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isiZulu
A discrete language community now known as isiZulu diverged from its immediate ancestor at the end of the 12th century. We don't know what early speakers called this language. The name isiZulu comes from early interactions with missionaries, travelers and colonial administrators who asked questions like, 'What language do you speak,' and received answers like, 'We speak the language of the Zulu [kingdom].' The language has changed, but contemporary isiZulu corresponds to this discrete community. -
Consolidation of Zulu Kingdom (2nd Zulu)
A 'Zulu' clan/chiefdom existed under the rule of the Mthethwa kingdom from at least the 18th century. Around 1816, Shaka claimed leadership of the faction. The title 'Zulu' referred to the ruling clan and their kingdom. Subjects of the Zulu kingdom did not call themselves amaZulu (Zulu people). Close allies were known as amaNtungwa, while various other subjects considered themselves amaQwabe, amaLala, etc. -
Rise of Zulu Kingdom
These dates are a bit arbitrary, but from about Shaka's reign (1816-1828), and that of his brothers Dingane (1828-1840) and Mpande (1840-1856), the Zulu kingdom was at its height. The kingdom began to decline during the reign of Cetshwayo (1856-1884), during which the British extended their legal and territorial reach. -
Commission for the Locating of Natives
Theophilus Shepstone's system for removing black Africans from their land and relocating them to 'homelands'. A precursor to Apartheid. -
Anglo-Zulu War
January 22 1879, Cetshwayo's Zulu defeated the British in one of the worst losses the colonial forces had suffered. With backing from the metropole, the British regrouped and laid siege on the capital city of Ulundi. The British subsequently divided the kingdom into 13 'kinglets.' -
Decline of Zulu Kingdom
King Cetshwayo ka Mpande died February 1884, and his son Dinizulu succeeded to the throne of one small kinglet. Accused of orchestrating a rebellion, Dinizulu was removed from power and sentenced first to prison and then exile. He died in exile in 1913. The kingdom never actually reunified, but became marginally significant again in 1975 with the founding of Inkatha Freedom Party. -
Zulu ethnogenesis (3rd Zulu)
Arbitrary date, but essentially from the codification of Customary Law to the founding of the Zulu Cultural Society. This timespan was marked by increasing administrative record keeping. Former subjects of the Zulu kingdom used colonial legislation to claim an identity previously reserved for the ruling family of the Zulu kingdom. It was an act of claiming status, but quickly became a shared identity through which to express discontentment with colonial rule. -
Natives Land Act
Decreed black South Africans should be relocated on just 13% of land. -
Founding of Inkatha yakwaZulu
Founded by heir apparent Solomon ka Dinizulu as a way to unify and support chiefs of the 13 Zulu kinglets. This is the First Inkatha. -
Founding of Zulu Cultural Society
Exactly what it sounds like. Founded by Albert Luthuli, it was primarily geared towards addressing shared concerns of wealthy landholders, Christian converts, and colonial administrators worried about the waywardness of Zulu youth. -
Institutionalization of Grand Apartheid
Segregation existed since the founding of Cape Colony in 1652, and became the law of the land in 1913, but became a structural political system in 1948. -
Zulu ethnic nationalism (4th Zulu)
Begins with the Second Inkatha (Inkatha Freedom Party), founded by Chief Gatsha Buthelezi. Buthelezi was not king but claimed royal descent. In the 60s and 70s, cultural brokers like Buthelezi began to reference Zulu ethnicity as a source of shared power. This is the ethnic nationalist Zulu we see in Workers and Warriors. As Waetjen says, there were precursors to the sentiments Buthelezi tapped into, but this was really design from above in the 70s. -
The New South Africa
Transition to democratic rule.
