The
Zulu (
Zulu:
amaZulu) are the largest South African
ethnic group of an estimated 10–11 million people who live mainly
in the province of
KwaZulu-Natal,
South Africa.
Small numbers also
live in Zimbabwe
, Zambia
, and
Mozambique
. Their language,
Zulu, is a
Bantu
language; more specifically, part of the
Nguni subgroup. The Zulu Kingdom played a major role
in
South African history
during the 19th and 20th centuries. Under
apartheid, Zulu people were classed as third-class
citizens and suffered from state-sanctioned discrimination. They
remain today the most numerous ethnic group in South Africa, and
now have equal rights along with all other citizens.
Origins
The Zulu were originally a major clan in what is today Northern
KwaZulu-Natal, founded ca. 1709 by
Zulu kaNtombhela. In the
Nguni languages,
iZulu/iliZulu/liTulu means
heaven, or
sky. At that time, the area was occupied by many large
Nguni communities and clans (also called
isizwe=nation, people or
isibongo=clan). Nguni
communities had migrated down Africa's east coast over thousands of
years, as part of the
Bantu
migrations probably arriving in what is now South Africa in
about the 9th century A.D.
Kingdom
The Zulu formed a powerful state in 1816 under the leader
Shaka. Shaka, as the Zulu King, gained a large amount
of power over the tribe. A commander in the army of the powerful
Mthethwa Empire, he became leader of
his mentor
Dingiswayo's paramountcy and
united what was once a confederation of tribes into an imposing
empire under Zulu hegemony.
Conflict with the British
On December 11, 1878, agents of the British delivered an ultimatum
to 11 chiefs representing Cetshwayo. The terms forced upon
Cetshwayo required him to disband his army and
accept British authority. Cetshwayo refused, and war followed at
the start of 1879.
During the war, the Zulus defeated the
British at the Battle of Isandlwana
on January 22. The British managed to
get the upper hand after the battle at Rorke's Drift
, and win the war with the Zulu defeat at the
Battle of
Ulundi
on July 4.
Absorption into Natal
After Cetshwayo's capture a month after his defeat, the British
divided the Zulu Empire into 13 "kinglets". The subkingdoms fought
amongst each other until 1883 when Cetshwayo was reinstated as king
over
Zululand. This still did not stop
the fighting and the Zulu monarch was forced to flee his realm by
Zibhebhu, one of the 13 kinglets, supported
by Boer mercenaries. Cetshwayo died in February 1884, possibly
poisoned, leaving his son, the 15 year-old
Dinuzulu, to inherit the throne. In-fighting
between the Zulu continued for years, until Zululand was absorbed
fully into the British colony of
Natal.
Apartheid years
The KwaZulu homeland
Under
apartheid, the
homeland of
KwaZulu
(
Kwa meaning
place of) was created for Zulu
people. In 1970, the Bantu Homeland Citizenship Act provided that
all Zulus would become citizens of KwaZulu, losing their South
African citizenship. KwaZulu consisted of a large number of
disconnected pieces of land, in what is now
KwaZulu-Natal. Hundreds of thousands of Zulu
people living on privately owned "black spots" outside of KwaZulu
were dispossessed and forcibly moved to
bantustans – worse land previously reserved for
whites contiguous to existing areas of KwaZulu – in the name of
"consolidation." By 1993, approximately 5.2 million Zulu people
lived in KwaZulu, and approximately 2 million lived in the rest of
South Africa. The
Chief
Minister of KwaZulu, from its creation in 1970 (as Zululand)
was Chief
Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
In 1994, KwaZulu was joined with the province of Natal, to form
modern KwaZulu-Natal.
Inkatha YeSizwe ("the crown of the nation")
In 1975, Buthelezi revived the Inkatha YaKwaZulu, predecessor of
the
Inkatha Freedom Party.
This organization was nominally a protest movement against
apartheid, but held more conservative views than the
ANC. For example, Inkatha was
opposed to the armed struggle, and to sanctions against South
Africa. Inkatha was initially on good terms with the ANC, but the
two organizations came into increasing conflict beginning in 1979
in the aftermath of the
Soweto
Uprising.
