STATE FORMATION IN KWA-ZULU NATAL AND THE SUBSEQUENT RISE OF THE ZULU KINGDOM IN THE 1820s (original) (raw)
2019
Copyright© 2015 Jacob Mckinnon Ivey Dr. Katherine Aaslestad's "War and Society" course my first year at WVU, where I wrote primarily on the white volunteer institutions within the colony of Natal. However, even within that seminar paper, the interaction and perceptions of the white volunteer corps in conjunction with the African military units under the command of the local magistracy presented a fascinating viewpoint in looking at Natal during its formative period. The extensive correspondence and commentary on Natal's defensive institutions I found in the South African archives solidified in my mind the need for a more nuanced examination of such defensive structures. The result is this dissertation. This project could not have been completed without so many individuals who helped shape my arguments, academic abilities, and personal sanity. To begin with, Dr. Katherine Aaslestad's course was not only the catalyst for this project, but she has remained a diligent dissertation committee member and has always given me the confidence to move forward with this topic. Her positivity and support helped me to gain the confidence necessary to complete this PhD, and I am eternally grateful to her. Dr. Robert Maxon has been my gateway to developing a deeper understanding of African history, and remains one of the most respectable academics I have had the pleasure to work with. My other committee members, Dr. Tambo Mbayo and Dr. Tim Stapleton were instrumental in the final stages of this project, and to what I hope is a fruitful beginning to my professional career. I would also like to take a moment to thank Dr. Silvermoon, who was only at WVU for the beginning of this process, but who fundamentally helped to shape my understanding of global history. But I cannot say enough about the role that Dr. Joseph Hodge has played as my committee chair, advisor, mentor, and friend. Dr. Hodge was the primary reason I decided to attend WVU and he has been a constant source of support, constructive criticism, and advice these past five years. I look forward to buying him a pint at the Lamb and Flag the next time we are working at Rhodes House. v I would also like to thank the advisors and researchers who helped me along the path to completing this project. All of the archival staffs in London, Oxford, Edinburgh, and South Africa were very helpful in my research. I would also like to thank in particular the staff at the Killie Campbell Library in Durban and the Pietermaritzburg Depot of the South African National Archives. They were instrumental in assisting with my research, and were very accommodating considering the amount of documents I requested and moved through at what seemed to be lightning speed. I'd also like to thank the other historians who provided advice and assistance during this project, both at home and abroad, including Thom McClendon, Bill Guest, Paul Thompson, and Norman Etherington. A fond thanks goes to T.J. Tallie, who helped with recommendations and research tips for my journey to South Africa. A more somber thanks goes to Dr. Jeff Guy, who sadly passed away the morning of my dissertation defence. This made the defence bitter sweet, knowing he will never be able to read (and rightly critique) my finished work. But his legacy as a historian and teacher, along with the overwhelming contributions he has made to the field, is a gift to everyone who studies the history of South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet some fantastic friends during my time at WVU. Though I had the privilege of interacting with much of the department while acting as the History Department social coordinator, there are several people I would like to thank who made a strong impact on my time in Morgantown. Steve Santelli, Nick Githuku, Joel Christenson, Kat Fichtel, and Karina and Josh Esposito were wonderful pillars of support my first years in the progam, providing sources of humor, insight, and comradery that enriched my experience overall. Jordan Lieser was not only a great workout buddy, but also a boundless source of insight for my field in Latin America. Billy Feeney, who left Morgantown too soon after my arrival, remains a great friend to discuss teaching methods, classroom troubles, and the proper eating of chicken wings. Adam Zucconi, who I dare say vi spent more time in the office than I did, was a great source of encouragement and an enduring presence during my early dissertation writing in the offices of G13 and G14. Nilanjana Paul was another constant, though perhaps more hectic, presence in the office, and remains a true friend. Fabio Capano and his wife Danielle were wonderful friends during my first years in Morgantown, and continue to be so. Jinny Turman, my Appalachian expert, was also a source of great conversations, and a wonderful graduate social coordinator for the department (who I happily replaced once she graduated). Hal Gorby, my West Virginia and Wheeling expert, has become a great friend and constant source of insightful conversations on politics, teaching, and sports. I'd also like to thank Drs. Ken and Liz Fones-Wolf, who not only provided advice and guidance, but wonderful support during my time in Morgantown, despite my never taking any of their courses. And a final thanks to Joe Rizzo, Brandon Williams, David Goldberg, and Cara Snider, who made me feel like family at times at Copper Beech. Some of my finest memories in Morgantown are watching football games and planning career goals with Rizzo, playing video games and debating pedagogical perspective with Brandon, discussing (or being lectured on) fashion and teaching methods with Goldberg, or comparing recipes and a mutual fondness for Mark Twain with Cara. Beyond the history department, I