anyone in his entire nation, yet he was not lanky, since his height was offset by a heavy frame. From his feet to his head he was without blemish, a truly handsome and dignified man.

  Even on the battlefield his men, when wounded and about to die, would request the king, as their last wish, to disrobe so that they might admire his body for the last time, and thus die in peace; and he would indeed do as they asked.

  At the time in Chaka’s life which we are describing here, there was truly no king on earth whose people loved him as much as this one. On days of national festivities, it was the custom that, before the people dispersed to their homes, the king would disrobe, so that the nation might conclude its festivities by admiring the body of their lord.

  Chaka also built many military villages because so many people could not all stay in one place. He released Dingiswayo’s regiments, saying: “As for you, I have trained you enough, and you may now take your rest; I shall call upon you when I am ready to go out to attack.” He put the remaining ones through a rigorous training programme; he taught them fighting strategies: how to attack, retreat and then suddenly renew the assault; he taught them how to dance smartly, moving in unison with no one going too fast or too slowly: they turned and threw their bodies to one side all at the same time. He taught them some beautiful war games which were impressive to watch. Above all, he taught them obedience, so that when they were given orders they did not answer back, nor did they ask the reason why, but simply did as they were told. He also composed many beautiful songs and praises, which made the warriors weep when they heard them, for they roused in them strange emotions.

  Every day he got up at dawn, earlier than the fowl resting on its perch, and the first cock-crow would find him already among his regiments which he had stretched out into straight lines, or bunched up in a tight group around him. Malunga also got up at early dawn, long before the dawn light reddened the eastern sky, and since Chaka had no wife, he would be the one to carry the king’s personal medicine pot. Every morning he went to examine the cattle which were slaughtered for the regiments, and he would add potions to that meat so that those who ate it should obey their leader with unquestioning obedience; and then he would add another medicine which hardened their hearts so that they should be completely devoid of mercy.

  Secondly, Chaka abolished circumcision, saying that it was useless, and that it served only to waste the time which the boys could have spent learning the art of war. He therefore had two types of regiment: ones comprising mature young men, true wielders of the shield who had fought in the wars, and the others consisting of boys who were being taught how to fight. As soon as a male child began to grow strong, he would at once be taken to the regiments where he would be taught true manhood. Day after day that child would not see his parents or come in contact with women; instead he would be in the company of other boys from morning till evening. Their speech was all about war, their conversations were about war, their songs and praises were about war, their games were about war, even the manner of their eating was related to war. That is to say that all the things they heard, all the things they saw, all the things they did, were matters pertaining to war, because they did not see anything but the spear, the war axe, and the shield; and they expressed their pride through acts of war. Thus were all the male children of Zululand brought up in a unique way calculated to harden their hearts; they thought of nothing but blood, because he who knew best how to kill was the one who was considered to have gone through his initiation, and become a man. These boys looked with joyful anticipation to the dawning of their day when they would become the objects of admiration in the eyes of the nation as a whole, that is to say the day they would be sent out to their first encounter; and on the day they went out to attack they would go with great eagerness, like dogs that had been denied meat for a long time, while at the same time being kept away from hunting, and, because their teeth were itching with the desire to bite at something, would tear up the goats and sometimes even bite people. With that viciousness did they go to battle, unable to distinguish man from woman, or young from old.

  That was Chaka’s second act.

  Thirdly, Chaka refused to let his troops marry, saying that marriage was suitable only for people of mature age. He also argued that when people are dying in the heat of battle, the married man thinks of his wife and children, and thereupon takes to his heels, which is a shameful act. A bachelor, on the other hand, fights with resolution to kill or be killed, till he attains victory, for he is aiming to be honoured by the young women’s songs. However Chaka did not deny them marriage for good, but promised them that the regiment which distinguished itself over all the others in its fighting prowess would be released first from the bonds of bachelorhood, even if it had not been long in that state; furthermore the bohadi cattle for their marriage would be provided by the king himself. If, however, there was no regiment which distinguished itself, they would be released in their order of seniority, beginning with the first one which would be released at a certain time according to the king’s wish. Besides, such regiments would have to find their own bohadi.

  Another thing, if a warrior outstripped his comrades in his regiment, he could be promoted to the next regiment; and if he continued to distinguish himself, he might even be made a commander, or be released as an individual from the vows of his regiment while the rest of his comrades were still far, far behind. That meant that the time a warrior served before his release was not determined by someone else, but by him personally according to his performance. In the space of one year he could begin from the most junior regiment and make his way swiftly through to the senior one right at the top, and thus get out of the bonds of bachelorhood, with his bohadi cattle provided by the king, besides being given cattle to begin a new life fitting for such a one. The reader must remember that among all the things that are held in high regard by the black peoples, there is none held dearer than marriage; very often when other things are being evaluated, marriage is kept apart from them, for marriage is life itself. That will make us understand more clearly the extent to which Chaka’s warriors exerted themselves in their eagerness to qualify for it. To set an example for his regiments, Chaka remained a bachelor till the day of his death.

  That was Chaka’s third act of great significance.

