Shaka Zulu, leader of the Zulu kingdom

Shaka Zulu born in 1787 and died in 1828, is a Zulu king. He is the founder of the Zulu kingdom.

Chaka would come from an illegitimate union between Nandi, princess Langeni, and Senza Ngakona, chief of the Zulu clan. According to legend, he was considered a bastard, rejected and humiliated by his father, regularly ill-treated by his comrades. These experiences will harden him and mark his personality with a thirst for revenge.

His warrior spirit will know its genesis when he goes to the Batwetwa, another Nguni tribe. He joined the army. The rejected begins to transform into the Golden Eagle. Charismatic, quick-witted, enduring and endowed with impressive physical strength, he strings together victories on the battlefield, extends his reputation to the point of becoming the right arm of Dingiswayo, the chief of the Batwetwa tribe.

On the death of his father, Sigujana, one of Chaka’s half-brothers, took over the estate according to their father’s wishes, and became the head of the Zulu clan. Dingiswayo supports Chaka to take power. During the battle, Sigujana dies and Shaka becomes the chef.

With Shaka’s reputation well established, he has no trouble establishing himself within his tribe. As a great visionary, he wasted no time in submitting his revolutionary political and military ideas to it. He names his people Amazoulou: « Those of the sky ». Name which will later become Zulu, quite simply.

The Chaka army at its peak will number more than 100,000 men, to which must be added about 500,000 men from neighboring tribes.

With unparalleled offensive force, Shaka Zulu begins an era of conquest. He connects victories as usual and incorporates other tribes into his people. Its power is such that certain tribes join it willingly.

In ten years, Chaka carved out an empire in Natal and had conquered a territory larger than France.

The circumstances of his death, which occurred in 1828, are unclear: Chaka would have been stabbed to death by his half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangane, victim of a plot orchestrated by his brothers and aunt Mkabayi, with the help of one of his men of confidence, Mbopa.