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THE ORIGINS of the ANGLO-ZULU WAR of 1879 Richard Lidbrook

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THE ORIGINS of the ANGLO-ZULU WAR of 1879 Richard Lidbrook THE ORIGINS OF THE ANGLO-ZULU WAR OF 1879 Richard Lidbrook Cope A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, 1995 ii THE ORIGINS OF THE ANGLO-ZULU WAR Richard Lidbrook Cope ABSTRACT This thesis provides a detailed account of the events leading up to the war between Britain and the Zulu kingdom in 1879, and undertakes to explain why the war came about Theophilus Shepstone, Natal's Secretary for Native Affairs, had long aspired to bring Zululand under British control. When King Mpande died in 1872, his heir, Cetshwayo, was anxious for British support against rival claimants, and against the South African Republic, with which he had a border dispute. He therefore invited Shepstone to preside over a ceremony recognising him as King. Shepstone's hopes that his •coronation' of Cetshwayo would lead to greater control over Zululand were disappointed, but it did serve as a precedent for British intervention. The war of 1879, in the event, did not arise out of purely local causes, but was more the result of British imperial policy. Lord Carnarvon, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, aspired to •confederate' the various territories of southern Africa into a •self-governing' (that is, settler­ governed) dominion under the British flag. To this end Shepstone annexed the Transvaal in 1877. The border dispute now became a dispute between Britain and the Zulu kingdom, and relations deteriorated sharply. Sir Bartle Frere, the High Commissioner entrusted by Carnarvon with the task of implementing his confederation policy, decided that the continued independence of the Zulu kingdom was an insuperable obstacle to confederation. He therefore took advantage of certain border incidents (and of the warlike reputation of the Zulu) to send an ultimatum calculated to bring about war. The question this thesis particularly addresses is whether the war was an incidental by-product of a confederation policy carried out for other reasons, or whether bringing Zululand under British control was inherent in the policy itself. It argues that the latter was the case. The purpose of confederation was neither retrenchment nor to safeguard naval bases, as some have argued, but a comprehensive political and economic reconstruction of South African SOCiety in which an independent Zulu kingdom could have no place. On the other hand, to argue that Zululand was iii invaded to facilitate the advance of capitalist production in South Africa, as others have done, is to state the case too narrowly. The desirability and inevitability of capitalist production was assumed rather than consciously striven for by those who believed that the invasion of Zulu1and was necessary to facilitate the progress and civilization of South Africa. KEYWORDS Zulu1and, Natal, British, Cetshwayo, Carnarvon, Shepstone, Frere, imperialism, confederation, war. iv Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own unaided worlc. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination in any other university. Richard Lidbrook Cope {3 v PREFACE The research for this thesis has been camed on over a very long period. I first started worldng on Natal and Zulu history in 1962, when I began work. at the University of Natal, under the supervision of the late Edgar Brookes, on an M.A. thesis on the relations between Shepstone and Cetshwayo. Dr. Brookes encouraged me to approach the subject in terms of personalities and families: he told me that he had many years earlier been approached by a member of the Zulu royal family to stand as a Native Representative, that he had expressed a disinclination to stand against Denis Shepstone, but that he had been told that a Shepstone was not wanted. The question to be answered was thus seen as the origins of the hostility between the house of Senzangakhona and the house of Shepstone. When I returned to the subject, some years after the completion of the M.A. thesis, there had been a great change in the approach to South African history. There had been a move away from purely political history; a greater awareness of and curiosity about the connections between the economy, social structure, politics and ideas of societies; and an interest in the dynamics of capitalist and pre­ capitalist societies and in the changing relationships between the two in nineteenth century South Africa. New ideas had been put forward about the role of the imperial factor in South African history, to the study of which I have attempted to make some contribution in the form of published articles. In the light of these new ideas, a number of statements have been made about the genesis of