Dingane

Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu (c. 1795–29 January 1840), commonly referred to as

Dingane or Dingaan, was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828.[2] He
set up his royal capital, uMgungundlovu, and one of numerous military encampments, or
kraals, in the Emakhosini Valley just south of the White Umfolozi River, on the slope of Lion
Hill (Singonyama).
 Dingane

King of the Zulu Kingdom

Dingane in ordinary and dancing dress

Reign 1828–1840

Coronation 1828

Predecessor Shaka

Successor Mpande

Born 1795

Died 1840 (aged 44–45)

Hlatikhulu Forest, current KwaZulu-Natal

Spouse unknown

Issue unknown

House Zulu royal family

Father Senzangakhona kaJama

Mother Mpikase kaMlilela Ngobese[1]

Rise to power

Dingane came to power in 1828 after assassinating his half-brother Shaka with the help of
another brother, Umhlangana, as well as Mbopa, Shaka’s bodyguard. They were traditionally
said to have killed Shaka because of his increasingly brutal behaviour after the death of his
mother, Nandi. The assassination took place at present-day Stanger.[3]

Governance and reverence

Dingane reclining in his hut with his wives shuffling about on their knees in his presence,[4] as depicted by Captain
Allen Gardiner.

Captain Gardiner related that Dingane was revered as the "great idol" of the Zulu nation, while
Reverend Francis Owen, who observed his rule at close quarters while stationed at
Umgungundhlovu, highlighted several aspects of his despotic governance. Dingane's
subjects applied god-like attributes to him, not admitting for instance that his reign might
have had a beginning. He was deemed immortal, one who was neither born, nor would ever
die. When asked when his reign started, his subjects replied "hundreds and hundreds of years
ago." At their morning and evening meals, after receiving the distributed meat, they rose and
exclaimed with raised hands: "Thou that art greater than the heavens."[5]

The habit of Dingane's ministers, concubines and servants was not to think, act or speak,
except at Dingane's suggestion or command. Owen observed that even Dingane's prime
minister, Ndlela kaSompisi, refused to pay him a visit, when such a visit was not expressly
ordered by the king.[5] Nor would anyone grind him a small amount of corn, or sit down with
him for prayer, if they had not been ordered to do so.

Dingane kept his 500 or so concubines in severe bondage. He referred to them as his sisters
or children, and placed them in various ranks. They could leave the royal enclosure only with
his permission, and when doing so were not allowed to cast an eye on any man or boy. Owen
observed them a few times outside the palace, once when brought out to sing, and also when
they were instructed to bring him thatch for his hut. Some would run away when the
opportunity availed, only to be apprehended and executed.[5]

Royal enclosure (isigodlo) at UmGungundlovu

 Dingane's
Kraal

Location of Dingane’s kraal, umGungundlovu, within South Africa

Dingane built his capital city of umGungundlovu in 1829 and enlarged it five years later.
UmGungundlovu was built according to the characteristic layout of a Zulu military settlement
(singular: ikhanda, plural: amakhanda). The ikhanda consisted of a large, central circular
parade ground (isibaya esikhulu), surrounded by warriors' barracks (uhlangoti) and storage
huts for their shields.[6] The isibaya was entered from the north.

The royal enclosure (isigodlo) was on the southern side of the complex, directly opposite the
main entrance. The king, his mistresses and female attendants (Dingane never married
officially), a total of at least 500 people, resided here. The women were divided into two
groups: the black isigodlo and the white isigodlo. The black isigodlo comprised about 100
privileged women, and within that group was another elite, the bheje, a smaller number of
girls favoured by the king as his mistresses. A small settlement was built for them behind the
main complex, where they could enjoy some privacy. The remainder of the king's women
were the white isigodlo. They were mainly girls presented to the king by his important
subjects. He also selected other girls at the annual first fruit ceremony (umkhosi
wokweshwama).

A huge half-moon shaped area was included in the black isigodlo; here the women and the
king sang and danced. The huts in the black isigodlo were divided into compartments of
about three huts each, enclosed by a two-metre-high hedge of intertwined withes, which
created a network of passages.[7]

The king's private hut (ilawu) was located in one such triangular compartment and had three
or four entrances.[7] His hut was very large and was kept very neat by attendants; it could
easily accommodate 50 people. Modern archaeological excavations have revealed that the
floor of this large hut was approximately 10 metres in diameter. Archaeologists found
evidence inside the hut of 22 large supporting posts completely covered in glass beads.[6]
These had been noted in historical accounts by Piet Retief, leader of the Voortrekkers, and
the British missionaries Champion and Owen.

On the south side, just behind the main complex, were three separate enclosed groups of
huts. The centre group was used by the uBheje women of the black isigodlo. In this area, they
initiated chosen young girls into the service of the king.

Rebellion

Dingane lacked Shaka's military and leadership skills; rebel chiefs broke away from his rule.
Chiefs who fell out of favour with Dingane, fled the country, as chief Signabani did.[5] Those
subjects of Signabani who were not able to flee with him were rounded up in their refuges
and massacred. The dissension was exacerbated by armed conflict with the newly arrived
Voortrekkers.

Conflict with Voortrekkers

Dingane orders the capture of Piet Retief's party of Voortrekkers while they are spectators to a dancing routine of his
soldiers.

