There was a young man in that same regiment from whom Chaka never removed his eyes. When they were ordered into battle, this young man went with his eyes deep-set, way back in their sockets, and he held his spear high with a backward thrust, and grasped his shield by its handle, with his chest pushed out like that of a bird swimming. And as soon as they met the enemy, that young man who was of a lean physique became transformed and he held his shield close to him, grasping it by its thong handle, and his spear stabbed with an upward thrust rather than downward. His performance in those two battles was exactly like Chaka’s when he was still a warrior. His name was Mzilikazi (Moselekatse).
When Chaka returned home with his armies, he called all the grown-up men and women to the royal place at Mgungundlovu; the armies comprising young boys were also summoned, which means that he called together his entire nation and assembled it outside the city walls.
When everyone had come, he went there ushered by Mbopha, leader of the king’s courtiers, and followed by the young army which had acquitted itself so well in those two battles. Mbopha was reciting praises as he walked, telling about the profound wisdom of the king, and the justness of his verdicts. When Chaka reached the assembled multitude, he raised his little spear which contained medicines of witchcraft, and there was dead silence, then he called all the regiments which he had taken out to battle, and he ordered them to stand to one side. When they were there, he said that each warrior should produce his own spear as well as the one he had captured from the enemy warrior he had killed. Those who had them showed them, and those who did not were told to stand apart from the rest. Those whose spears were captured by the enemy were also told to stand by themselves apart from the others. After that he called those who ran away from the battle, and their spears and battle dresses were taken away from them, and they were also made to stand to one side. Those who had thrown their spears were also called and made to stand by themselves.
The commanders of the regiments stood near the king, crowding around him. Chaka looked at them and then he looked at the people he had commanded to stand to one side in the midst of the assembled crowd, and then he raised his spear which had killed nations of people, and there was dead silence; the commanders strained their ears in order to hear what the king’s wish might be, and the king said: “Let the Nkandle and Myozi regiments come to the front.” The commanders of these regiments ran at once and fetched them and made them stand in the centre of the crowd; and then Chaka raised his voice and said: “All you who are present here, open your ears and hear me well; open your eyes and see, and be witness to the deed that I shall perform, and the law I am going to lay down by the example of these ones here. Do you see these people?”
The crowd: “We see them, O King.”
Chaka: “These are cowards who ran away from battle, and yet I had instructed them very strictly that no one in my armies should ever do such an ugly thing, because he who runs away disgraces our name, MaZulu, which means those who are invincible; besides, this running away of theirs is already an indication that one day the MaZulu will be defeated. These are people who deserve a very heavy punishment.”
Malunga was suddenly heard from somewhere in the crowd, saying: “The king’s command must be obeyed by each and every warrior, because he who does not obey the king’s command is failing to obey the command of Nkulunkulu himself who sent the king here to come and teach his children, the MaZulu, the art of war, and thus deliver them from their enemies.” Chaka turned around often, looking on all sides, and the people trembled, because when he was angry he turned into a veritable wild beast. He looked at these two regiments which stood in the centre of the crowd, and then lifted his spear and pointed it at those who had run away. He did this without uttering a word. In the twinkling of an eye the warriors fell upon the condemned like wild dogs charging into a flock of sheep. Those thousands died and became food for the vultures right there at their home, not in battle, but within view of their parents, within view of the young women and the children, and they became exposed as cowards who surpassed all other cowards.
After they had been executed, there was dead silence. At that time Chaka was so angry that he was foaming at the mouth; and then the king’s courtiers, the men appointed specially to advise the king, said: “Ao, how great his wisdom! The deed will ensure that there will never again be any cowards in Zulu’s empire! No warrior will ever again turn his back on the enemy!” They spoke these words with their heads bowed to show how overwhelmed they were. About twenty of Zwide’s people who were now under Chaka’s rule cried when they saw these people killed, among whom were their own children and their brothers. Then Chaka ordered that they be brought to him, and he would comfort them in their grief.
When those killed had been carried to a place outside the crowd, Chaka once again raised his spear, and he instructed the commanders to summon forward the Dinare and Dilepe regiments. When those two regiments came, the people understood that the killing had not yet ended, and they were greatly frightened, because it was the first time that they had ever witnessed such a massacre. Ndlebe was moving around in the crowd, spotting those who were crying and bringing them to the king to be comforted for the death of their children.
“These whom you see here now are cowards just like the first group; they are the ones who threw away their spears which I had gone to great pains to have forged and strengthened with the potent medicines of Zululand.” Someone shouted in the midst of the crowd and said: “It is obvious that they threw away those spears because they were running away.” Chaka paced this way and that, then he stopped and looked around; he raised his spear and pointed it at them while maintaining his silence, and at once the vultures swarmed up in flight above as the warriors brought them more food.
