View source for Mpande

{{Short description|Ruler of the Zulu Kingdom from 1840 to 1872}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{For|other people named Mpande|Mpande (name)}}
{{Infobox royalty
| name           = Mpande kaSenzangakhona
| title          = King of [[Zulu Kingdom]]
| image          = King-Mpande-1.gif
| caption        = An 1849 portrait of King Mpande by [[George French Angas]]
| reign          = 1840–1872
| coronation     = 1840
| predecessor    = [[Dingane]]
| successor      = [[Cetshwayo]]
| spouse         = several wives (including Ngqumbazi, Monase, Nomantshali)
| issue          = [[Cetshwayo]], [[Dabulamanzi kaMpande]], Mbuyazi and many others
| royal house    =
| father         = [[Senzangakhona kaJama]]
| mother         = Songiya kaNgotsha Hlabisa
| birth_date     = c. 1798
| birth_place    =
| death_date     = 18 October 1872 (aged 73-74)
| death_place    = [[Zulu Kingdom|Zululand]]
| burial_place   = Nodwengu<br />{{coord|28|17|54|S|31|25|34|E|type:landmark_region:ZA|name=Nodwengu}}
}}
'''Mpande kaSenzangakhona''' (c. 1798–18 October 1872) was [[monarch]] of the [[Zulu Kingdom]] from 1840 to 1872. He was a half-brother of [[Sigujana kaSenzangakhona|Sigujana]], [[Shaka]] and [[Dingane]], who preceded him as [[list of Zulu kings|Zulu kings]]. He came to power after he had overthrown Dingane in 1840.
His reign was relatively lengthy at 32 years, but for the latter part of his reign, he was king in name only. His son [[Cetshwayo]] became ''de facto'' ruler in 1856. Mpande himself claimed that he preferred a quiet life and that he had been forced to become king.
==Biography==
===Early career===
Mpande was born in [[Babanango]], [[Zulu Kingdom|Zululand]], the son of [[Senzangakhona kaJama]] (1762–1816) and his ninth wife Songiya kaNgotsha Hlabisa. He was considered a weak man in comparison to his contemporaries. While other half-brothers were eliminated when his brother [[Dingane]] assassinated [[Shaka]] to become king in 1828, he was allowed to live. Mpande apparently showed no interest in Zulu power politics.<ref name ="sss"/>
Mpande came to prominence when Dingane suffered a catastrophic disaster at the [[Battle of Blood River]] in December 1838. His defeat at the hands of the Boers led to unrest, which Dingane attempted to control by eliminating potential successors such as Mpande. In September 1839 Mpande defied his brother, who demanded his support in a war against the Swazi people. Fearing he would be killed if he joined Dingane, Mpande instead led thousands of Zulus into the Boer republic of Natalia. The Boers led by [[Andries Pretorius]] and [[Gert Rudolph]] decided to support Mpande, hoping to gain concessions if he could oust Dingane. In January 1840 Mpande's army led by [[Nongalaza]] defeated Dingane at the [[Battle of Maqongqo]]. Mpande arrived shortly after with Pretorius' force of Boers, and was proclaimed king.
After executing his own general [[Ndlela kaSompisi]], Dingane escaped, but was soon murdered in [[Hlatikhulu Forest]]. Mpande was now unopposed as king. Mpande later claimed that he had been forced to become king against his own wishes.<ref name="sss">{{cite journal |last=Kennedy |first=Philip|title=Mpande and the Zulu Kingship|journal=Journal of Natal and Zulu History |year=1981 |volume=4 |pages=21–38 |doi=10.1080/02590123.1981.11964211|url=http://www.transformation.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/jnzh/article/viewArticle/74|url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140307225949/http://www.transformation.ukzn.ac.za/index.php/jnzh/article/viewArticle/74|archive-date=2014-03-07}}</ref> The Boers immediately were granted claim to a large stretch of territory in exchange for their help.
===Early reign===
In October 1843 British commissioner Henry Cloete negotiated a treaty to define the borders of Natal and Zululand. Mpande also negotiated with the Boers, ceding land around the Klip River in 1847, which the British considered a violation of the treaty.  Mpande had to reoccupy the land with his own troops. Mpande managed to avoid further disputes with the British but continued to grant favours to the Boers.<ref name = "gum"/>
In 1843 Mpande ordered the death of his brother Gqugqu, who was said to be plotting to kill the king. Gqugqu's wives and children were also killed. The massacre produced a large influx of refugees into Natal led by his aunt [[Mawa kaJama]]; according to British colonial official [[Abraham Josias Cloëté]], nearly all kraals as far north as [[Nseleni]] had been deserted.<ref name = "gum"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=Gibson |first1=James Young |title=The Story of the Zulus |date=1903 |publisher=P. Davis & Sons |location=Pietermaritzburg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_RBTAAAAYAAJ |language=en |page=94}}</ref>
Mpande adopted an expansionist policy in the early 1850s, initially raiding the areas surrounding the Zulu kingdom. These moves culminated in the invasion of [[Swaziland]] in 1852. The Swazi were under Zulu [[suzerainty]], but maintained effective independence under [[Mswati II]]. According to historian Philip Bonner, Mpande wanted Swaziland to be under his control because of fears of Boer expansion from Natal. He "was intent on turning Swaziland into a physical sanctuary should he become embroiled with Natal, and was not prepared to settle for anything less than effective control".<ref name = "phil"/> The Zulu invasion was a success to the extent that the Swazi were faced with the prospect of "disintegration and collapse". During the invasion, Mpande's eldest son Cetshwayo proved his capacities as a leader.<ref name = "phil">{{cite book |last=Bonner |first=Philip |title=Kings, Commoners and Concessionaires: The Evolution and Dissolution of the Nineteenth-Century Swazi State |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002 |pages=62–8 |isbn=0-521-52300-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zmfG7pfwEngC }}</ref> However, the British pressured him into withdrawing, which he did quickly.