  Fourthly, until Chaka became king, each warrior carried a whole bundle of spears, all of which had long handles, which were hurled at the enemy; some also carried war axes or clubs. Chaka abolished all these things. Each warrior was given only one spear with a broad blade and a short handle, so that it could not be thrown, and he was given strict orders never to throw it at the enemy, for it was made for stabbing at close range, and that was how it was to be used. In order for this spear to work efficiently, the combatants had to be close to each other. Under those conditions its results were devastating, it tore the victim’s flesh in a most frightening way, and the wound it inflicted was a gaping gash, which was always fatal. Furthermore, each warrior was strictly enjoined to bring it back with him on his return from battle, and never to come back if he did not have it with him. Besides, he was also to bring one that
he had captured from his fallen opponent. Such captured enemy spears were smelted and beaten out afresh, and were reserved for the boy regiments when they reached the stage of being able to handle spears. Each spear had to pass through Malunga’s hands so that he could strengthen it with medicines of herbs and snake poisons, in order that it should kill at once whoever was stabbed with it.

  Chaka, after changing the national name and choosing for himself the pleasant-sounding one of Zulu (Sky), also desired to find a beautiful greeting which would complement that national name of his, whose sound would be pleasing to the people’s ears.

  One day when he finished the army games, he assembled his regiments together, and he called together the people of his city and he said to them: “My children, at night as I lay asleep, Nkulunkulu sent his chief messengers to me. These messengers said that I should teach his nation, the MaZulu (the Sky People) a beautiful, sweet-sounding greeting, one showing the great respect with which the nation should greet its king who has been placed by Nkulunkulu over all the kings of the earth and all the nations under the sun and the moon, so that they should pay homage to him and worship him.

  “You, my children, will grow with me, and rule with me, you will be respected by all nations exactly as they respect me. Nkulunkulu says that if you obey me with true obedience and carry out my orders to the fullest in the same way that I obey him and carry out his orders, your children will witness greater things than these that you are witnessing now; and as for you, the day you go to the place where all must go, he will send the Inkosazana yeZulu (the Sky Princess) to come and meet you so you may go to him in person and rule with him like people who have listened well to his commands.

  “The greeting I have been told to teach you is BAYEDE. It is a greeting with which you will greet only me, and no one else; even in jest, you must never say to another person ‘Bayede’, because merely to say that will be your death; you will pronounce that word only when you greet me. Nkulunkulu says I should tell you that if you should fail to respect this greeting in the way he is ordering you, lions will tear you to pieces, your cows will always miscarry, your women will never be heavy with child, your fields will fail to yield crops, the rains will cease to fall, and your enemies will rise up against you.

  “I say to you, my children, respect this command from Nkulunkulu.” Bayede means he who stands between God and man, it means the junior god through whom the great God rules the kings of the earth and their nations.

  After all those things Chaka reformed the military dress and the embellishments of the warriors, because he wanted his regiments to be neat, he wanted them to dress alike, and each regiment to have its own distinctive dress by which it would be known. People wore sandals in those days, but Chaka forbade his warriors to wear them, saying that they prevented them from running swiftly. Besides these things, Chaka taught his nation proper respect, and the manner in which they were to address him. All the men and all the regiments were taught the greeting of respect; he taught his councillors and his advisers (even though he never listened to any advice) the manner in which they were to counsel and to address him.

  The warriors greeted him by saying:

  Bayede, baba, Nkosi yamakhosi!

  Wena Ngonyama, Ndlovu-ayiphendulwa!

  Wena owakhula silibele,

  Bayede, baba, Nkosi yezulu!

  Wena omnyama, owavela wasiphatha ngetahu!

  Wena ongangendlovu,

  Wena odl’amadoda,

  Wena onzipho zingengezebhubesi!

  Wena ongangezulu eliphezulu,

  Wena Zulu, siphathe ngetahu!

  Bayede Nkosi! Bayede Baba! Bayede Zulu!

  Bayede, O Father, King of Kings!

  You who are a Lion, Elephant-never-to-be-answered!

  You who grew up while we dawdled,

  Bayede, Father, King of heaven!

  You, O Black One, who appeared and ruled us with compassion!

  You who are great as an elephant,

  You who devour other men,

  You whose claws resemble those of a lion!

  You who are as great as the sky above,

  You Zulu, rule us with compassion!

  Bayede, O King! Bayede, O Father! Bayede, O Zulu!

  The men of the council woke up in the early hours and went to the court so that they should be able to greet the king; and as soon as he appeared they would stand up as one man and remain on their feet; Mbopha, their leader, would say: “The sky is clear today” (that is to say, the king is happy), and they would respond by saying: “If the sky is clear, we shall enjoy its pleasing warmth”; and then they would greet the king in unison: “Bayede, O King! You whose warmth is like that of the sun which makes the seedlings grow. Greetings to you, O our Sun!”

  Or Mbopha would say: “The sky is overcast today” (the king is not happy), and they would answer him saying: “If the sky is overcast, we are happy because it brings us the blessings of rain”, which meant that many people would be killed.

