The abaQulusi or Qulusi are a zulu tribe from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. They are based in the abaqulusi district,

Kwazulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

, that bears their name.

History

Origins

The aunt of King

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( – 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that ...

Mkabayi kaJama Princess Mkabayi kaJama (c. 1750–1843) was a Zulu princess, the head of the Qulusi military kraal, and a regent of the Zulu Kingdom. She persuaded her father, the Zulu King Jama kaNdaba, to remarry, and acted as a regent during the reign of h ...

, created the tribe. When the king sent Mkabayi to ebaQuluseni, near the present

Vryheid Vryheid ( zu, IVryheid) is a coal mining and cattle ranching town in northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Vryheid is the Afrikaans word for "freedom". History After Boer farmers, who lived in the Vryheid area, had helped King Dinuzulu defeat his ...

and

Hlobane Hlobane is a town in Zululand District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Coal-mining centre 27 km east of Vryheid and 31 km south-west of Louwsburg. The locality was known as such in the 19th century and the na ...

, she founded the powerful abaQulusi tribe that played a big role in the coming wars.

Conflicts where the abaQulusi were involved

During the

Battle of Hlobane The Battle of Hlobane (28 March 1879) took place at Hlobane, near the modern town of Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdo ...

and the

Battle of Kambula The Battle of Kambula took place on 29 March 1879, during the Anglo-Zulu War, when a Zulu military force attacked the British camp at Kambula, having routed the mounted element of the British force at the Battle of Hlobane the day before. The b ...

of the

Anglo-Zulu war The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupl ...

of 1879, the abaQulusi were commanded by the

iNkosi Inkosi, otherwise appearing as Nkosi, is the Zulu and Xhosa for chieftain in Southern Africa. Inkosikazi is the equivalent term for a chieftess. An inkosi that has authority over several subordinate inkosis is traditionally referred to as an In ...

Msebe kaMadaka. During the

Battle of Holkrans The Battle of Holkrans or Holkrantz (6 May 1902) took place at Holkrans, near Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa during the second Anglo-Boer War. History To stop the raids operated by the Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the de ...

against the

Boers Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this area ...

in 1902, the iNkosi Sikhobobho was in command.''The Battle of Holkrans

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Novels

* David Ebsworth, ''The Kraals of Ulundi'', Silverwood Books, 2014 * Philippe Morvan, ''Les fils du ciel'' (The sons of the sky), Calmann-Lévy, 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:abaQulusi, zulu Zulu topics Ethnic groups in South Africa Zulu history

History

Origins

Conflicts where the abaQulusi were involved

Further reading

Novels

References