- 4 weeks ago
Dr Casely-Hayford explores the history the Zulu. He examines their origins in the 17th century, their expansion under controversial military leader King Shaka and their brutal encounters with the Boers and the British.
祖鲁王国在19 世纪初的崛起, 重点讲述恰卡·祖鲁如何通过军事改革, 如发明“牛角”战术,推广短刺矛, 将分散的部落统一为强大的军事国家....
祖鲁王国在19 世纪初的崛起, 重点讲述恰卡·祖鲁如何通过军事改革, 如发明“牛角”战术,推广短刺矛, 将分散的部落统一为强大的军事国家....
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TVTranscript
00:02The mountain of Azandalwana in eastern South Africa.
00:08On the 22nd of January, 1879, this was the site of one of the most humiliating defeats ever suffered by
00:15the British Army.
00:19In just three hours, over 1,200 British troops armed with state-of-the-art weapons were annihilated by an
00:27African army
00:27equipped only with spears, shields and a collection of old muskets.
00:38The enemy responsible captured the British imagination and went down in history as one of the most fearsome and powerful
00:45kingdoms in Africa, the Zulu.
00:53We know less about Africa's past than almost anywhere else on Earth.
00:59But the scarcity of written records doesn't mean Africa lacks history.
01:05In this series, I'm exploring some of the richest and most vibrant histories in the world.
01:15I'm travelling across South Africa through some of the country's most spectacular landscapes
01:20to discover how a tiny ethnic group, born in a period of turmoil, could become one of the most famous
01:27and celebrated kingdoms in history.
01:43Every February, a few thousand people gather to celebrate contemporary Zulu identity by taking part in a traditional South African
01:52ceremony.
01:57This first fruits festival is dedicated to the small yellow marula fruit native to the country.
02:05The crowds have come here to present the first harvest of the marula to their leader, King Goodwill Zuelitino.
02:14According to tradition, the king must be the first to taste the fruit before the people can harvest their crops.
02:22What's happening here is more than just a celebration of Zulu culture.
02:26It's an affirmation of the power of the king, the king who's the embodiment of the state,
02:32and a connection to the great monarchs that founded the Zulu nation.
02:41Zulu identity was shaped by a series of powerful kings.
02:46According to oral tradition, the original Zulu chiefdom was established in the 17th century by the founding patriarch, Malandela.
02:56It was his son Zulu who gave his name to the people.
03:01Zulu means heaven.
03:02They became known as the Yama Zulu, the people of heaven.
03:12They settled in a region that would eventually become known as KwaZulu-Natal.
03:19Bounded by the Drakensberg Mountains in the west and the Indian Ocean in the east,
03:25it's a landscape of rolling hills, deep river gorges and fertile grasslands.
03:33I do love this bit of South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal.
03:37There's something about it that feels very authentic.
03:41I mean, so much of South Africa is so like Europe, but this feels really like Africa.
03:49At the end of the 18th century, the Zulu were just one of a patchwork of small chiefdoms that occupied
03:56this region.
03:57For over a hundred years, they'd lived in relative peace, raising cattle and cultivating their fields.
04:04But then, everything began to change.
04:15Trade was the catalyst for the transformation of the Zulu people, from a small local chieftain into a major regional
04:22power.
04:28Europeans have been trading in Southern Africa since the 16th century.
04:32On the west coast, the Dutch, and later the British, controlled the city of Cape Town.
04:38While closer to Zulu territory, the Portuguese had a trading post at Delagoa Bay.
04:44In exchange for ivory, cattle and slaves, the Portuguese and other European traders supplied copper, brass, textiles and beads.
04:54But troubles broke.
04:57By the end of the 18th century, rival ethnic groups were competing more and more aggressively for access to trade
05:03routes that linked to Delagoa Bay.
05:06Trade with the Portuguese was vital for local power and influence, but not everyone would get access.
05:13Small chieftains were in danger of being crushed by their larger rivals in the fight for goods to trade with
05:20the Europeans.
05:21The small Zulu chieftains were suddenly vulnerable.
05:27But out of that turmoil would emerge a man who would change Zulu history forever.
05:32His name, Shaka.
05:40Shaka was a king, and a soldier, and the founder of the Zulu nation.
05:51In the space of 12 years, in the early 19th century, he transformed the small Zulu chiefdom into a large
05:58and powerful military force.
06:03Although he became an icon of the Zulu people, Shaka's legacy remains deeply contentious, something not helped by the myths
06:12that surround his biography.
06:13What's really frustrating about Shaka's life is that there are hardly any contemporaneous written records.
06:20We have to rely on second-hand written material, and oral testimonies, most of which is conflicting.
06:26The lack of reliable evidence has left room for multiple interpretations of Shaka, many of them highly romanticized.
06:39Respected sources suggest he was born in the 1780s, the eldest son of a Zulu chief.
