Origins & Early Life

Cetshwayo kaMpande (; Zulu pronunciation: [ᵏǀétʃwajo kámpande]; c. 1826 – 8 February 1884) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1884 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been rendered as Cetywayo, Cetewayo or Cetshwayo. Cetshwayo consistently opposed the war and sought fruitlessly to make peace with the British and was defeated and exiled following the Zulu defeat in the war.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

He was later allowed to return to Zululand, where he died in 1884. Cetshwayo kaMpande was born in 1826, the son of future Zulu king Mpande kaSenzangakhona and Queen Ngqumbazi. He was a half-nephew of the then reigning Zulu King Shaka and a grandson of Senzangakhona. Cetshwayo was a prominent Usuthu leader the Zulu Civil War of 1856, against his younger brother Mbuyazi. Prominent trader John Robert Dunn unsuccessfully attempted to mediate the conflict, caught in the eventual Battle of Ndondakusuka on the 2nd of December 1856.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Cetshwayo succeeded in defeating Mbuyazi, annihilating most of his Gqoza followers, including five of his own brothers, and the capture of nearly one thousand head of cattle from white traders who had congregated nearby. Dunn...

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