King Shaka
Early lifeShaka was the first son of the chieftain Senzangakhona and Nandi, a daughter of Bhebhe, the past chief of the Elangeni tribe, born near present day Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal Province. He was conceived out of wedlock somewhere between 1781 and 1787
Shaka spent his childhood in his mother's settlements. He is recorded as having been initiated there and inducted into an ibutho lempi (fighting unit). In his early days, Shaka served as a warrior under the sway of local chieftain Dingiswayo and the Mthethwa, to whom the Zulu were then paying tribute.
Shaka granted permission to Europeans to enter Zulu territory on rare occasions
On the death of Senzangakona, Dingiswayo aided Shaka to defeat his brother and assume leadership ca. 1816.
When Dingiswayo was murdered by Zwide, a powerful chief of the Ndwandwe (Nxumalo) clan, Shaka sought to avenge his death. At some point Zwide barely escaped Shaka, though the exact details are not known. In that encounter Zwide's mother Ntombazi, a Sangoma (Zulu seer or shaman), was killed by Shaka. Shaka chose a particularly gruesome revenge on her, locking her in a house and placing jackals or hyenas inside: they devoured her and, in the morning, Shaka burned the house to the ground. Despite carrying out this revenge, Shaka continued his pursuit of Zwide. It was not until around 1825 that the two great military men would meet, near Phongola, in what would be their final meeting. Phongola is near the present day border of KwaZulu-Natal, a province in South Africa. Shaka was victorious in battle, although his forces sustained heavy casualties, which included his head military commander, Umgobhozi Ovela Entabeni.
As Shaka became more respected by his people, he was able to spread his ideas with greater ease
Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's half-brothers, appear to have made at least two attempts to assassinate Shaka before they succeeded, with perhaps support from Mpondo elements, and some disaffected iziYendane people. Shaka had made enough enemies among his own people to hasten his demise. It came relatively quickly after the devastation caused by Shaka's erratic behavior after the death of his mother Nandi. According to Donald Morris in this mourning period Shaka ordered that no crops should be planted during the following year, no milk (the basis of the Zulu diet at the time) was to be used, and any woman who became pregnant was to be killed along with her husband. At least 7,000 people who were deemed to be insufficiently grief-stricken were executed, though it wasn't restricted to humans, cows were slaughtered so that their calves would know what losing a mother felt like.
The Zulu monarch was killed by three assassins sometime in 1828, September is the most often cited date, when almost all available Zulu manpower had been sent on yet another mass sweep to the north. This left the royal kraal critically short of security. It was all the conspirators needed—they being Shaka's half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, and an iNduna called Mbopa. A diversion was created by Mbopa, and Dingane and Mhlangana struck the fatal blows. Shaka's corpse was dumped into an empty grain pit by his assassins and filled with stones and mud. The exact site is unknown. A monument was built at one alleged site. Historian Donald Morris holds that it is somewhere on Couper Street in the village of Stanger, South Africa.
Shaka's half-brother Dingane assumed power and embarked on an extensive purge of pro-Shaka elements and chieftains, running over several years, in order to secure his position. A virtual civil war broke out. Dingane ruled for some twelve years, during which time he fought, disastrously, against the Voortrekkers, and against another half-brother Mpande, who with Boer and British support, took over the Zulu leadership in 1840, and ruled for some 30 years. Later in the 19th century the Zulus would be one of the few African peoples who managed to defeat the British Army; at the Battle of Isandlwana.
Oswald Joseph Mtshali (1940 - ) was born in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, where he matriculated. He travelled to
Johannesburg at the age of eighteen intending to enrol at the University of Witwatersrand, but was refused
because of the separate universities legislation. He was working as a messenger in Soweto when he published his first volume of poetry Sounds of a Cowhide Drum in 1971, considered a significant landmark in South African literature. Mtshali left for the USA to study creative writing and education at Columbia University. On his return to South Africa, he published Fireflames (1980), a collection of militant poems, which was banned by the government, then unbanned in 1986. Mtshali is now Adjunct Professor at the New York City College of Technology where he teaches African folklore and modern African history.
The Birth of ShakaHis baby cry / When Shaka was born, he cried
was of a cub / Metaphor: He sounded like a cub (baby lion)
tearing the neck / The cub is tearing at the neck of the lioness. It is an aggressive baby.
of the lioness / The lioness is his mother Nandi
because he was fatherless. / The poet suggests the baby knew he was fatherless and that is why he cried so desperately
The gods / Not Christian, pagan
boiled his blood / There is a saying: his blood boiled – which means the person is angry. The poet suggests Shaka became aggressive and more determined because of this action.
in a clay pot of passion / The clay pot relates to the Zulu custom of making food and beer in claypots. Shaka had more traditional passion.
to course in his veins. / If passion courses in his veins, he is very passionate.