06:50For reasons unknown, he was raised in a neighboring chiefdom, where he learned the skills of statecraft and soldiering.
06:57As inter-ethnic conflict erupted, he returned to the Zulus, seized the chieftaincy, and transformed the lives of his people.
07:13One legend portrays Shaka as a benevolent patriarch.
07:18As a young man, he is said to have worked as a herdsman.
07:22One day, he was out in the fields when he was distracted.
07:26As a result, he lost his herd.
07:29The shame he felt had a profound effect according to the story.
07:34Shaka learned from his early experience as a herdsman that it's important to look after every single member of your
07:40flock.
07:41He spent the rest of his life trying to compensate, making sure that security and discipline were the central focus
07:49of Zulu life.
07:52To explore one view of how Shaka built the Zulu kingdom, I'm meeting Makawi Biella, a descendant of Shaka himself.
08:01Before Shaka, there was no Zulu empire. Shaka, through his intelligence, is the one who created the Zulu empire.
08:10After he came to the throne, he said, okay, now what I'm going to do, I will go from clan
08:16to clan.
08:18Chieftain, I will approach each and every chief and I will just unite people using the spear.
08:25I united them in order for me to establish the great Zulu empire.
08:31But were people scared of him or did they respect him or was it a mixture of the two?
08:36A mixture of the two.
08:38Some feared him.
08:40Because for those who refused to join his faction, you know, they knew very well what would happen to them.
08:48A spear would be put into youth.
08:51There are so many other people who said, no, we cannot tolerate this. We cannot live under your control.
08:56But there must have been good reasons why people stayed within the Zulu nation.
09:02What was so attractive about the Zulu state that Shaka was building?
09:07What were the wonderful things that he was giving to the people that they didn't have before?
09:11Well, they think that people never had, they were not united.
09:15They were like having small clans here and there.
09:19He was emphasizing unity.
09:21No separation, no isolation, no quarrel, nothing.
09:26He is trying to unite the people, he is trying to create our identity as Zulu people.
09:37Many Zulu today venerate Shaka as the protector and defender of the people.
09:45They give him credit for reforming an institution that shaped Zulu identity and transformed its fortunes.
09:54The army.
10:11These warriors are members of a ceremonial Zulu regiment.
10:17Today, they perform on formal occasions.
10:20But in Shaka's time, regiments were the backbone of Zulu society.
10:29When Shaka assumed the throne in 1816, he decided to build upon recent innovations of local chiefs.
10:36He introduced a system of conscription, divided his soldiers into regiments called Amabutu,
10:41and these were to revolutionize Zulu society.
10:46Under the Amabutu system, young men left their families, around the age of 14, to work and fight in regiments.
10:58Separating young men from the rest of Zulu society was a way of shifting their loyalty from local chiefs to
11:05their Amabutu and their king.
11:11One of the leaders of the regiment is Ungumezi.
11:14The Amabutu system for coming along the school
11:20It is such aывает from Yazidu, MayAnubutu and their dog, KIPOCWACUACUACUACUACUACUACUACUACI,
12:01To the military system, it's actually part of the culture, and the culture is part of
12:06the military system, that in a way, it's absolutely fundamental to Zulu culture.
12:12Yes.
12:19Under Shaka, young men in the Amabuta were not allowed to marry and set up their own homesteads.
12:27Marriage rights could only be earned once soldiers had reached maturity and distinguished
12:33themselves in battle, normally around the age of 35.
12:37By making marriage a reward for military service, Shaka ensured the loyalty of his men.
12:48Shaka's also credited with introducing new fighting techniques, including a new battle
12:53formation that proved brilliantly effective.
12:56It became known as the horns of the buffalo.
13:00Simon, can you tell me about the battle formation that the Zulu used?
13:04Regiment leader Simon is giving me a demonstration.
13:07So this is the enemy here.
13:09How would the horns of the buffalo actually work if that was the enemy that was approaching
13:14the Zulu lines?
13:16How would it...
13:16Can I draw it down?
13:17Yeah, please do.
13:18Yes.
13:19The buffalo, horn shape, it's like this.
13:28What they would engage with this group here?
13:32Is that...
13:32This is the chest.
13:33This is the chest.
13:34Of warriors.
13:36Where the very strong and the strongest men used to stand.
13:42All these young stars, all these round left and right, they surround an enemy, and then
13:50the enemy will be in the middle now.
13:52They will kill him dead.
13:54To illustrate the battle technique more clearly, Simon's arranging his warriors
13:58into the attack formation.
14:00Put your pants.
14:01Eat.
14:02This is what I'm talking about.
14:04So this is the strategy that Shaka actually invented.
14:09That they would form the horns of a buffalo.
14:12Yes.
14:13At the actual head are the strongest men.
14:16Yes.
14:17And that they would hit the enemy really hard.
14:20They would hit the enemy really hard.
