Relations between the Zulu people of Emperor Mpande and the Christian missionaries, c.1845-c.1871
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Date
2015-01
Authors
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Publisher
University of Zululand
Abstract
During Emperor Mpande's reign (1840-1872), following the deposition of his half-brother Dingane in 1840, the Zulu
people mostly adhered to traditional norms and values, believing that the spirits of the dead live on. Ancestral veneration
and the worship of the Supreme Being called Umvelinqangi were pre-eminent and the education of children was merely
informal, based on imitation and observation. This worldview faced new challenges with the advent of Christianity and the
arrival of Christian missionaries at Port Natal between 1845 and 1871. The strategy of almost all Christian missionaries
was premised on winning the Zulu people en masse to Christianity through Mpande’s court. The doctrines preached by
the missionaries disputed the fundamental ethical, metaphysical and social ideas of the Zulu people. Mpande, however,
earnestly requested that at least one missionary reside in the vicinity of his palace. Nothing could deter Mpande’s
attempts to use missionary connections to keep Colonial threats of invasion in check. While the Zulu people were devoid
of organised religion which might have proved a bulwark against the Christianisation process, Mpande’s acceptance of the
missionaries could be said to have been mainly strategic. He could not display bellicose tendencies while still at an
embryonic stage of consolidating his authority. This paper gives an exposition of the nature and extent of relations
between the Christian missionaries and the Zulu empire of Mpande
Description
Peer reviewed article published under Inkanyiso journal, Volume 7, Number 1, Jan 2015, p. 1- 9.
Keywords
Christian missionaries, Zulu empire, Emperor Mpande
Citation
Shamase, M.Z., 2015. Relations between the Zulu people of Emperor Mpande and the Christian missionaries, c. 1845-c. 1871. Inkanyiso: Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 7(1), pp.1-9.