  The young women, the king’s “sisters”, greeted him by saying:

  Sakubona Mntwanamuhle, bayede Mhlekazi

  Greetings, O Beautiful Child, Bayede, Most Excellent One

  or:

  Bayede, Nkosi!

  Uteku lwabafazi bakwaNomgabi

  Ababelutekula behlezi emilovini,

  Bayede Zulu!

  Bayede, O King!

  Sport of the women of Nomgabi

  Which they joked about as they basked in the sun,

  Bayede, O Zulu!

  Chaka had only one purpose in mind: war. Therefore all his conversations, his expressions of beauty, leaned towards that one purpose. So the beautiful traditions which brought good to the people, which had been initiated by Dingiswayo, fell to the ground because all the men had been drafted into the armies, and the women worked for those armies.

  Here we now reproduce the praises of King Chaka, in Zulu, which we were able to obtain:

  USHAKA (NguChakijana kaMsenteli)

  UShaka ngiyesaba ukuthi nguShaka,

  UShaka kwakuyinkosi yaseMashobeni,

  Uteku lwabafazi bakwaNomgabi

  Ababelutekula behlezi emilovini.

  Babethi uShaka kayikubusa

  Kayikuba yinkosi

  Kanti kunyakana uShaka ezakunethezeka.

  UDlungwane woMbelebele,

  Odlunge emanxulumeni,

  Kwaze kwasa amanxuluma esibekelana.

  Umlilo wothathe kaMjokwane kaNdaba,

  Umlilo wothathe ubuhanguhangu,

  Oshise izikhova zaseDlebe,

  Kwaze kwaye kwasha neziseMabedlana,

  Izinkomo zawoSihayo zamlandela

  Wakhangela enzansi namaDungela,

  Kwaze kwalandela nezamaFongosi

  Ezazisengwa yindiki lakwaMavela.

  Izulu elidume ngenhla komuzi eKuqobokeni,

  Lazithath’izihlangu zamaPhela,

  Lamudl’ uNomhlanjana ezalwa nguZwide,

  Lamudl’ uMphepha naye ezalwa nguZwide.

  Indlov’ ethe imuka babeyilandela abakwaLanga,

  Yase idla uDayingubo ezalwa nguZwide,

  Yamudla uMpondophumelakwezinde emaPheleni,

  Yamudla uMthimona ezalwa nguGapa.

  Inkonyane ekhwele phezu kwendlu kwaNtombazi,

  Bathi iyahlola kanti yibona abahlolayo;

  Indlovu ebuyise inhloko, yadl’amadoda,

  Indlovu ekhal’isemiThonjaneni;

  Izulu elidume ladl’izihlangu zamaPhela,

  Abafazi imikhubulo bayishiy’izinqundi,

  Imbewu bayishiy’isemanxiweni,

  Abafazi abanendeni banyekeza.

  KwaSomdombana udle izimfe zambili

  Kwayisimanga ikhambi laphuma lilinye,

  Akayi nasebandla, akayi nasemaduneni,

  UnjengoVimba wakwaMangwekazi.

  Igawu abathi beliluma bebeliphimisa

  Bakhumbul’amagawu abebesi

  Umlunguzi wezingoje, izingoje zilunguzelane.

  Ngoba walunguz’ ingoje yomfowabo.

&n
bsp; Unyaluthi olumnyama lukaHlayukana,

  Balukhotha bengakayi enyangeni abakwaZulu.

  Umbebe kamame, beba simuke,

  Abanye basemhlane kanina babelethwe,

  NgabawoMbuzo, ngabawoNsele,

  NgabawoSichusa sikaDingankomo

  Intethe egolwe ngomkhonto kwaMalandela,

  Intethe ethe ukusuka yajubalala.

  USHAKA (By Chakijana Son of Msenteli)

  Shaka, I fear to say he is Shaka,

  Shaka was the king of Mashobeni,

  The joke of the women of Nomgabi,

  Which they bandied about, sitting in contentment.

  They said Shaka would not rule,

  Would not be king,

  Yet that was the very year Shaka inherited a life of comfort.

  Ferocious one of the armies of Mbelebele,

  Who unleashed his fury within the large villages,

  So that till dawn the villages were tumbling over each other.

  Fire of the dry tinder, of Mjokwane of Ndaba,

  Fire of the dry tinder scorches fiercely,

  Which burned the owls at Dlebe hill,

  And afterwards those of Mabedlana also burned,

  And the cattle of Sihayo and others followed him

  And he looked down towards the maDungela,

  The cattle of the maFongosi then followed also

  Which were milked by the demented one of Mavela’s place.

  The Sky that thundered above the village at Kuqobokeni,

  And took the shields of the maPhela regiment,

  And ate up Nomhlanjana begotten by Zwide,

  And ate up Mphepha also begotten by Zwide.

  Elephant which, on leaving, was followed by the people of Langa,

  Whereupon it ate up Dayingubo begotten by Zwide,

  Ate up Mpondophumelakwezinde among the maPhela warriors,

  Ate up Mthimona begotten by Gapa.

  The Calf that climbed upon a house at Ntombazi’s place,

  And they thought he was portending evil whereas they were the ones who were portending evil;