14:22And then whilst the enemy's trying to deal with these big guys, the two horns come round.
14:27Yes, come round.
14:28And they enclose you.
14:29Yes.
14:30And they finish you off.
14:31They finish off.
14:32This is how you conquer so many tribes, and make it one big tribe, Zulu Nation.
14:44So they're actually singing, we are the bull, but we will destroy you.
14:51I mean, that metaphor of Kaku, it's obviously so deeply infused into the Zulu.
14:57And it's just amazing to see it brought to life in these kinds of performances.
15:06Shaka also transforms Zulu weaponry, preferring a short-handled stabbing spear, used like a dagger,
15:14to the older long-handled throwing spear.
15:20What is so much better about this than what went before?
15:24Why is this such a good piece of weaponry?
15:28Before, they've used the long spears.
15:33When they just throw these long spears like that, it was a waste of energy.
15:38Because once they throw missing an enemy, the enemy will take those spears and face you again.
15:47It was a waste.
15:49Now, that's why Shaka invented this.
15:52Money where your mouth is, Simon.
15:53Yes.
15:54Are you ready for this?
15:55Yes, I'm ready.
15:57Shaka's warriors were instructed to fight their enemies to the death.
16:01If they lost their spears, they weren't only vulnerable to the enemy.
16:05They were treated by their own leaders as cowards.
16:08This short spear is your life.
16:13If you lose your short spear, you're dead.
16:17What you can say?
16:19Where is your spear?
16:20You lost it running?
16:22Huh?
16:22You must be taken to the place called Gwankata.
16:28What would happen to you at Gwankata?
16:30If someone have done wrong, like you lost this short spear, that's a serious case.
16:37You will be taken by the very strong man.
16:39You will be struck in the head, dead.
16:44In that place, always the vultures are turning around that place.
16:50As soon as you have been killed, the vultures will get into you, take some ice out.
16:55You know?
16:57That's how it is.
17:08With the creation of his powerful army, Shaka had transformed the Zulu people from a small
17:13chieftain into a powerful militaristic state.
17:16The army became the focus of Zulu life.
17:24And as chieftains started fighting each other for access to the trade routes, Shaka's soldiers
17:30prepared for conflict.
17:40The early Zulu kingdom wasn't like a European kingdom with palaces, crown jewels and a
17:45civil service.
17:47Rather, it was a web of small communities ruled by the king through a network of local chiefs.
17:55It was these communities that Shaka's army was defending.
18:02They lived in clusters of small houses whose layout has changed little since King Shaka's
18:08time.
18:12This is in Kandla Valley, in the heart of KwaZulu-Natal.
18:18This whole area is peppered with traditional Zulu homesteads, and I'm about to visit one.
18:27While the designs have changed over the years, the homestead remains the focal point of Zulu
18:32society.
18:34I've been invited to meet the lady who lives here.
18:36Hello?
18:42What a welcome.
19:02It's a beautiful place you have here.
19:07How many people live in a homestead of this size?
19:31The layout of the homestead reflects the structure of Zulu society as a whole.
19:36How beautiful.
19:39Zulu culture was patriarchal and polygamous.
19:44Each house in the homestead functioned like an individual room,
19:50with the married man's house at the rear, surrounded on both sides by those of his wives, children and extended
19:58family.
20:00This domestic structure was the same throughout Zulu society, making the homestead the smallest building block of Shaka's empire.
20:09And at the centre of the homestead is its most important feature.
20:15This is a traditional Zulu cattle corral.
20:19And they were usually placed right in the centre of a Zulu village.
20:24And that was partially for security, but it's also a measure of the importance of cattle.
20:28They are the central focus of Zulu society.
20:31They were actually used as part of the Zulu economy.
20:35And they were also used for bartering.
20:42Traditionally, a man who wished to marry had to provide his bride's father with a gift of cattle to compensate
20:49him for the loss of his daughter.
20:52And distribution of cattle was both a source of conflict and one of the ways in which warring factions made
20:59peace.
21:02Only men were allowed in the cattle pen.
21:05And the pen itself had a spiritual status within the homestead.
21:13The circular shape of both the cattle pen and the homestead is not an accident.
21:18It's a design that's both protective and defensive, embodying the promise of security and belonging, upon which the Zulu kingdom
21:27was founded.
21:36But for Shaka, it wasn't enough just to protect his own people.
21:42The Zulu were just one of a number of chiefdoms competing for power in a period of turmoil.
21:48For many, it was a case of conquer or be conquered.
21:55With his powerful new army, Shaka was able to set about turning his Zulu chiefdom into an empire.
22:02For four years, Shaka then embarked on a period of aggressive regional expansion.
22:08He annihilated his enemies and forced people off of their land.
22:12It was a period that became known as Mfukane, the crushing.
22:21Shaka built the Zulu nation by conquering these chiefdoms and incorporating them into the larger Zulu kingdom.
