In northwest Zululand at Kambula, a British and Colonial troop force comprising 2,000 men, led by Colonel Henry Evelyn Wood, defeats a Zulu force of 20,000 under King Cetshwayo, thereby shifting the momentum of the Zulu War in favor of the British.
The British replaced the Boers as rulers of Natal in 1843, which encompassed Zululand, home to the Zulu people. The Boers, known as Afrikaners, are the descendants of the original Dutch settlers who arrived in South Africa during the 17th century. Similarly, the Zulus, a group that migrated from the north, came to southern Africa in the 17th century, establishing themselves around the Tugela River area.
In 1838, as the Boers moved north to escape British control in the south, they first engaged in conflict with the Zulus, who were then governed by King Dingane. The European migrants successfully overthrew Dingane in 1840, placing his son Mpande in power as a vassal to the new Boer republic of Natal.
The British took control of Natal and Zululand in 1843.
After King Mpande’s death in 1872, his son Cetshwayo ascended the throne, determined to resist European influence in his lands. In December 1878, Cetshwayo refused the British ultimatum to dissolve his army, prompting an invasion of Zululand by British forces in January in an effort to suppress him.
Thus, the Zulu War commenced.
The British encountered severe setbacks at Isandlwana, suffering 1,300 casualties, as well as at Hlobane Mountain; however, on March 29, the situation shifted favorably for the British at the Battle of Khambula. In July, Cetshwayo’s forces were decisively defeated at Ulundi, leading to the surrender of the Zulus to the British.
Faced with ongoing Zulu uprisings in 1887, the British formally annexed Zululand, which became part of Natal in 1897, with Natal joining the Union of South Africa in 1910.