The origins of the Zuli people are shrouded in the mists of oral tradition. But by using a variety of specialized
methods, scholars have been able to penetrate the mists and discover some of the Zulu past. They have concluded
that within the last two thousand years there have been a series of migrations of large numbers of people from
central Africa into the southern part of the continent. These migrants from the north had a linguistic identity,
and they are referred to as Bantu-speaking peoples. This means that although these people spoke many different
languages the languages were similar enough in form and structure to deserve a common name, Bantu. Scholars chose
the name Bantu because this word, meaning "people;' occurs in a large array of languages spoken by the migrants.
These people slowly settled the southeastern area of Africa all the way down to what is now known as the province
of Natal in the Republic of South Africa. As they settled the land they began to form special groups. One large
group is now known as the Nguni people. The Nguni group consisted of many tribes and clans: the Xhosa, the Fingo,
the Tembu, the Pondo, the Swazi, and the Zulu. This process of migration and solidification into special groups,
each with a distinct language, was complete by the seventeenth century.
The Zulu at this stage of development were one group of people among many. According to their own traditions, an
ancestor named Malandela had two sons named Qwabe and Zulu. These two sons became the chiefs of two clans. Chief
Zulu extended his quest for territory until he came to the Mfolosi Valley, an area north of the Thukela River in
the present-day province of Natal. There Chief Zulu settled. His clan remained stable and unremarkable until the
renowned Zulu chief Shaka (1787-1828) emerged as a dynamic leader and warrior at the beginning of the nineteenth
century. Shaka in a very short time welded many different clans together into one powerful kingdom. He was successful
in this endeavor because he developed completely new methods of military conquest, establishing highly disciplined
regiments of young men and inventing new ways of deploying them in battle. It is Shaka's prowess as a general that
has captivated the imagination of Western novelists and filmmakers. Movies about the Zulu warrior continue to be
made to this day.
Today there are about four million Zulu in South Africa. They continue tolive primarily on a small portion of their
original land in the northeast sectionof Natal. However, many Zulu can also be found throughout South Africa work-ing
in the mines, as domestic servants, and in those positions in the world ofindustry and business not reserved for
whites (although this picture is now inthe process of change). Even under such very difficult conditions some Zuluhave
been able to attain a high level of education and thus will be found eitherat the segregated universities provided
by the South African government or, inspecial cases, at one of the English-speaking universities, such as the Universityof
Cape Thwn or Rhodes University. (Recently the picture has changed andpredominantly white universities, including
Afrikaans-speaking universities,have a more open admissions policy.)
When the government of South Africa declared a portion of the province ofNatal as the Zulu "homeland;"
they named it Kwazulu. Supposedly, within thisarea the Zulu would finally have some political rights. Whether or
not thisoccurs, this greatly diminished area has not proved to be self-sufficient. TheZulu therefore have been
forced to continue their dependence on white SouthAfrica, with its system of apartheid. Apartheid is a governmental
policyintended to keep the various groups of people living in South Africa separatefrom each other. Its practical
effect has been to keep all black people in aposition of servitude, without political rights of any kind. The "homeland"
is certainly far less in area than the traditional Zulu kingdom. At this moment the Zulu are strongly insisting
through two different organizations, the African National Congress and the Inkatha party, on their autonomy and
freedom. Zulu leaders have often been some of the most eloquent spokesmen for the rights of all black people in
South Africa. In fact, the Zulu chief Albert Luthuli was granted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1960 (the first African
to be so honored) for his articulate and peaceful presentation of the case for all the oppressed people of South
Africa.
While the Zulu people continue in such an oppressed situation it remains impossible to speak of an independent
kingdom or nation, despite their possession of the small territory, Kwazulu. Long before this possession, the buffeting
that these people had received from both British and Boer had already destroyed their autonomy.
In 1879 the British invaded the Zulu kingdom established by Shaka and maintained by the succeeding chiefs. Cetshwayo
was the last of the Zulu kings or great chiefs. After the British invasion of Zululand he was exiled; the invasion
and his exile signaled the end of Zulu territorial and political independence. In 1897 Zululand was ceded to the
British colony of Natal. Shortly after this cession, the British and the Afrikaaners engaged in a war disastrous
for both. This war created a deep enmity between the two white groups. In 1910 the Union of South Africa was formed
as a state within the British Commonwealth. In 1913 the South African government promulgated the Native Land Act,
naming a portion of traditional Zululand as a "native reserve" In fact, by 1906 much of the territory
that the Zulu regarded as their own kingdom had already been overrun and was possessed by white Natal settlers
of both British and Boer stock. It is the remnants of this native reserve that has now been designated as Kwazulu,
the "homeland" of the Zulu people.
Summary
Now in one volume: the ten volumes of the outstanding Religious Traditions of the World series. Written
by leading experts, these individual studies explore the richness and variety of important religions from around
the world.
