British invade Zululand - January 11, 1879

On this day in 1879, the Anglo-War began when the British invaded Zululand. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This Day in History Class is a production of I
Heart Radio. Welcome Back everyone. I'm Eves and you're listening
to This Day in History Class, a show where we
peel back a new layer of history every day. Today
is January eleventh. The day was January eleventh, eighteen seventy nine,

(00:29):
British troops led by Lieutenant General Lord Chelmsford invaded Zulu Land,
which was a monarchy in southern Africa. The invasion marked
the start of the nearly six month long Anglo Zulu War,
which resulted in the defeat of the Zulus. Some historians
have also marked January tenth, twelve, and twenty two as

(00:50):
the beginning of the war. In the early nineteenth century,
warrior king Shaka conquered all the groups in Zulu Land
and united them under a single state. The Zulu Kingdom
grew in size and military might in the years after
Shaka took over, though it did weekend after his death
in eighteen twenty eight. Boers, or the descendants of Dutch

(01:11):
and Huguenot immigrants, had land claims on territory held by
the Zulu Kingdom. The Zulu people frequently clashed with the
Boar's over land in cattle. In eighteen forty three, the
British annexed the Natalia Republic to form the colony of Natal.
But in the second half of the nineteenth century, the
British Empire wanted to further extend its influence in South Africa.

(01:34):
Britain wanted labor for the diamond fields, bore Land claims,
and to create a confederation in South Africa. Sir Barnold
Frere was appointed the British High Commissioner to South Africa
and sent to Cape Town to take South Africa's British colonies,
bore republics and independent Black states and turned them into
a confederation. But Zululand, bordering Natal and the trans Fall,

(02:00):
powerful and self reliant. Sir Bartle Frere and Sir Theophilist Shepston,
British Governor of Natal and the Transfall, saw the Zulu
people as a threat to the policy of confederation and
prosperity in South Africa. So in December of eighteen seventy eight,
under the pretext of border incursions into Natal by the

(02:20):
Zulu people, the British sent an ultimatum to Zulu king
to Duyo to disarm and pay reparations, among other terms,
but to Duyo refused to bow to the demands for
federation or to disband his army. The ultimatum expired on
January eleventh, eighteen seventy nine, or January tenth by some accounts,

(02:42):
so the British decided to invade Zulu land. The plan
was to occupy the Zulu royal crawl or village at
Ulundi by advancing on it from three directions. One column
of Lord Chelmsford's invasion force crossed into Zulu land near
the mouth of the Tugala River, another Zulu land from
the trans fall heading towards Ulundi from Utrecht, and the

(03:04):
center column crossed the Buffalo River at Works Drift. The
Zulus had some guns, mostly muskets, and some rifles, but
many warriors had shields and spears. The first attack of
the war took place on January twelve. The Zulu people
suffered more losses than the British in that battle, but
the British were defeated at the Battle of isan Juana

(03:26):
later that month, when the Zulu killed hundreds of their
soldiers and took their rifles and ammunition. Fighting continued until July,
when Chelmsford's troops moved on to Duayo's royal villages at Ulundi.
To Juya was forced to flee and captured in August,
then eggs out to the Cape. The British divided the
kingdom into thirteen territories under appointed chiefs. Civil war soon

(03:49):
broke out, and in eighteen eighty three to Juya was
reinstalled as king, but his power was limited and he
died the next year. Zulu Land was declared a British
territory in eight seven, and ten years later it was
annexed by Natal. I'm Eve STEPF Coode and hopefully you
know a little more about history today than you did yesterday.

(04:11):
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(04:33):
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