The king’s men: “How great his understanding! The spears of Zululand will no longer be lost, and the king’s efforts will no longer be reduced to naught through people throwing away their spears on purpose as they run away.”
Chaka raised his spear a third time, and when the people saw it all things turned as dusty as the earth, they saw grey. He said: “Those whom you see now are those who returned from battle without having captured any enemy spears; that is to say that they did not kill anyone.” A voice shot out of the crowd: “If they did not kill, it is clear that they had gone there simply to increase the volume, but were afraid to go into the heat of battle, where warriors stabbed each other with their spears. They are cowards.” Two or three princes from nations which had been destroyed said: “O King, let the lion withdraw its claws and tread on its paws; your spear has killed, it is enough; have mercy on them, great master!” Chaka said he had heard them, and he bade them come to him; the spear nevertheless pointed to the very ones for whom the plea had been made, and the vultures rose again as more food was brought to them. They indeed were full already, and were leaving the rest for the scavenging hyena which, out of fear, never comes out to eat while the sun is shining.
The king’s men: “Oh, how great his understanding! It is a deep pool that goes down endlessly. Among the Zulu armies, no warrior will ever again go to war simply to increase the tumult!” They signalled to each other with their brows to prove to the king how overwhelmed they were by his unequalled wisdom.
Chaka once more lifted his spear, and passed word to the commanders, and two more regiments were brought into the midst of the crowd, and the people were dead with fright. “These are the ones who threw Zulu’s spear at the enemy whereas it was made to stab at close range, and that way they have thwarted the instructions that go with the medicines with which they were fortified …” His mother, Nandi, came while he was speaking in that manner, and threw herself at her son’s feet and said: “I implore you, O King, do please hear me. I say, let the lion tread on its paws, O Zulu, it is the first time that they have wronged you, and they have seen the enormity of their crime. They will repent, and will fight your wars, O Father.” Chaka was utterly silent. Nandi, for her part, remained prostrate. The
n Chaka said: “Just because of my mother, since she is my mother who bore me, who fetched me from Nkulunkulu and brought me into the world, I forgive you, don’t do it again.” Chaka then told his mother to leave and go home, he had heard her prayer.
When Nandi had left, Chaka called out saying: “The sentencing of the warriors is now over. I told you to open your ears and listen, and open your eyes and see; and you have heard, and you have seen. All of you who are present here, including you boys, be warned that the penalty for whomever shall do even a single one of these deeds, is death. I have called you so that you may hear for yourselves and see for yourselves. My law has to be obeyed completely, not outwardly only, but in the heart also, because I shall consign he who carries it out only because he is bound to do so to that place over there,” pointing to where the corpses had been thrown.
“I end by saying, open your ears once more and listen; open your eyes once more and see clearly. You saw these ones when they cried. That crying meant that I had done wrong in my judgements; and to say that I, Chaka, have erred is a great wrong. Besides, that crying will weaken the hearts of my warriors in battle when they die unmourned, and will make them run away. Now I am going to teach them the proper way to cry for their children; besides, I have said that they should come to me for comfort, so that I can make them forget the death of those for whom they are mourning.” The commanders listened with great diligence, and then he said: “You must gouge out these eyes of theirs which are overflowing fountains, and thus only will they forget their children who have done such great wrongs.” In the twinkling of an eye their eyes were gouged out, and they were let loose outside the crowd and it was said that if they knew how to find their way back to their homes, they were free to do so; if some should fall down the cliffs, then so be it.
The king’s men: “Not since the creation of all the nations has there been a man whose judgements equal those of this one! He testifies by his words, he testifies by his deeds too that he is one sent by Nkulunkulu.”
Chaka lifted his spear one more time and said: “These ones you see here now are those who give free rein to their tongues. You heard them for yourselves. They will spoil my warriors by making them believe that there will always be someone to plead for them.” He paused, and then he said: “You must pull out by their very roots these tongues of theirs which babble so much; you must not cut them for fear they might start sprouting again. Only that way will they stop meddling in the affairs of kings when they chastise their subjects.” In the twinkling of an eye, those people’s tongues were pulled out, and they died.
The king’s men: “Siyakubonga, siyakudumisa, Zulu! (We thank you, we praise you, O Zulu!) Your judgements are just and they are without favour. Your eyes see deep into people’s chests, they reveal things which are hidden to others! Your ears hear the plots which are hatched in people’s hearts! All your deeds testify, O Zulu, that you are no mortal being, but the servant of Nkulunkulu, you are the Heaven which is towering over us all.” If anyone of them had spoken in a manner which did not please Chaka, the penalty would have been death.
Chaka shouted for the last time: “I hope you have seen for now and for always, I hope you have heard for now and for always!”