In November 1837 Dingane met with Piet Retief, leader of the Voortrekkers. In return for their
recovering some stolen cattle, Dingane signed a deed of cession of lands (written in English)
to the Voortrekkers. It is generally believed that Dingane knew what he was signing although
he could not have had any formal education, have read the contents of the document or have
understood the concept of permanent land ownership since it was not a custom of the Zulus
to assign land to individuals permanently.[8] On 6 February 1838, after two days of feasting,
the chief had Retief and his diplomatic party killed.[9] They had been told to leave their
firearms outside the royal kraal. Suddenly, when the dancing had reached a frenzied climax,
Dingane leapt to his feet and shouted Bulalani abathakathi! ("Kill[10] the wizards!") The men
were totally overpowered and dragged away to the hill kwaMatiwane, named after a chief
who had been killed there. Retief and his men were killed. It is alleged by some that they were
killed because they withheld some of the cattle recovered from Chief Sekonyela. The general
opinion is that Dingane did not wish to yield the land ceded to them in the treaty and
mistrusted the presence of the Voortrekkers.[11]
At the same time, Dingane's forces killed
Retief's undefended trek party, about 500 Boers and native servants, including women and
children. The Boers called it the Weenen massacre. The nearby present-day town of Weenen
(Dutch for "weeping") was named by early settlers in memory of the massacre.

In a further act of war, Dingane ordered his army also to seek and kill the group of
Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius. The Zulu impis attacked the Voortrekker encampment,
but they were defeated in the ensuing Battle of Blood River. An estimated 3,000 Zulus were
killed, and three Voortrekkers were slightly wounded. Dingane's commander at the battle was
Ndlela kaSompisi.

Overthrow and death

In January 1840, Pretorius and a force of 400 Boers helped Mpande in his revolt against
Dingane, which resulted in the latter's overthrow and death. At the Battle of Maqongqo, many
of Dingane's own men deserted to Mpande's army. Dingane had his general, Ndlela
kaSompisi, executed, and with a few followers, he sought refuge in Nayawo territory on the
Lubombo mountains. A group of Nyawo and Swazi assassinated him in Hlatikhulu Forest.[12]

He was succeeded as king by Mpande, who was a half-brother to both Dingane and Shaka.
Dingane's grave is near Ingwavuma in the Hlatikulu Forest, an hour's drive from Tembe
elephant park.

King of the Zulu Nation

Preceded by:
Reign
Succeeded by:

Shaka 1828–1840 Mpande

Literary accounts

Sir Henry Rider Haggard's novels Nada the Lily and Marie include versions of some events in
Dingane's life, as does Bertram Mitford's 1898 novel The Induna's Wife.
 Dingane in ordinary and dancing dress, illustrated by Captain Gardiner

Dingane signing a treaty with Piet Retief, as depicted in the Voortrekker Monument

Bronze statue of Dingane at Maropeng, in the Long March to Freedom exhibition

References

1. Okoye, Felix (1969). "Dingane: A reappraisal". The Journal of African History. 10 (2): 221–235.
doi:10.1017/S002185370000949X (https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS002185370000949X) .
S2CID 161299851 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:161299851) .

2. Okoye, Felix N. C., "Dingane: a reappraisal (http://journals.cambridge.org/production/action/cjoGetF

ulltext?fulltextid=3232000) ", Cambridge University Press, April 1969. Retrieved 17 March 2011.

3. A history of King Shaka (http://www.wheretostay.co.za/information/topic/3392) Archived (https://

web.archive.org/web/20120605183910/http://wheretostay.co.za/information/topic/3392) 5 June
2012 at the Wayback Machine, accessed 5 May 2012

4. Wood, J. G. (1878). "Chapter XXI. Domestic Life". The Uncivilized Races of Men in all Countries of the
World. Vol. 1. Hartford, NY: The J. B. Burr Publishing Co. pp. 207–209.

5. Bonar, Andrew Redman (1849). "1. Superstitions of the heathen: The Zulus". Incidents of Missionary
Enterprise (https://archive.org/details/b29297321) (3 ed.). Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson. pp. 15–21.
Retrieved 16 August 2020.

6. Mitchell, Peter (2002). The Archaeology of southern Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
pp. 373–375. ISBN 0-521-63389-3.

7. Laband, John (1995). Rope of sand: the rise and fall of the Zulu Kingdom in the nineteenth century.
Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. p. 66. ISBN 1-86842-023-X.

8. Bird, John (1965). ANNALS OF NATAL, 1495 TO 1845. Vol. 1. Cape Town: STRUIK.

9. Jenkinson, Thomas B. (1884). Amazulu: The Zulus, Their Past History, Manners, Customs, and
Language (https://archive.org/details/amazuluzulusthe02jenkgoog) . W.H. Allen. pp. 123 (https://ar
chive.org/details/amazuluzulusthe02jenkgoog/page/n139) (n139). Retrieved 19 August 2009.

10. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dingane_-_%27Bulalani_abathakathi%27_-_1897.jpg

11. "Zulu King Dingane orders the killing of Piet Retief's men" (http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/z
ulu-king-dingane-orders-killing-piet-retief039s-men-0) .

12. John Laband, Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars, Scarecrow Press, 2009, p.62

EA Mare – South African Journal of Art History, 2009 – repository.up.ac.za

Zulu King Dingane orders the execution of Piet Retief's men (https://www.sahistory.org.za/
dated-event/zulu-king-dingane-orders-execution-piet-retiefs-men) – an article from South
African History Online

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Dingane.

 Dingane's kraal (https://web.archive.org/web/20070220101120/http://about-south-africa.c
om/html/dingane_kraal.html)

Zulu Kraal: Dingane's Kraal (http://www.zulu-culture.co.za/zulu_kraal_dingane.php)

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Last edited 1 month ago by Hugo999