the zulus came into conflict with the british empire over their lands.
the zulus came into conflict with the british empire over their lands.
who did the zulus come into conflict with over their lands?
british empire
in january 1879, sir henry bartle frere, a personal friend of chelmsford, engineered a war against cetshwayo, king of the zulus, who at that time were an allied power by treaty with the british crown. an expeditionary british imperial military force under chelmsford's command subsequently entered the zulu kingdom uninvited, and was in consequence attacked on 22 january 1879 by a large zulu army at isandlwana, during which the zulus overran and destroyed the central column of chelmsford's separated forces. the engagement was an unexpected victory for the zulus and one of the worst defeats of the british army by native tribesmen in the history of the british empire.
frederic thesiger, 2nd baron chelmsford
rachel dove, a british missionary's daughter who has been trekked almost all her young life around the wilds of africa while her father preaches the good word to the natives and her mother suffers silently. her life is turned around when fellow teenager richard darrien rescues her from a flash flood; their common initials alone may clue the reader in that these 2 are another pair of haggard's predestined lovers. some years later however, rachel not having seen richard during all that intervening time, runs afoul of 1 of the author's patented lustful villains, ishmael, a renegade englishman who plots with the zulu king to have rachel for his own. this task is made complicated for the rogue when the zulus come to view rachel as their inkosazana y zoola or great lady of the heavens; the embodiment and incarnation of their goddess. rachel, accompanied by noie, her faithful half zulu attendant discovers a lost civilisations, the ghost kings: a dwarf-like tribe of tree worshippers who are able to peer into the future with their bowls of dew. similarly, ishmael who practically goes insane with lust over the beautiful rachel. noie is the exotic woman who dares much for love and sacrifice more. rachel's mother and to a lesser degree, rachel herself are endowed throughout the tale with the gift of second sight, a foreseeing ability that aids her on several crucial occasions. and while the zulu umtakatis (wizards) do not play a role here. the magic of the ghost kings is shown to be very real and not a little eerie.
the ghost kings