22:29Those who refused to cooperate had two options, death or exile.
22:35As the Zulu kingdom expanded southward, many fled to the foothills of the Drakensberg Mountains on the fringes of Zulu
22:43territory.
22:47Here in this remote landscape, archaeologist Benjamin Smith has traced the impact of Shaka's conquests.
22:57This is on the periphery of the Mfetkan main area.
23:00And what happened is that many groups were sort of fled the Mfetkan and came out into the mountains as
23:06places of refuge to get away from sort of Zulu imperialism and the domination of the Zulu family.
23:14And so chiefs that wanted to still retain independence or that were kicked out for some reason or another ended
23:21up in these kind of areas.
23:22And they would come here for security and safety and to get away from the things that are happening down
23:27in the main sort of centre of Mfetkan activity.
23:33But before the refugees of warfare came here, this region was already inhabited.
23:39It was home to hunter-gatherers known as the San people.
23:46Hardly any traces of the Mfetkan remain, but one remarkable piece of evidence survives.
23:54Benjamin's taking me to see a tiny fragment of a San rock painting depicting a warrior, perhaps a refugee from
24:02Shaka's conquests.
24:04OK, so here we are.
24:07There is the great painting of a man carrying a shield.
24:13It's beautiful.
24:14Probably painted in the 1810s or reflecting on things from 1810, 1820, exactly the time of the Mfetkan.
24:21What are we actually seeing here, Benjamin?
24:23You can see here a human figure, back leg, front leg.
24:26In his left arm, you can see a long spear with a long metal tip.
24:32In his right arm, he's holding this slightly exaggerated shield.
24:36And what's noticeable about it is not the classic Zulu shape, you know, sort of lozenge, but it's slightly indented
24:41in the middle.
24:42And one of the things that we recognise now is that this is not a typical Zulu shield.
24:47It's probably someone escaping from the Zulu kingdom and coming into no man's land as a place of refuge.
24:53So the person who created this may well have lived in the period of Shaka?
24:58Very, very likely.
24:59One of these groups, it's fleeing from the direct rule and sort of might of Shaka.
25:08The Mfekani transformed Southern Africa.
25:12It was swift and uncompromising.
25:14And as a result, the Zulu nation expanded from around 3,000 people to over a quarter of a million.
25:23For those who didn't resist, Shaka offered security, a collective identity and the promise of a future for their children.
25:34But around the Zulu kingdom, Southern Africa was changing.
25:43In 1824, a group of British traders landed in a small lagoon on the east coast of Southern Africa.
25:52Today it's Durban, the largest city of KwaZulu-Natar.
26:00The traders established a base and quickly made contact with King Shaka.
26:05Their arrival would have profound consequences for the Zulu kingdom.
26:11This is France's farewell square, the location of Britain's first trading post in Natal.
26:18From a collection of huts on this side, Britain traded with the Zulu in textiles and metals.
26:24And they exchanged those goods for animal hides and ivory.
26:28And those first traders' accounts would shape the reputation of Shaka for decades.
26:38Shaka continues to be remembered by many Zulus as a heroic warrior statesman whose military conquest created a proud nation.
26:48But 19th century British accounts of Shaka offer a darker view.
26:54They wrote of a brutal despot who maintained internal control by terrorizing his own people.
27:01While these accounts of Shaka as savage may well have been an alibi for Britain's colonial ambitions, they cast a
27:09long shadow over his reputation.
27:12To explore that legacy, I'm visiting the Keeley Campbell Library to meet historian Sia Bonga Mekize.
27:21In the early 20th century, a British colonial official named James Stewart recorded oral testimonies from Zulu elders, many of
27:30them first- or second-hand accounts of Shaka's life.
27:35They provide some of the most important historical evidence of Shaka's biography.
27:42Sia Bonga, could you explain to me a little bit about James Stewart and his archive?
27:47Yeah, most of the informants of James Stewart were people who have seen Shaka or people that have seen people
27:55that were living during Shaka's time.
27:58For example, if you can find that we go to the information that was given by Balega. Balega was a
28:08man from the Kuabe clan.
28:11Shaka did many evil things to people. Seeing a woman who was pregnant, though she had done him no harm,
28:17he ordered her to be caught, killed and cut open so that it could be seen in what position her
28:23child was lying.
28:24Gosh, it's shocking. I mean, are there other negative accounts? I mean, just interested in getting to find out that
28:31side of him.
28:32If you can check through this page, page 10, you find Balega here still talking about King Shaka.
28:40Balega says that Shaka once asked a woman who was drawing water in an earthen pot at a stream for
28:46a drink of water.
28:47The woman not knowing Shaka said, why don't you lap up the water as the other dogs do, thereby refusing
28:54him the drink.
28:55Shaka marked her down. He then directed that she was to be put to death in order that he might
29:00see what kind of heart so inhospitable a person had.