the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879. I felt there was a need to test these statements against a detailed study of the evidence, and I felt that the research I had done for my M.A. thesis, and the considerable further research I have subsequently done, especially in British sources, put me in a good position to carry out this task. Hence this thesis. In the course of this work over such a prolonged period I have become indebted to a great many people. Some of these debts date back a very long time, and any attempt to mention by name all the individuals who have helped me would produce a very long list as well as unjustifiable omissions. I will therefore give my thanks in general terms. I am sincerely grateful to the numerous librarians and archivists in South Africa and in Britain who gave indispensable help in fmding sources; to the historians whose work. I have found stimulating and challenging; and the friends and colleagues who have given encouragement and help of all kinds, including guidance through the labyrinth of word-processing. Finally, among more recent debts, I must mention the helpful vi criticisms and corrections of my supervisor, Noel Garson, the head of the department of history at the University of the Witwatersrand, who was prepared to take on a colleague whom he had every reason to believe to be set in his ways; Philip Stickler, chief cartographer in the department of geography, who converted my scrawled attempts at interpreting vague nineteenth century descriptions and drawings into an elegant and useful map; and Elaine Katz, senior lecturer in the department of history, who nobly volunteered to undertake the proofreading. vii CONTENTS Abbreviations Used in the Footnotes ........................................ viii Glossary . ix Chapter One Introduction .......................................................... 1 Chapter Two The Zulu Kingdom and its Neighbours to 1873 . .. 13 Chapter Three Black and White Diplomacy in South East Africa 1873-7 .......................... 57 Appendix to Chapter Three Did Cetshwayo and Sekhukhune act in concert? ............................... 100 Chapter Four CamalVon and Confederation ............................................ 102 Chapter Five The Annexation of the Transvaal. .. 141 Chapter Six The Annexation of Zululand? ............................................ 172 Chapter Seven The Border Dispute and the Threat of War . .. 197 Chapter Eight Sir Bartle Frere and the Road to War . • . .. 239 Chapter Nine Epilogue and Conclusion ............................................... 304 Bibliography ....................................................... 323 Map ............................................................ at end viii ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE FOOTNOTES A.S.N.A.. ............................. Acting Secretary for Native Affairs, Natal. B.A. Border Agent. B.L. British Library, London, (Carnarvon Papers). B.P.P. .. British Parlilunentary Papers. Cape G.H. .................... Government House records, Cape Archives, Cape Town. C.O. Colonial Office records, Public Record Office, London. C.O. 879 ...................................... Colonial Office Confidential Print C.O. 959 . .. Colonial Office records, Public Record Office, London (Frere Papers). C.S.O. ............. Colonial Secretary's Office records, Natal Archives, Pietennaritzburg. G.H. .. Government House records, Natal Archives, Pietennaritzburg. G.RO., PCC ... Gloucestershire Records Office, Gloucester (St Aldwyn [Hicks Beach] Papers). G.S .......................................... Government Secretary, Transvaal. H.C. Deb.................................. House of Commons debates (Hansard). H.L. Deb. ................ ................... House of Lords debates (Hansard). K.C.................................... Killie Campbell Africana Library, Durban. N.A.M. .. National Anny Museum, London (Chelmsford Papers). P.RO.30/6 ......................... Carnarvon Papers, Public Record Office, London. R.M. ................................................ .. Resident Magistrate. S.N.A. ............. Secretary for Native Affairs records, Natal Archives, Pietennaritzburg. S.P. .................... Theophilus Shepstone Papers, Natal Archives, Pietennaritzburg S.P.G. ............... United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel records, London. S.P.G., W.P. ................................ Wigram Papers in the S.P.G. records. S.S. ........................... State Secretary records, Transvaal Archives, Pretoria. T.A............................ Administrator's records, Transvaal Archives, Pretoria. T.A., L.U. .. Landdrost of Utrecht records, Transvaal Archives, Pretoria. T.A., S.N. .. Secretary for Native Affairs records, Transvaal Archives, Pretoria.
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