African Traditional Government: A Case Study of Shaka the Zulu

Abstract

Bantu is a general name given to a vast group of peoples who speak several hundred different languages that can be shown to be related to one another. The Bantu who settled in South Africa belonged to a branch of Bantu peoples known as the Southern Bantu. They can be divided into a number of groups by reference to their languages. The east-coast strip was the home of numerous tribes belonging to the Nguni-speaking group. By the 18^th century they occupied the coastal area as far as the Great Fish River and were beginning to settle to the Southwest of that river in a land known as Zuurveld. The Bantu were organized in tribes, each of which consisted of one central clan, though it may contain members of other clans as well. The advent of Europeans on African soil did not meet a vacuum. Africans had systems of government that served them well. This paper investigated the rise of Shaka, the Zulu and his contribution to African traditional government that became a formidable obstacle to British imperialism in Southern Africa in the 19^th century.

Keywords: administration, military, despot, and loyalty