Ntshingwayo Khoza: Difference between revisions
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'''Ntshingwayo kaMahole of the Khoza''' (1809-1883) was the commanding general ([[inDuna]]) of King [[Cetshwayo]]'s Zulu Army during the first [[Anglo-Zulu War]]. He became known as Ntshingwayo KaMahole after being taken into foster care by Mahole of the Khoza. |
'''Ntshingwayo kaMahole of the Khoza''' (1809-1883) was the commanding general ([[inDuna]]) of King [[Cetshwayo]]'s Zulu Army during the first [[Anglo-Zulu War]]. He became known as Ntshingwayo KaMahole after being taken into foster care by Mahole of the Khoza. |
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Ntshingwayo was given overall field command of the Zulu [[impi]] against the Centre Column of the first British invasion of Zululand in the [[Anglo-Zulu War]] of 1879. Despite conflicting orders - to meet the British Army's Centre Column in open battle, but also a private command from Cetshwayo "not to go to the English at once [to attack], but to hold a conference first and send some chiefs to the English to ask why they were laying the country waste and killing Zulus"<ref>Cetshwayo's own words as reported in contemporary histories. He wanted the Zulus to appear as non-aggressors in the Anglo-Zulu War so as to give them the moral high ground in later negotiations.</ref><ref>Knight, Ian ''Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift''</ref> - Ntshingwayo successfully outmanoeuvred [[Lieutenant General|Lt. Gen.]] [[Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford|Lord Chelmsford]] in the field. Chelmsford had split the British contingent, sending out a large part of his forces on patrols from the main British camp at [[Isandlwana]] in an effort to find the Zulu army, leaving the camp poorly defended and unfortified. Ntshingwayo's ''amabutho'' [Zulu: "regiments"] attacked and virtually annihilated the encamped [[British Army]] in the [[Battle of Isandlwana]] on 22 January 1879. With a death toll of some 1,300 British troops, locally conscripted volunteers, native soldiers and camp followers, the British Army suffered the bloodiest defeat by a native force in its history and the worst defeat of the [[Victorian]] era. |
Ntshingwayo was given overall field command of the Zulu [[impi]] against the Centre Column of the first British invasion of Zululand in the [[Anglo-Zulu War]] of 1879. Despite conflicting orders - to meet the British Army's Centre Column in open battle, but also a private command from Cetshwayo "not to go to the English at once [to attack], but to hold a conference first and send some chiefs to the English to ask why they were laying the country waste and killing Zulus" <ref>Cetshwayo's own words as reported in contemporary histories. He wanted the Zulus to appear as non-aggressors in the Anglo-Zulu War so as to give them the moral high ground in later negotiations.</ref><ref>Knight, Ian ''Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift''</ref> - Ntshingwayo successfully outmanoeuvred [[Lieutenant General|Lt. Gen.]] [[Frederic Augustus Thesiger, 2nd Baron Chelmsford|Lord Chelmsford]] in the field. Chelmsford had split the British contingent, sending out a large part of his forces on patrols from the main British camp at [[Isandlwana]] in an effort to find the Zulu army, leaving the camp poorly defended and unfortified. Ntshingwayo's ''amabutho'' [Zulu: "regiments"] attacked and virtually annihilated the encamped [[British Army]] in the [[Battle of Isandlwana]] on 22 January 1879. With a death toll of some 1,300 British troops, locally conscripted volunteers, native soldiers and camp followers, the British Army suffered the bloodiest defeat by a native force in its history and the worst defeat of the [[Victorian]] era. |
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Despite the overwhelming victory under Ntshingwayo's command, the King was extremely displeased at the great number of Zulu casualties both at Isandlwana and the subsequent battle at [[Rorke's Drift]]. Junior commanders placed the blame for the lack of the Zulu army's preparation and the resulting high death toll squarely at the door of Ntshingwayo; therefore he forfeited much of the public acclaim he was due for his great victory. Yet the blame for the outcome is arguably that of King Cetshwayo's, since he gave conflicting orders to Ntshingwayo to not attack the British until after negotiations. In the event, the Zulu surprise was so complete that they had little choice but to engage the British where they found them<ref>Ibid.</ref>. |
Despite the overwhelming victory under Ntshingwayo's command, the King was extremely displeased at the great number of Zulu casualties both at Isandlwana and the subsequent battle at [[Rorke's Drift]]. Junior commanders placed the blame for the lack of the Zulu army's preparation and the resulting high death toll squarely at the door of Ntshingwayo; therefore he forfeited much of the public acclaim he was due for his great victory. Yet the blame for the outcome is arguably that of King Cetshwayo's, since he gave conflicting orders to Ntshingwayo to not attack the British until after negotiations. In the event, the Zulu surprise was so complete that they had little choice but to engage the British where they found them <ref>Ibid.</ref>. |
