Cetshwayo kaMpande
Cetshwayo kaMpande was the last independent king of the Zulu, who destroyed a British column at Isandlwana and lost his kingdom within six months. Born around 1832, the son of King Mpande, he secured the succession by defeating and killing his brother Mbuyazi at the Battle of Ndondakusuka in 1856, and effectively governed before formally taking the throne on his father's death in 1872. He rebuilt the regimental system, sought firearms, and pursued cautious relations with the British colony of Natal while resisting encroachment by the Boers of the Transvaal along a disputed border. A boundary commission in 1878 largely found in his favour, which was inconvenient for the British high commissioner Sir Bartle Frere, who wanted a confederation of South African territories and regarded the Zulu army as the obstacle. Frere issued an ultimatum in December 1878 demanding the disbandment of the army — terms designed to be refused — and invaded in January 1879 without authorisation from London. On 22 January a Zulu force of some 20,000 destroyed the British centre column at Isandlwana, killing about 1,300 men, the worst defeat a modern European army had suffered at the hands of an African force. The defence of Rorke's Drift the same evening was publicised heavily to offset it. The British reinforced and won at Ulundi in July 1879, burning the royal homestead. Cetshwayo was captured in August and exiled to Cape Town, and Zululand was divided among thirteen chiefs, which produced civil war. He travelled to London in 1882, met Queen Victoria and won partial restoration in 1883, but was attacked by rivals and died in February 1884.
- Lived: 1826 CE – 1884 CE
- Nationality: South African
- Roles: king