===Succession conflicts===
[[File:Cetshwayo-c1875.jpg|thumb|Cetshwayo]]
Cetshwayo's success as a leader led to a conflict with Mpande's second, and favourite, son Mbuyazi.<ref name = "gum"/> Though Cetshwayo was the oldest, he was not officially successor, as his mother had not been declared the king's Great Wife. Either brother could inherit if Mpande chose their mother as his Great Wife, which he did not.<ref name = "mor"/> Cetshwayo felt that his father was favouring Mbuyazi, and both sides developed factions of followers. Mpande ceded territory to Mbuyazi on the [[Tugela River]], where he and his followers settled. Mbuyazi also cultivated support from European settlers led by [[John Robert Dunn|John Dunn]]. Cetshwayo, who was supported by most of the territorial sub-chiefs, decided to settle the matter militarily. He invaded Mbuyazi's lands and crushed his followers at the [[Battle of Ndondakusuka]], massacring survivors, including five of his brothers.<ref name = "gum"/> Dunn escaped and later became an adviser to Cetshwayo.
After this Cetshwayo became ''de facto'' ruler, though his father continued to carry out ceremonial functions. Cetshwayo continued his father's policy of maintaining links with both the British and the Boers and balancing out concessions. Cetshwayo also kept an eye on his father's new wives and children for potential rivals, ordering the death of his favourite wife Nomantshali and her children in 1861. Nomantshali and her daughters were hacked to death. Though two sons escaped, the youngest was murdered in front of the king.<ref name = "mor">{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Donald |title=The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of the Zulu Nation Under Shaka and Its Fall in the Zulu War of 1879 |publisher=Random House |year=1994 |pages=190–199 |isbn=0-7126-6105-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIWjmKPLCoUC }}</ref>
According to Gibson, "in his later days he became so fat he was unable to walk".<ref name ="gib"/> The exact date of his death in late 1872 is unclear, as it was kept secret to secure a smooth transition of power to Cetshwayo.<ref>{{cite book|last=Laband|first=John|title=Historical Dictionary of the Zulu Wars|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham, Md.|isbn=9780810860780|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=npwiCbbEikkC&q=Mpande%20kaSenzangakhona&pg=PA169}}</ref>
==Assessment==
Mpande's apparent passivity has been interpreted in different ways. He has often been identified as a "simpleton" or "the fool of the family", in the words of J Y Gibson.<ref>Gibson, JY, ''Story of the Zulus'', p. 102.</ref>  James O. Gump, however, describes him as a "savvy survivor in the Machiavellian world of Zulu politics".<ref name = "gum">{{cite book |first=James O. |last=Gump |title=The Dust Rose like Smoke: The Subjugation of the Zulu and the Sioux |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |location=Lincoln, NE |year=1994 |pages=64–68 |isbn=0-8032-2152-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G_vMrWVqLIEC }}</ref> Gibson himself says that in his youth he was an imposing figure, quoting a French witness who said he had a regal bearing such that "a Parisian might believe that Umpande, in his youth, had frequented the palaces of kings".<ref name ="gib">Gibson, JY, ''Story of the Zulus'', p. 111.</ref> However, there is considerable evidence of his "lethargy and indifference" to ruling, even in his early years, when many of the decisions were made by his sons.<ref name ="sss"/>
Mpande had a positive reputation among Christian missionaries. He allowed [[John Colenso]] to codify Zulu grammar and produce Zulu translations of the Bible.<ref name="Colenso1901">{{cite book|author=John William Colenso|title=Three Native Accounts of the Visit of the Bishop of Natal in September and October, 1859, to Umpande, King of the Zulus|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dr0OAQAAIAAJ|access-date=19 September 2013|year=1901|publisher=Vause, Slatter}}</ref> Colenso's associate, Zulu convert Magema Fuze, gave a Biblically inspired account of the history of the Zulus in his book ''[[The Black People and Whence they Came]]''. In this account God punishes wicked rulers like Shaka and Dingane, but the Zulus flourish under "Mpande's peaceful, enlightened rule." Cetshwayo was cursed because of his impious murder of Nomantshali.<ref>{{cite book |first=Jonathan A. |last=Draper |chapter=The Bishop and the Bricoleur: Bishop John William Colenso's ''Commentary on Romans'' and Magema Kamagwaza Fuze's ''The Black People and Whence they Came'' |title=The Bible in Africa: Transactions, Trajectories, and Trends |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden|editor1=Gerald O. West|editor2= Musa W. Dube|editor2-link=Musa Dube|year=2000 |pages=415–454 (p. 449)|isbn=0-391-04111-8 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4DcVuqtoEiIC&pg=PA449 }}</ref>
[[H. Rider Haggard]]'s [[Allan Quatermain]] novel ''[[Child of Storm]]'' is set during the power struggle between Cetshwayo and Mbuyazi. Mpande (called "Panda") is depicted as an indulgent, passive figure.
==See also==
{{commons category|Mpande kaSenzangakhona}}
* [[Battle of Blood River]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Dingane]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Zulu kings|King of the Zulu Nation]]|years=1840–1872}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Cetshwayo]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Zulu Monarchs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kasenzangakhona, Mpande}}
[[Category:1790s births|Mpande]]
[[Category:1872 deaths|Mpande]]
[[Category:Zulu kings]]
[[Category:South African animists]]
[[Category:19th-century monarchs in Africa]]
[[Category:19th-century Zulu people]]