29:05Wow. Sounds like quite a ruthless picture of almost a despot.
29:10It might be true. It might be true. It might not be true. Because during Shaka's time, people were making
29:17a lot of stories about him.
29:20Those stories were constructed by different people because they wanted to find, so that people, others, to believe that I've
29:28seen Shaka or I've been in Shaka's court.
29:32Then people will tell a lot of lies.
29:35But it seems like Baleka is not a fan of Shaka, whatever way we cut it, that these are a
29:42variety of fairly awful things that Baleka feels that Shaka has done.
29:47But are there views then, by contrast, that are very positive?
29:53Yes. Here. Chanji.
29:57He talks about Shaka as a good character or as a good king.
30:01My father said Shaka was a great king and very clever because he defeated all the chiefs in every direction.
30:10He was very resourceful.
30:13You remember the clans were living independently all over the country.
30:18Then he managed to defeat them and make them one nation.
30:22I found that really fascinating. There's obviously a broad range of different interpretations of Shaka.
30:31But you, you know this material probably better than anyone.
30:35Who do you feel Shaka was? How do you feel about him?
30:41If I can say, let's bring back Shaka now, he can make a good politician.
30:48For me, that's how I see Shaka.
30:50It was just a game of the day that he could kill other people to get what he wanted to
30:55get.
30:55But he was a great politician.
31:07Shaka died in 1828, in his early 40s.
31:12He'd been assassinated by his half-brothers, who seized the Zulu throne.
31:18As happens so often with historical research, when you get close to the subject, they seem almost to dissolve in
31:26ambiguity.
31:28I mean, Shaka is a very complicated man, that he's part despotic leader.
31:33But at the same time, he's a very charismatic individual who transforms Zulu society.
31:38And one has to think that he left huge shoes to fill.
31:44The legacy of this man is enormous.
31:51Shaka's death marked a break with the past.
31:57His successor, King Dingan, decided to build a new royal residence in the heart of Zulu territory, the Amakasini Valley.
32:09This is Ngangan Klovu, the site of Dingan's royal compound.
32:15When it was built in 1829, this compound would have contained around 1,500 small beehive-shaped houses,
32:23clustered eight deep around a central cattle pen.
32:27Between 5,000 and 7,000 people lived on this site.
32:33When Dingan seized control of the Zulu throne, he took control of a nation at its absolute zenith.
32:40During his 12 years of rule, Shaka had expanded Zulu territory from 10 square miles to over 12,000.
32:48He left a standing army of more than 40,000 men and ruled over a population of more than 250
32:54,000 people.
32:56But the Zulu faced a new threat, and that was to come to a head here.
33:03Beginning in 1836, groups of Boer settlers, descendants of Dutch, German and French farmers, set off from the Cape Colony
33:12in search of new land.
33:14Their leader was Pete Retief.
33:18In late 1837, they arrived in Zulu territory.
33:23After a series of skirmishes, Dingan agreed to give them land in exchange for cattle.
33:29To seal the deal, some 70 Boer farmers travelled to Dingan's royal residence.
33:38The Boers' arrival was provocative.
33:41They rode into the royal enclosure on horseback, firing their weapons.
33:45It was a display that Dingan interpreted as insulting and aggressive.
33:52Before their departure, the Boers were invited to Dingan's homestead for a final leave-taking.
33:58As was traditional, they were asked to leave their weapons outside.
34:03Whilst two Zulu regiments did a ceremonial dance, Dingan stood up and he shouted,
34:10Seize the wizards!
34:11And the Boer were taken away, and one by one, they were clubbed to death.
34:24The Boers were executed on a hill just outside the royal Zulu compound.
34:30Their leader, Pete Retief, was forced to witness their deaths.
34:34He was the last to die.
34:37The 70 Boers were buried on this site.
34:41The manner of the Boers' deaths only helped to reinforce their view
34:46that the Zulu were treacherous and barbaric.
34:50This was an act that would be avenged.
34:58Nine months after the massacre of the Boers,
35:01their compatriots appointed a new leader, Andreas Pretorius.
35:06He organised a commando of 470 Boers to take the fight to the Zulu.
35:14By the 15th of December, 1838, the Boer party had advanced towards the banks of the Enkome River.
35:26They halted their wagons and set up camp, the day commemorated by this monument on the spot.
35:35What happened next would become a turning point in Zulu history.
35:40The Boers developed a defensive strategy for dealing with attacks from the indigenous population they encountered on their treks.
35:47They'd circle wagons and place between them wooden fences and pack these spaces with straw.
35:54This allowed for a large space in the centre in which they could protect their families and their livestock.
36:00They called this a lager.
36:05The Zulus attacked at dawn, but the Boers' improvised fortification gave them a crucial tactical advantage.
36:12The circular shape of the lager meant the Zulus had no clear point of attack.
