Zulu and origins

The kingdom • Kingdom• Shaka Zulu was the illegitimate son of Senzangakona, chief of the Zulus. He was born ca 1787. He and his mother, Nandi, were exiled by

Senzangakona, and found refuge with the Mthethwa. Shaka fought as a warrior under Dingiswayo, chief of the Mthethwa. When Senzangakona died, Dingiswayo helped Shaka claim his place as chief of the Zulus. The two fought together against common foes. After Dingiswayo was murdered by king Zwide of the Ndwandwe, the Mthethwa placed themselves under Shaka's rule, and took on the name Zulu.

• Shaka built upon Dingiswayo's military reforms, and, using superior tactics, expanded the territory controlled by the Zulu to form the Zulu Kingdom. Some of the conflicts involved in this process fall under the Zulu Civil War. The Zulus at this point constituted a great nation between the Tugela River and the Pongola River. This process of expansion played a major role in the occurrence of the Mfecane - the catastrophic forced migration of many clans around Zululand.

• Shaka was succeeded by Dingane, his half brother, who conspired to murder him. Dingane suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, when he attacked a group of 470 Voortrekker settlers.

The anglo- zulu • The Anglo-Zulu War was fought between the Zulus, under Cetshwayo and the British in 1879. The British ruled the colony of

Natal, which bordered on the Zulu Kingdom at the time. Despite defeating the British at Isandlwana on January 22, the Zulus lost the war at the Battle of Ulundi on July 4. Cetshwayo was forced to flee, and the British forcibly restructured the Zulu aristocracy. Under apartheid, Zululand was declared a homeland, and a large proportion of the Zulu people forced to live there. Zulu people were classed as "black" in South Africa, and as such were heavily discriminated against.

The rural zulu people • Rural Zulu people live in villages, often without electricity and running water, in houses constructed from a mixture of mud

brick and more modern, but cheap, materials. The Zulu aristocracy still tends to play a major role in the leadership of rural Zulu people. Local amaKhosi (literally lords, though "chiefs" is a more common translation) tend to hold a certain amount of sway over the people in their area. Some rural Zulu people make a living selling basketry and beadwork to tourists and city dwellers. Some are also subsistence farmers, although a more prominent trend is for one member of a family to get a job in a nearby city, from the income of which they support the rest of the family.

The urbun zulu • KingdomShaka Zulu was the illegitimate son of Senzangakona, chief of the Zulus. He was

born ca 1787. He and his mother, Nandi, were exiled by Senzangakona, and found refuge with the Mthethwa. Shaka fought as a warrior under Dingiswayo, chief of the Mthethwa. When Senzangakona died, Dingiswayo helped Shaka claim his place as chief of the Zulus. The two fought together against common foes. After Dingiswayo was murdered by king Zwide of the Ndwandwe, the Mthethwa placed themselves under Shaka's rule, and took on the name

Zulu music

• The singing styles of the Zulu people and their Nguni heritage are worthy of special mention. As in much of Africa, music is highly considered, enabling the communication of emotions and situations which could not be made by talking. Zulu music incorporates rhythm, melody and harmony the latter is usually dominant and known as "isigubudu" (which can be translated as converging horns on a beast, with tips touching the animal, a spiralling inward that reflects inner feelings).

What zulu people eat • The main food that Zulus eat consists of beer (tshwala), Zulu bread, cooked chicken feet, meat, amasi,

pumpkin, cabbage, tubers and phuthu or maize meal. Meat is roasted on coals, and is often left scorched almost black on the outside and very rare on the inside (inyama eyosiwe). The Zulus drink amasi which is sour, curdled milk. Milk is hardly ever drunk fresh ('green milk'), but it is sometimes used to thin amasi which has gone too thick to be used. Maize is a popular part of the Zulu's diet.

Kinds of food the zulu people eat

Inyama yokosa(braai meat)

Zulu language • Their language is isiZulu. Many Zulu people today speak English, Afrikaans, and other of South Africa's 11 official languages.

In the Zulu language, Zulu means "heaven" or "sky

Umfino and ubhatata(spinach and sweet potatoes)

Uphuthu (maize meal)

Umqombhothi(Traditional beer)