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On 21 July 1883, Zibhebhu launched a surprise attack on the royal homestead of King Cetshwayo at the king's royal homestead of oNdini (near present day [[Ulundi]]) which was undergoing renovations at the time. Veteran ''amabutho'' of the battle of Isandlwana met Zibhebhu in open battle, but they were defeated. Hundreds were slain, including Ntshingwayo's siblings Hayiyana and Makhoba. In the incident the king was wounded by a spear and fled the scene of the bloody coup. ONdini was razed to the ground. Ntshingwayo himself was one of the King's many senior induna run down and killed as they tried to escape, along with Ntshingwayo's childhood friend Godide Ndlela. The great irony is that the victorious general of Isandlwana was himself killed by a fellow veteran of the battle.<ref>Ibid.</ref> |
On 21 July 1883, Zibhebhu launched a surprise attack on the royal homestead of King Cetshwayo at the king's royal homestead of oNdini (near present day [[Ulundi]]) which was undergoing renovations at the time. Veteran ''amabutho'' of the battle of Isandlwana met Zibhebhu in open battle, but they were defeated. Hundreds were slain, including Ntshingwayo's siblings Hayiyana and Makhoba. In the incident the king was wounded by a spear and fled the scene of the bloody coup. ONdini was razed to the ground. Ntshingwayo himself was one of the King's many senior induna who were run down and killed as they tried to escape, along with Ntshingwayo's childhood friend Godide Ndlela. |
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The great irony is that the victorious general of Isandlwana was himself killed by a fellow veteran of the battle. <ref>Ibid.</ref> Today Ntshingwayo is traditionally regarded as a Zulu hero. |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 14:18, 2 April 2016
 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's general notability guideline. (August 2015) |
Ntshingwayo kaMahole of the Khoza (1809-1883) was the commanding general (inDuna) of King Cetshwayo's Zulu Army during the first Anglo-Zulu War. He became known as Ntshingwayo KaMahole after being taken into foster care by Mahole of the Khoza.
Ntshingwayo was given overall field command of the Zulu impi against the Centre Column of the first British invasion of Zululand in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. Despite conflicting orders - to meet the British Army's Centre Column in open battle, but also a private command from Cetshwayo "not to go to the English at once [to attack], but to hold a conference first and send some chiefs to the English to ask why they were laying the country waste and killing Zulus" [1][2] - Ntshingwayo successfully outmanoeuvred Lt. Gen. Lord Chelmsford in the field. Chelmsford had split the British contingent, sending out a large part of his forces on patrols from the main British camp at Isandlwana in an effort to find the Zulu army, leaving the camp poorly defended and unfortified. Ntshingwayo's amabutho [Zulu: "regiments"] attacked and virtually annihilated the encamped British Army in the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879. With a death toll of some 1,300 British troops, locally conscripted volunteers, native soldiers and camp followers, the British Army suffered the bloodiest defeat by a native force in its history and the worst defeat of the Victorian era.
Despite the overwhelming victory under Ntshingwayo's command, the King was extremely displeased at the great number of Zulu casualties both at Isandlwana and the subsequent battle at Rorke's Drift. Junior commanders placed the blame for the lack of the Zulu army's preparation and the resulting high death toll squarely at the door of Ntshingwayo; therefore he forfeited much of the public acclaim he was due for his great victory. Yet the blame for the outcome is arguably that of King Cetshwayo's, since he gave conflicting orders to Ntshingwayo to not attack the British until after negotiations. In the event, the Zulu surprise was so complete that they had little choice but to engage the British where they found them [3].
On 21 July 1883, Zibhebhu launched a surprise attack on the royal homestead of King Cetshwayo at the king's royal homestead of oNdini (near present day Ulundi) which was undergoing renovations at the time. Veteran amabutho of the battle of Isandlwana met Zibhebhu in open battle, but they were defeated. Hundreds were slain, including Ntshingwayo's siblings Hayiyana and Makhoba. In the incident the king was wounded by a spear and fled the scene of the bloody coup. ONdini was razed to the ground. Ntshingwayo himself was one of the King's many senior induna who were run down and killed as they tried to escape, along with Ntshingwayo's childhood friend Godide Ndlela.
The great irony is that the victorious general of Isandlwana was himself killed by a fellow veteran of the battle. [4] Today Ntshingwayo is traditionally regarded as a Zulu hero.
References
- Ron Lock and Peter Quantrill. Zulu Victory-The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-Up; ISBN 1-85367-645-4
- Ian Knight Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift; ISBN 978-0-330-44593-1
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