MALANDELA
- 2 Min Read
Malandela, (circa 1600-circa 1650), is renowned as the progenitor of the house of Shaka, the famous ruler of the Zulu nation.
Malandela was the leader of a small chiefdom in the area around the Umhlathuze River. His sovereignty was one of many such chiefdoms that had been established in the Southeastern part of the African continent. Malandela’s progeny included his son Zulu, who succeeded Malandela as chief in the 1650s. After Zulu’s death, Phunga and then Mageba, both being sons of Zulu, ruled the tiny chiefdom.
By the reign of Ndaba, son of Mageba, the people of the sovereignty called themselves “Zulus” after Malandela’s son. Ndaba was succeeded by Jama, the father of Senzangakhona and Mkabayl. Senzangakhona (circa 1756 to circa 1815) was too young to succeed his father, Jama; therefore his sister Mkabayl and their cousin, Mudli, ruled the Zulu chiefdom at the death of Jama.
Even after giving the reigns of power to Senzangakhona, Mkabayi remained the power behind the throne and is reported to have assisted Shaka in his claim to the throne. Shaka was Senzangakhona’s son by Nandi, a woman from a neighbouring chiefdom who later became Senzangakhona’s third wife. Shaka was to become a great military strategist and nation-builder.
When Senzangakhona died, Shaka, who had spent his adolescence in Mtetwa territory and had participated in the formation of the powerful Mtetwa confederacy, returned to take over the leadership of the Zulus. Shaka’s organisation of this tiny chiefdom into a powerful empire is now legend, and Malandela’s name is reverently included in the praise songs for Shaka.
NOMATHEMBA SITHOLE
