Mpande's - University of Zululand Institutional Repository

-220-
CHAPTER SEVEN
MPANDE AMIDST THE CIVIL WAR
A decade after Mpande had assumed power, there developed an
unfortunate set of circumstances which resulted in the outbreak of what
could be called the second "civil war" in KwaZulu in 1856. The question
of Mpande's heir had not yet been settled I * This was symptomatic of
many clans within KwaZulu and Natal.
The genesis of the wrangle in Mpande's palace has been a bone of
contention among historians. 1.Y. Gibson (1911); R.C.A. Samuelson
(1929); Brookes and Webb (1965); B. Roberts (1974); leff Guy (1979);
and C. Ballard (1980) concurred with RRR DWomo (1951) and SJ.
Maphalala (1985) that the main rivals to the succession were Cetshwayo
and Mbuyazi.' King Shaka had a wife named Monase, the daughter of
Mntungwa of the Nxumalo clan.' He suspected Monase of being
,
,
c.o. 48/380: Statement ofJohn Dunn, 6 December 1856, encl. in Grey to Labouchere,
D.4, 17 January 1857; W.e. Holden (Rev.): History ofthe Colony ofNatal, p.247.
·"The first Zulu civil war took place in 1840 behveen Dingane and Mpande at
Maqongqo"
SJ. Maphalala: The participation ofWhite settlers in the battle ofNdondakusuka,
2 December 1856, and its consequences up to 1861, pp.! - 4.
R.R.R. Dhlomo: Umpande KaSensangalcho!!1!, pp. 59 - 60.