36:17In their confusion, the Zulus made a crucial tactical error.
36:27The left horn of the Zulu army attacked before the chest or the right horn were ready.
36:32They came under sustained Boer gunfire and they were forced to retreat and many of them ended up in the
36:38river.
36:43The Boers advanced and fired down onto the Zulus massing in the riverbed.
36:49The Zulu were unable to engage in close combat with their short spears.
36:55Around 3,000 Zulus were killed.
36:59Their bodies filled the riverbed and turned the water red.
37:04The battle became known as Blood River.
37:13Historian Ken Gillings has studied the impact of Blood River on the Zulu.
37:17So, Ken, what were the consequences of the loss here at Blood River?
37:20For the first time, the Zulu had now come up against a Western method of fighting, if you like.
37:26Volley fire, gunfire.
37:28No longer was there that close combat which they were so used to and which they were successful with
37:33against indigenous opponents, if you like.
37:36So, the precedent, the potential vulnerability of the Zulu strategy, it was actually here at Blood River that that was
37:46actually found out.
37:48They were found wanting.
37:49That's correct, because the traditional method of Zulu attack was one of close combat.
37:55And here, it was a fortified position.
37:59And it was simply impossible for them with the weaponry at their disposal to break into a defensive position such
38:05as this.
38:09The defeat at Blood River split the Zulu kingdom in two and plunged it into civil war.
38:16Three decades of instability followed.
38:22The Zulu were only just recovering when an event 800 miles away, deep in Boer territory, destabilised the Zulu kingdom
38:31even further.
38:43In 1871, a labourer on a farm near the modern town of Kimberley discovered a small white stone that caused
38:51an international sensation.
38:56Within two years, tens of thousands of people had descended on the area to seek their fortunes.
39:06And this is what they came for.
39:11The De Beers brothers became the luckiest farmers in history, and their land became the largest diamond mine in the
39:19world.
39:24By the mid-1870s, the town of Kimberley had become the African equivalent of the Klondike, filled with prospectors, speculators,
39:34powerful European financiers.
39:38Together with vast amounts of gold discovered in the 1880s, diamonds would transform South Africa.
40:03This is the big hole.
40:05The site of the original De Beers diamond mines.
40:11Before it was exhausted, the mine was excavated to a depth of 1,097 metres.
40:20The first 240 metres were dug by hand with picks and shovels, making this one of the world's biggest man
40:28-made excavations.
40:29It also meant to accomplish this, the mine owners developed a near insatiable need for one thing, labour.
40:40They turned to local African men, but here they encountered a problem.
40:47The increasingly complex mining operations required a consistent labour force, but African workers, many from traditional chiefdoms, tended to work
40:58in the mines for short periods, and then returned home, leaving their employers in the lurch.
41:06To control their black labour force, the mine owners introduced barracks-style compounds.
41:13Migrant workers had to sign up to six-month contracts, during which they were forced to live in the compounds,
41:20surrendering all personal freedoms.
41:23The impact on the traditional way of life was devastating.
41:31Young men who'd only ever experienced the barter economy suddenly had cash in their pockets.
41:37Ancient cultures that had endured for generations were suddenly under attack.
41:43Although Kimberley was 800 miles from Zulu territory, a number of Zulu men ended up working on the diamond fields.
41:52The McGregor Museum in Kimberley holds a remarkable collection of photographs of those Zulu migrant workers, dating from the early
42:0020th century.
42:04They were taken by a compound guard and amateur photographer, Alfred Duggan Cronin.
42:10Robert Hart is the curator.
42:13Here's one of Duggan Cronin's original photograph albums.
42:19Rather than photograph the Zulu workers in their mining clothes, Duggan Cronin encouraged them to dress in their traditional costumes
42:26and pose an elaborate tableau.
42:28He took some quite startling photographs. For example, this one, which he's called a Zulu MP on the march.
42:38But it's these mine workers in their traditional dress on a mine dump.
42:46Here's another study. This is a portrait of a Zulu warrior.
42:52The man's in his traditional attire.
42:55He's obviously a very good photographer. There are beautiful things.
43:00Yes, here's another one. Instructions from the chief. And they Zulu scouts.
43:06Again, the most startling thing is the mine dump in the background.
43:10And on the part of the mine owners, there was a curiosity for the other.
43:16They used to take visitors to see them on Sundays and they used to actually ask them to dress up
43:23and then they would do these war dogs.
43:25But it is a bit like animals in the zoo.
43:27For these people who were so fiercely independent, for them to then see their identity becoming something which is just
43:36worthy of being photographed or captured by people on a Sunday afternoon as something that's exotic and wonderful.
43:44And it must have been humiliating at some level.
43:46It must have been used to be reduced to a sort of curiosity.
43:52A curiosity, yes.
43:53It's a sad story, but, um, beautifully, beautifully illustrated.