The regiment which had refused to retreat even when the battle was hot was given the entire loot which had been captured from Qwabe’s and Buthelezi’s; the cattle were given to them to become their property rather than for immediate feasting by the regiment. Chaka took not a single one of them even though they were so many. In addition to that, this regiment was promoted immediately to join the senior regiments who were called to active duty only when there was real danger, which meant that the time for them to qualify for marriage was very close. Moselekatse was elevated to the rank of commander of that very regiment, and was also given the privilege to choose for himself one hundred cattle from the king’s herds, and also select their bulls. That was how Chaka rewarded his braves.
On that one day the people who were killed were counted in tens of thousands. That is how cowardice was banished from Zulu’s domain, and from that day the Zulu warriors went to war understanding in full the saying: “A boy child is an ox apportioned to the vultures.” They went to war understanding that they were not the children of their parents, but of the king; they went with the resolve to win or else die there rather than be killed like mere dogs, at home, before the eyes of the women. From that day on one Zulu warrior was equal to ten of the enemy, and could put them to flight. The day they went to the attack again Chaka’s command to his armies was: “Go, my children, and work with diligence and come back victorious, with a lot of war spoils; otherwise don’t come back.”
This was only the beginning of Chaka’s numerous massacres. Those who witnessed the events of that day had nightmares throughout that night. They grew thin because it was the first time that the people had ever witnessed such a deed.
CHAPTER 20
Chaka Invades the South: Moselekatse
SOON AFTER the killing of the cowards Chaka sent an expedition southward. He finished off the remnants of the Maqwabe, and then fought with the Mafuze, the Bathembu, and the Machunu. Those were the first nations to be scattered by Chaka with his combined forces, made up of local and drafted foreign armies. He killed them without mercy and set their villages alight together with their crops; but instead of returning home with his enormous booty, he stopped there for several months. While stationed there, he went on the rampage, slaughtering people, while incorporating the young into his armies.
When he left there he continued south, crossing the Thukela, and he scattered the Mabomvu and BakwaMachibisa. He had those people’s cattle and small livestock driven homewards while he himself pressed on. By this time there was often no need for him to fight, because the people dreaded him so, that whenever they saw his armies advancing, they immediately ran away. Afterwards even the mere mention of his name was enough, and whenever the alarm was raised that Chaka was on the march, the men would immediately forsake their villages and flee. His fame spread far and wide: whenever there was a group of men the talk was always about Chaka, in the courtyards the women’s talk was about Chaka, in the pasture grounds the herdboys’ talk was about Chaka.
These nations which were fleeing from Chaka destroyed the weaker ones who were in their path, took away their cattle and their sorghum – everything. Other nations on the onward path, which had not yet heard about Chaka, blocked the way and fought against the ones who were fleeing from Chaka; that is to say that those who were running away were attacked from all sides, by Chaka from the rear and, in front, by the people of the country through which they were running. But since they had to flee from Chaka, they joined together into a large army, and they easily trampled over all the little nations which stood in their way, venting their rage on them. All the nations joined the stampede of the southward flight, and they killed each other with such viciousness that sometimes they waded through the blood of the slain. Often when Chaka came upon the people he found them already broken, tame and lacking the strength to fight, and he would simply finish them off. Those whom Chaka killed with his armies were far outnumbered by the victims of those fleeing from him. And that was the beginning of the difaqane and of the wandering bands: it was through Chaka that these things began.
In these wars Chaka killed all the married people, the old people and the children, that is to say the older people who had become accustomed to being ruled by their own kings and could never be changed into true Zulus; and as for the children, he killed them for fear that they would be a hindrance and become a pitiful sight when their parents were no more. All the youth had their lives spared on the calculation that they would soon forget their original homes and become Zulus at heart; the girls were made into slaves who served the armies, and among whom those armies would find wives when released from their bond of celibacy.
Wherever Chaka had passed clouds of smoke were to be seen from the villages he had set alight in order that the people shoul
d have nowhere to hide; smoke could be seen also from the fields as he set fire to the crops so that those who escaped should die from hunger. Yet in spite of that, a few still managed to escape, and Chaka, in his anger when he realised that there were some people who were hiding where he could not reach them, killed their dogs so that they should not continue hunting for them. That way, he assured himself, they should die and be completely wiped off the face of the earth. Whether they died by the spear or from hunger mattered little to him so long as they were dead.
Ahead of Chaka’s armies the land was beautiful, and was adorned with villages and ploughed fields and numerous herds of cattle; but upon their tracks were charred wastes without villages, without ploughed fields, without cattle, without anything whatsoever, except occasionally some wild animals. Wild dogs and hyenas roamed around in large packs following or flanking Chaka’s armies, and stopping wherever they stopped in the knowledge that that way they would obtain food without sweat or labour, provided free by someone else. The land became wild and unfriendly and threatening; the smell of death was upon the earth and in the air. The fields lay fallow of lack of people to plough them, because the moment someone dug his field, Chaka would see him, and that would be the end. Where villages once stood was utter desolation, the ghostly sight of which made one’s hair stand on end.
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