Zulu people

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Zulu people
Total population
~ 12,159,000[1]
Regions with significant populations
 South Africa10,659,309 (2001 census)
to 12,559,000[1][2]
Christianity, Zulu religion
Related ethnic groups
Nguni, Xhosa, Swazi, Ndebele, other Bantu peoples




The Zulu were originally a major clan in what is today Northern KwaZulu-Natal, founded ca. 1709 by Zulu kaMalandela. In the Nguni languages, iZulu means heaven, or weather.[3] At that time, the area was occupied by many large Nguni communities and clans (also called the isizwe people or nation, or were called isibongo, referring to their clan or family name). Nguni communities had migrated down Africa's east coast over centuries, as part of the Bantu migrations.



The Zulu formed a powerful state in 1818[4] under the leader Shaka. Shaka, as the Zulu commander of the Mthethwa Empire and successor to Dingiswayo, united what was once a confederation of tribes into an imposing empire under Zulu hegemony. Shaka built a militarised system known as Impi featuring conscription, a standing army, new weaponry, reginentation, and encirclement battle tactics. Zulu expansion was a major factor of the Mfecane ("Crushing") that depopulated large areas of southern Africa.

Conflict with the British[edit]

In mid-December of 1878, envoys of the British crown delivered an ultimatum to 11 chiefs representing the then-current king of the Zulu empire, Cetshwayo. Under the British terms delivered to the Zulu, Cetshwayo would have been required to disband his army and accept British sovereignty. Cetshwayo refused, and war between the Zulus and African contingents of the British crown began on January 12th, 1879. Despite an early victory for the Zulus at the Battle of Isandlwana on the 22nd of January, the British fought back and won the Battle at Rorke's Drift, and decisively defeated the Zulu army by July at the Battle of Ulundi.

Absorption into Natal[edit]

Zulu warriors, late nineteenth century
(Europeans in background)

After Cetshwayo's capture a month following his defeat, the British divided the Zulu Empire into 13 "kinglets". The sub-kingdoms fought amongst each other until 1883 when Cetshwayo was reinstated as king over Zululand. This still did not stop the fighting and the Zulu monarch was forced to flee his realm by Zibhebhu, one of the 13 kinglets, supported by Boer mercenaries. Cetshwayo died in February 1884, killed by Zibhebhu's regime, leaving his son, the 15-year-old Dinuzulu, to inherit the throne. In-fighting between the Zulu continued for years, until in 1897 Zululand was absorbed fully into the British colony of Natal.

Apartheid years[edit]

KwaZulu homeland[edit]

Zulu man performing traditional warrior dance


Inkatha YeSizwe[edit]


Post Apartheid[edit]

Modern Zulu population[edit]

Zulu mother and child






Zulu village women in traditional clothing.
Interior space of a traditional beehive hut, or iQhugwane


Religion and beliefs[edit]

Zulu worshippers at a United African Apostolic Church, near Oribi Gorge




Zulu sangomas (diviners)



Traditional Zulu dance

Notable Zulus[edit]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "The Zulu people group are reported in 7 countries". Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  3. ^ "izulu in English | isiZulu to English Translation - Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Global Languages. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  5. ^ "Ethnologue report for language code ZUL". www.ethnologue.com.
  6. ^ Irving Hexham (1979). "Lord of the Sky-King of the Earth: Zulu traditional religion and belief in the sky god". [Studies in Religion]. University of Waterloo. Retrieved 26 October 2008.
  7. ^ Henry Callaway (1870). "Part I:uNkulunkulu". The Religious System of the Amazulu. Springvale.
  8. ^ a b Adam Ashforth (2005). "Muthi, Medicine and Witchcraft: Regulating 'African Science' in Post-Apartheid South Africa?". 31:2.
  13. ^ "Art & Life in Africa Online - Zulu". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on 31 May 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2007.

External links[edit]

Media related to Zulu at Wikimedia Commons