44:01The colonial mindset that viewed the Zulu as an exotic curiosity contributed to what happened next.
44:11Before the discovery of diamonds, South Africa was an economic backwater.
44:16Now it was a source of untold wealth.
44:21At the end of the 1870s, the lands that contained such abundant mineral resources were located in a patchwork of
44:29independent Boer, British and African controlled territories.
44:34With so much money at stake, and with other European powers scrambling for a piece of the action, it was
44:41a situation the British authorities were keen to regularise.
44:46And so they hatched a plan.
44:50By drawing the different states of South Africa into a single British controlled territory, the British hoped to consolidate their
44:57power, develop the economy and suppress the growing resistance from African chieftoms.
45:03Among them, the Zulu.
45:07In 1878, a number of minor Zulu infringements on the border of the colony of Natal were cited by the
45:15British authorities as evidence of the Zulu Kingdom's aggressive intentions.
45:21The British mischievously hinted that the Zulu invasion of Natal was imminent.
45:28And so, on the 11th of December 1878, under a fig tree on the banks of the Tegela River, the
45:35Zulu were issued with an ultimatum.
45:39The ultimatum comprised a number of key demands. The end of the Zulu army, the dismantling of the old regiment
45:47system, and the presence of a colonial administrator deep in the heart of Zulu territory.
45:53Effectively, these would have combined to mean the end of the Zulu Empire.
46:00The new leader of the Zulu nation was Ketsueyo. He'd become king in 1872.
46:09During his reign, he'd built relationships with the British and reunified the Zulu nation after decades of trauma and infighting.
46:18By 1878, only a small number of Zulu men had gone to work on the diamond fields.
46:25The Zulu kingdom was once again a powerful military force.
46:31King Ketsueyo was not about to give away his empire without a fight.
46:43On the 11th of January 1879, three columns of British soldiers, led by Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford, moved into Zululand.
46:57The invasion force consisted of around 12,000 men, made up of British soldiers and African support troops.
47:07On the 20th of January, the central column set up camp deep inside Zulu territory.
47:16They chose a wide expanse of land beneath a rocky outcrop named as Andalwana.
47:26The British troops remarked that the distinctive mountain resembled the Egyptian Sphinx.
47:35Lord Chelmsford believed the Zulu would employ guerrilla tactics rather than engage in a single large battle, so he decided
47:43to take the fight to them.
47:46But he was mistaken.
47:48In what can only be described as a catastrophic mistake, Lord Chelmsford decided to split his troops, leading the bulk
47:57of his men down through that V in the mountains, right deep into Zulu territory.
48:03But what he didn't know, at that very moment, massing on the other side of those adjacent mountains were 20
48:11,000 Zulu troops.
48:16Later that morning, a British patrol was out on the hills close to a Zandalwana.
48:22They came over a ridge and saw an astonishing sight.
48:28Thousands of Zulu warriors sitting on the ground in complete silence.
48:38With the main body of the British army many miles away, the troops at the base camp were dangerously exposed.
48:47When the Zulu spotted the British patrol, they launched their attack.
48:56As the British started firing their weapons, the Zulu took on their traditional Horns of the Buffalo formation.
49:03The toughest troops in the chest took on the British infantry.
49:06The two horns spread out to fully surround the British positions.
49:12The Zulu descended in their thousands, using their short stabbing spears to attack the British in the hand-to-hand
49:19fighting style that King Shaka had favoured.
49:23The result was carnage.
49:26The British were completely overwhelmed and their camp was totally destroyed.
49:33Over 1,200 British and African support troops were killed.
49:39The white cairns that docked the battlefield at the Zandalwana marked the burial places of the British soldiers.
49:51Lindizwe Ngobezi is the great-great-grandson of one of the Zulu warriors who fought at the Zandalwana.
49:57How does it make you feel, having that personal connection to what happened here?
50:02It makes me feel proud.
50:04Here now, Zulus now, they are fighting within their kingdom.
50:07And also, they are now aware that the British now, they want to do away with their kingdom.
50:11They do not want to lose it.
50:14Let's fight and die for it.
50:15And do you feel that those people who died, that they died for something which was worthwhile?
50:20I think so.
50:22That is the only Zulu kingdom we have got.
50:24Nothing else.
50:25Losing this one, we have got nowhere to go.
50:28Today, we are here, we are proud of what they did.
50:32It was not nice, but, you know, they did it for those descendants.
50:37Today, it is like this.
50:38We are very proud.
50:42Many Zulu today celebrate the Zulu military and remember Zandalwana as the kingdom's finest hour.
50:50The Zulu nation had been threatened with destruction, but its army had responded with focus and discipline.
50:57Their victory had embarrassed and shaken the British.
51:01But it was a victory that would be short-lived.
51:10Before the two horns of the Zulu army met and fully enveloped the British, a small band of survivors attempted
51:17to retreat.