cannot thank enough Matt Titolo and Tania De Miguel Magro for their enduring friendship, and providing me a place to stay when I returned to Morgantown for meetings and my dissertation defence, despite our very different fields of study. Thanks also to Lindsey McNellis, who I convinced to move up to Morgantown to become a PhD student in the WVU History Department, but was a dear friend long before, and continues to act as a wonderful source of support for my academic career. Many thanks are also extended to Skip Parrish, who I taught with back at Seminole Community College's Adult High School during my Master's, and who continues to be a great friend. I would also like to thank my dear friend Stephen Ford, who, though in China for the vast majority of this vii process, continued to act as one of my best friends, confidants, and sounding board for ideas, teaching techniques, and random nerd discussions. And finally, I would like to thank the people who were most impactful to my completion of this project: my family. My sister-in-law Catherine Poulin, and her husband Jimmy, while being great friends, were also wonderful in letting me stay with them for a month in London while I finished the last part of me research at the British Library. My inlaws, Liz and Bruce Anderson, were also very supportive of this process, even when it took me away from their daughter for a year or two. My sister Kelly, brother-in-law Brendan, and nieces Hannah and Elise McNeirney, though never acting as research assistants, did provide many moments of much needed respite from the toils of academia. My parents, Chuck and Liane Ivey, were always supportive of my love of history, including family vacations to history museums, historic sites, and battlefields during my youth. They also encouraged me to travel and see the world, and gave me the support necessary to see London for the very first time. Thank you for all you have done in making me the historian and man I am today. And last, but most certainly not least, I would like to thank my wife, Jennifer Ivey. She has been with me throughout this entire process, and knows the full extent of the trial, turmoil, and triumph that comes with the completion of this project. Four states, three continents, and five years have been nothing but a delight as I have spent the vast majority of it with her. She is my best source of confidence, my most diligent critic, my editor, my research assistant, my travel companion, and my best friend. This project would be nothing without her help and I dedicate it in full to her. To everyone who has aided in this project, and all the projects to come, I thank you. viii
From A to Z: Ashanti and Zulu Statehood. A Comparative Study
This study deals with the identification of state institutions that emerged and evolved among the Ashanti of West African and the Zulu of South Africa. It argues that the study of the formation of institutions in pre-colonial era compared with colonial Western and Southern Africa can help the understanding of the root causes of problems that abound in the continent today. Additionally, we found that both case study states experienced surprisingly similar aspects and some different paths to statehood. From the historical aspect, this study is of pressing importance to the ethnic people of Africa and to those who are responsible of governing them.
New Contree
The chieftaincies in Kranskop in Umvoti seized the opportunity to exercise independence from the Zulu royal family, an opportunity which the advent of British imperialism provided. These chieftaincies decided to support the invading colonial forces during the Anglo-Zulu War of January to September 1879 and participated actively in the colonial armed forces which fought the Usuthu section of the Zulu royal family during the 1880s. They also provided active military support to the Natal colonial forces during the Poll Tax uprisings of 1906. This article retraces the genesis of the dispute over the chieftainship at MaMbulu in Kranskop between the Ngubane and the Nzama families. The consolidation of the Zulu Kingdom by King Shaka does not tell the whole story because some chiefdoms maintained their own autonomy. Examples are the shift in allegiance by the Ngubane to the British side because of political conflicts, and the move away from King Shaka by the Nzama chiefdom. It will be shown that the context which made it possible for the Nzama people to come under the leadership of the Ngubane can be linked to the different relations that King Shaka kaSenzangakhona, the founder of the Zulu Kingdom, shared with the various chieftaincies on its western boundary during the 1820s.
South African Historical Journal
The Nzama were an independent chiefdom, but because of the colonial divide-and-rule strategy, they ultimately were made subservient to the rival Ngubane chief, who then connived with the local white magistrate to install his son Tshutshutshu as his successor. This brewed tensions between the Nzama leaders and Chief Tshutshutshu. Their differences ended up in court, but the white authorities sided with Tshutshutshu. The friction between the Nzama and the Ngubane has continued for decades but is generally reduced to the term izimpi zemibango (faction fights), a catch-all term that fails to address the underlying causes of the conflict and its long historical roots. This article deals with the interventions by the Natal colonial state in the areas to the south of the uThukela River, where Kranskop and Greytown are located, before the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879 to highlight what changed after the war. Within this it explores the different ways in which the Ngubane and Nzama people were treated, which intensified tensions and held within it the seed for the outbreak of the izimpi zemibango between the 1880s and 1928.