Dinuzulu's Volunteers (1884) were a militant group of farmers that fought for

Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo (1868 – 18 October 1913, commonly misspelled Dinizulu) was the king of the Zulu nation from 20 May 1884 until his death in 1913. He succeeded his father Cetshwayo, who was the last king of the Zulus to be officially reco ...

, the king of the Zulu nation, led by

Louis Botha Louis Botha (; 27 September 1862 – 27 August 1919) was a South African politician who was the first prime minister of the Union of South Africa – the forerunner of the modern South African state. A Boer war hero during the Second Boer War, ...

Cause of unrest

After 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 ...

, Britain divided Zululand up into 13 '

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

s', governed over by compliant chiefs. This did not last for long, however, and eventually the rightful heir Dinuzulu, son of the former king Cetshwayo kaMpande was reinstated. However, one chief,

Zibhebhu kaMaphitha Zibhebhu kaMaphitha Zulu (1841–1904) (also called Usibepu/Ziphewu) was a Zulu chief. After the defeat of the Zulu Kingdom by the British, he attempted to create his own independent kingdom. From 1883 to 1884, he fought the Zulu king Cetshwayo, i ...

(also known as Usibepu), was left alone and allowed to keep his land.

Formation of Dinuzulu's Volunteers

Dinuzulu appealed to the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

against this decision, but received no response, which led to the

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

s from

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

and

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 ...

being called into Dinuzulu's Volunteers in return for land. They fought several battles against the Zulu chief Zibhebhu until their eventual victory on 5 June 1884, at the Battle of Ghost Mountain. Zibhebhu, however, escaped, by climbing up the mountain with a white trader.http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/242/286

References

{{reflist Zulu history