51:19They were trying to make their way to a small British garrison and field hospital eight miles away.
51:25It was known as Rourke's Drift.
51:29At the time, it was occupied by around 150 British troops.
51:37The field hospital here at Rourke's Drift sits on the banks of the Buffalo River, in what was then the
51:43British-run territory of Natal.
51:46Now, Ketsueyo had expressly forbidden his troops from entering the British colony.
51:51But in defiance of their king, 4,000 men, the men who made up the rump of the earlier battle
51:55formation at Izandwana,
51:57entered this area with the express idea of attacking the hospital.
52:01This was going to be a repeat of their earlier victory.
52:06The British realised there was no point in trying to flee.
52:09They barricaded themselves in and turned their buildings into a fortification.
52:15In the late afternoon, the Zulu attacked.
52:23They laid siege for over five hours and at one point actually broke through the British perimeter.
52:29But remarkably, the British prevailed.
52:34With thousands of rounds of ammunition and state-of-the-art weapons, the British were able to see off the
52:39Zulu.
52:41The Zulu withdrew, but not before over 500 of their men were killed.
52:51Rourke's Drift went down in history as a legendary British success.
52:56Eleven of the soldiers who defended the site received Victoria Crosses for bravery,
53:01the highest number ever awarded to a regiment for a single battle.
53:07But an event that went down in history as a triumph for the British was a catastrophe for the Zulu.
53:14Come and have a seat. It's a nice place to sit this and have a chat.
53:18Rob Caskey is an expert on the Battle of Rourke's Drift.
53:22So, Rob, why did the Zulu fail here at Rourke's Drift?
53:25Well, there are a number of factors as to why they lost here at Rourke's Drift.
53:29The fact that it was a prepared defensive position, the fact that the Zulus were overconfident and didn't really have
53:36a battle plan as to how they would attack this place.
53:38And when the initial attacks were repulsed here, I think a huge amount of the fight was knocked out of
53:45the Zulu.
53:45And what was the Zulu's attitude to modern weaponry?
53:48The Zulus hitherto had not really come up against sustained modern firepower from rifles like the Martini Henry or the
53:55Gatling gun.
53:56And I don't think they really knew quite what to expect and just how devastating this weapon would be.
54:01I mean, a close range, it would kill three men in a line.
54:04And the Zulus up to that point hadn't faced weaponry of that power.
54:07So what were the repercussions of Rourke's Drift for the Zulu?
54:11Obviously, the repercussions continued to fold out over months and years.
54:16Well, they did. The repercussions here were enormous.
54:18The Zulus, I think, realized now that the British would be almost impossible to attack if they were behind prepared
54:25positions.
54:27And the fact that they had crossed the Buffalo River into Natal gave the British reason to reinvade Zululand and
54:33to smash the Zulu Order forever.
54:44Five months after his Andalwana and Rourke's Drift, the British Army returned to Zululand, 25,000 strong.
54:53This time, they were determined to finish the job.
54:58After a series of battles, the decisive Anglo-Zulu clash came at the town of Alundi,
55:04a few miles from Quezueyo's royal compound.
55:09This monument marks the site of the battle.
55:22The British arranged their troops into a hollow square, firing out from all sides.
55:28It was the kind of fixed fortification that had proved so successful at Rourke's Drift.
55:36The sweeping horns of the Buffalo were no match to the British block formation, particularly when backed by serious artillery.
55:44The Zulu lost 1,500 men, the British by comparison 13.
55:49This was the end of the Zulu Empire.
55:54Using a well-tried divide and rule strategy, the British sliced up the kingdom into 13 individual chieftains, each led
56:04by an enemy of King Quezueyo.
56:07The kingdom was plunged into a bitter civil war in which more Zulus died than in the whole of the
56:14Anglo-Zulu conflict.
56:17The King Quezueyo was captured and imprisoned.
56:22He eventually made his way to England to plead his case to Queen Victoria, but he died in 1884.
56:30The glorious kingdom that Shaka had built had been systematically destroyed.
57:01Despite the destruction of the independent Zulu kingdom in the late 19th century,
57:06the Zulu nation lives on.
57:13Though it is no longer a sovereign state with a standing army, the Zulu people remain the largest ethnic group
57:20in South Africa.
57:24Over the years, the Zulu military past has been glorified, interpreted and used by different factions for their own political
57:32purposes,
57:33especially in South Africa's recent history.
57:37Sometimes the portrayal of Shaka and the Zulu past has obscured the truth, but it's served to maintain Zulu pride.
57:47The history of the Zulu could be read as one of defeat and disaster.
57:54But there's something else. There's a triumph against adversity.
57:58There's a sense of unity. Things which continue to bind and endure.
58:12The history of the Zulu flood
58:13in Jude's
58:20And色 of the Mediator
58:29And色 of the Act
58:31God bless.