II.

Early Life and Rise to Power

Shaka was born in the Zululand region of present-day south-eastern South Africa. His father, Senzangakhona, was the Zulu chief, and his mother Nandi, was a daughter of Mbhengi, the chief of the Langeni people. The Langeni, like the Zulu, owed allegiance to the Mthethwa, one of the major chiefdoms in the region. Nandi, who would be Senzangakhona’s third wife, conceived Shaka while still betrothed and, according to tradition, attributed her growing belly to a shaka, or intestinal beetle.

Nandi reputedly had a difficult temperament, and in about 1794 Senzangakhona drove her and Shaka into exile. They took refuge among the Langeni, where, according to traditional accounts, they were looked down upon and ill-treated. In this period Shaka began to display the aggressive and domineering traits that would characterize his personality for the rest of his life. In the early 1800s Nandi married a commoner and, after she bore a son, Shaka left home and placed himself under the protection of Jobe, the ruler of the Mthethwa.

Jobe died in about 1807 and his son Dingiswayo succeeded him. In the years that followed, the Mthethwa fought frequently for regional dominance with the Ndwandwe, who were led by Zwide. Shaka fought alongside the Mthethwa and Dingiswayo soon recognized his extraordinary military skills. He placed considerable trust in Shaka, and the young Zulu became a prominent figure. When Senzangakhona died in 1816, Dingiswayo backed Shaka’s claim for the Zulu chieftainship and aided the assassination of Senzangakhona’s designated heir, Shaka’s half-brother Sigujana. Once chief, Shaka took immediate revenge on those responsible for the afflictions of his childhood, ordering the massacre of large numbers of the Langeni.