A Description of King Dingane of the Zulus

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“A Description of King Dingane of the Zulus” is a first-hand narrative of a meeting with the Zulu monarch, published in the 1830s by British adventurer Nathaniel Isaacs.

Dingane was the 2nd king of the Zulu Empire. He was the successor of Shaka , the founder of the empire. Shaka, a famous military innovator, had transformed the small Zulu clan into powerful empire by absorbing and conquering fellow Nguni Bantu-speaking communities.

Nguni is a sub-branch of the Bantu languages that are spoken by most South Africans. The Nguni languages or dialects are all very similar and sometimes mutually intelligible. Today more than 40% of South Africans speak Nguni languages. The country’s 2 most widely spoken languages are Zulu and Xhosa, both Nguni languages. Other Nguni languages include Ndebele and Swazi.

Before Shaka rose to power around 1816, the Nguni-speaking peoples of what is now KwaZulu-Natal were divided into smaller clans and confederacies. But Shaka revolutionized local military tactics, and conquered surrounding Nguni groups, so that most people in the region adopted the Zulu identity.

Shaka’s father Senzangakhona was the chief of the Zulu clan. Like many Nguni chiefs, Senzangakhona had multiple wives and many children. Shaka was one of these children. Dingane was Shaka’s half-brother, the son of Senzangakhona by another wife. Dingane’s successor Mpande was another son of Senzangakhona, a half-brother of both Shaka and Dingane. Another half-brother, Mhlangana, helped Dingane to assassinate Shaka in 1828.

Shaka’s reign ended in 1828 when he was assassinated- stabbed to death- by his half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana. Dingane subsequently took the throne and killed Mhlangana. Dingane himself was overthrown and killed by his half-brother Mpande in 1840. After a long reign Mpande died of natural causes and was succeeded by his son Cetswayo. Cetswayo was the last independent king of the Zulu. The kingdom was conquered by the British in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879, and later incorporated into South Africa.

Dingane may be best known in history for his war with the Afrikaner Voortrekkers , who arrived in his territory in the 1830s. The Afrikaners, or Boers , were descendants of 17th century Dutch settlers in the Cape, in western South Africa. In the 1830s Boers migrated into eastern South Africa, which brought them into conflict with the Zulu and other black groups.

Dingane met with a group of Boer settlers, led by Piet Retief to discuss the sale of land in early 1838, but, without warning, had the Boers seized and executed. Dingane then sent his armies out to kill the remaining Boer settlers in the region. The Zulu army was famously defeated at the Battle of Blood River in December 1838. Fighting between the Zulus and Boers continued, but civil war broke among the Zulus in 1840. Mpande, who challenged Dingane’s authority, was supported by the Boers. Dingane was defeated by Mpande at the Battle of Maqongqo, and killed afterward. He was replaced by Mpande as king of the Zulus.

Dingane is often depicted as a villain because of his assassination of the Zulu hero Shaka, and his conflict with the Afrikaners. But the British traveler Nathaniel Isaacs, who had previously met Shaka, left a much more flattering description of the 2nd Zulu king. According to Isaacs, Dingane was a better ruler than his brother had been, because Dingane was more friendly to foreign trade, and less harsh towards his subjects.