His heart was shaped into an ox shield / Metaphor: his heart is as strong as an ox shield. An ox shield is a traditional defensive shield. This means Shaka would be protected
to foil every foe. / Alliteration: f. His enemies would be fooled.
Ancestors forged / Ancestors are very important in Zulu culture. Ancestors determine the prosperity of a family because they intercede in the spirit world.
Forged: when you make metal hot and hit it into a certain shape.
his muscles into
thongs as tough / Alliteration: t Thongs: leather strips. Metaphor: His muscles is as strong as leather strips. Simile: His muscles that are as strong as leather strips is also as tough as water bark.
as water bark / Water bark: the bark of a tree that has been lying in water, can sometimes be extremely strong.
and nerves / Simile: his nerves is as sharp as syring thorns.
as sharp as
syringa thorns.
His eyes were lanterns / Metaphor: His eyes were as bright as lanterns, seeing into the future.
that shone from the dark valleys of Zululand / Dark valleys: Zulus lived there. Not enlightened by Western civilization.
Contrasts with the white swallows
to see white swallows / Metaphor: white swallows. Europeans coming from Europe. A swallow is a bird that migrates from Europe to Africa and the Europeans came from Europe to Africa
coming across the sea / The Europeans came by sea.
His cry to two assassin brothers: / Shaka was assassinated by two of his half brothers.
"Lo! you can kill me
but you'll never rule this land!" / They were never as great a leader as Shaka.
Questions
1. "His baby cry
was of a cub
tearing the neck
of the lioness
because he was fatherless."
What is a metaphor? Identify the metaphor in this stanza and explain what it is that is being compared to what? (4)
[Answer:]
A metaphor is a direct comparison in which a thing is said to be what it is being compared to.
In this stanza, the baby's cry is compared to the cry of a lion cub. It is a metaphor because the poet says that the baby's cry IS that of the lion cub. He does not say it was merely LIKE the cry of the lion cub, which would have made it a simile.
2. What word tells us of the savage nature of the baby's first cry? (1)
[Answer:]
"Tearing the neck of the lioness."
3. Who would the "lioness" represent? (1)
[Answer:]
The lioness is Shaka's mother, Nandi.
4. How would the newborn Shaka know that he was fatherless? (2)
[Answer:]
In reality, he wouldn't have known this but the poet is using poetic license here, claiming that the savagery of the baby's cry was because he was fatherless.
5. "The gods
boiled his blood."
What is the significance of the gods having "boiled his blood"? (2)
[Answer:]
The expression "he made my blood boil" means "he made me very, very angry".
By boiling his blood in his veins, therefore, the gods gave Shaka an anger and a determination in life.
6. "Ancestors forged
his muscles and nerves."
What is the purpose of the poet's reference to the ancestors? (2)
[Answer:]
The ancestors play a significant part in African tradition. They are the spirits of the dead who have real power to interfere in a person's life or the life of a community. This interference can be for good or for ill.
In this case, the ancestors were said to be there at Shaka's conception, creating his powerful muscles and sharp nerves.
7. "His eyes were lanterns
that shone from the dark valleys of Zululand
to see white swallows
coming across the sea."
What is the significance of comparing Shaka's eyes to lanterns? (2)
[Answer:]
Lanterns are portable lamps which shine up areas of darkness. Is this a reference to Shaka's later wisdom?
8. What are the "white swallows"? Why has the poet used the metaphor "swallows". (4)
[Answer:]
The "white swallows" are the white colonists. Swallows fly in from another country usually far away. They arrive in a group, with many together in a flock. They immediately build their nests and colonise the place.
9. Is "white swallows" a derogatory or insulting phrase? (4)
[Answer:]
One could argue this either way but it would appear to be generally a neutral expression. It simply gives metaphorical meaning which describes how the white settlers arrive and what they did. It does not appear to condemn the settlers -- after all, swallows are not guilty because they migrate.
10. "Lo! you can kill me
but you'll never rule this land!"
What is the historical significance of the words "you'll never rule this land!"? (4)
[Answer:]
Shaka was indeed a ruler and remained a ruler until he was assassinated. His two assassin brothers, on the other hand, lead uncertain lives, forever having to defend themselves against a powerful enemy. They were never successful rulers as such.