Because its stances were more in accordance with the apartheid
government's views, Inkatha was the only mass organization
recognized as being representative of the views of black South
Africans by the apartheid government (the ANC and other movements
were banned). In the last years of apartheid, this acceptance
extended to the covert provision of funds and guerrilla warfare
training to Inkatha by the government. Yet unlike the leaders of
the
Transkei,
Ciskei,
Bophuthatswana and
Venda bantustans, Buthelezi
never accepted the pseudo-independence offered under the policy of
Separate Development, despite strong pressure from the ruling white
government.
Political violence
The modern Zulu population
The modern Zulu population is fairly evenly distributed in both
urban and rural areas. Although KwaZulu-Natal is still their
heartland, large numbers have been attracted to the relative
economic prosperity of Gauteng province. Indeed,
Zulu is the most widely spoken home language
in the province, followed by
Sotho.
Zulu is also widely spoken in rural and small-town Mpumalanga
province.
Zulus also play an important part in South African politics.
Mangosuthu Buthelezi served a term as Minister of Home Affairs in
the government of national unity which came into power in 1994,
when reduction of civil conflict between ANC and IFP followers was
a key national issue. Within the country, South African President
Jacob Zuma and former Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of
the country are Zulu, in part to bolster the ruling ANC's claim to
be a pan-ethnic national party and refute IFP claims that it was
primarily a
Xhosa party. This occurred during
the years of the harsh apartheid.
Language
The language of the Zulu people is
Zulu or "isiZulu", a
Bantu language; more specifically, part of
the
Nguni subgroup. Zulu is the most widely
spoken language in South Africa, where it is an
official language. More than half of the
South African population are able to understand it, with over 9
million first-language and over 15 million second-language
speakers. Many Zulu people also speak
English,
Portuguese,
Shangaan,
Sesotho
and others from among
South Africa's 11 official
languages.
Clothing
Traditional male clothing is usually light, consisting of a
two-part apron (similar to a loincloth) used to cover the genitals
and buttocks. The front piece is called the
umutsha ( ),
and is usually made of
springbok or other
animal hide twisted into different bands which cover the genitals.
The rear piece, called the
ibheshu , is made of a single
piece of springbok or cattle hide, and its length is usually used
as an indicator of age and social position; longer amabheshu
(plural of ibheshu) are worn by older men. Married men will usually
also wear a headband, called the
umqhele , which is
usually also made of springbok hide, or
leopard hide by men of higher social status, such as
chiefs. Zulu men will also wear cow tails as bracelets and anklets
called
imishokobezi during ceremonies and rituals, such as
weddings or dances.
Religion and beliefs
[[Image:AAC Worshippers.jpg|left|thumb|300px|Zulu worshippers at
an
African
Apostolic Church, near
Oribi
Gorge]]
Most Zulu people state their beliefs to be
Christian. Some of the most common churches to
which they belong are
African
Initiated Churches, especially the
Zion Christian Church and various
Apostolic Churches, although membership of
major European Churches, such as the
Dutch Reformed,
Anglican and
Catholic
Churches is also common. Nevertheless, many Zulus retain their
traditional pre-Christian belief system of ancestor worship in
parallel with their Christianity.
Zulu religion includes belief in a creator God
(
Nkulunkulu) who is above interacting in day-to-day human
affairs, although this belief appears to have originated from
efforts by early Christian missionaries to frame the idea of the
Christian God in Zulu terms. Traditionally, the more strongly held
Zulu belief was in ancestor spirits (
Amatongo or
Amadhlozi), who had the power to intervene in people's
lives, for good or ill. This belief continues to be widespread
among the modern Zulu population.
In order to appeal to the spirit world, a diviner (
sangoma) must
invoke the ancestors through
divination processes to determine the problem. Then, a herbalist
(
inyanga) prepares a mixture to be
consumed (
muthi) in order to
influence the ancestors. As such, diviners and herbalists play an
important part in the daily lives of the Zulu people. However, a
distinction is made between white
muthi (
umuthi
omhlope), which has positive effects, such as healing or the
prevention or reversal of misfortune, and black
muthi
(
umuthi omnyama), which can bring illness or death to
others, or ill-gotten wealth to the user. Users of black
muthi are considered witches, and shunned by
society.
Christianity had difficulty gaining a foothold among the Zulu
people, and when it did it was in a syncretic fashion. Isaiah
Shembe, considered the Zulu
Messiah,
presented a form of Christianity (the
Nazareth Baptist Church) which
incorporated traditional customs.
See also
External links
References
_crop.png/150px-Isaacs_-_Sjaka,_Koning_van_die_Zulu_(1836)_crop.png)
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