The Battle of Gqokli Hill has been claimed by some to have occurred on or around April 1818, a part of the Ndwandwe-Zulu War between Shaka of the Zulu nation and Zwide of the Ndwandwe just south of present-day Ulundi ( 28° 22' 23" S 31° 21' 15.77" E). However, some claim that the battle never actually happened.

Background

The Zulus were originally a close-knit ethnic group community that had migrated to the eastern plateau of present-day South Africa; they became a strong tribal nation largely due to the efforts of an ambitious King named Shaka (c. 1787–1828, reigned 1816–1828). A rebellious young man, Shaka was estranged from his father, who was a Zulu King named Senzangakhona, and became a warrior with the Mthethwa people. The Mthethwa paramount Kingdom Dingiswayo helped Shaka become recognized as head of the Zulus after Senzangakhona died in 1816. The two Kingdoms were close friends, and their warriors fought together against common enemies, such as the Ndwandwe headed by King Zwide. After Dingiswayo was captured and executed by Zwide, the Mthethwa people placed themselves under Shaka and took the Zulu name. Shaka revolutionized traditional ways of fighting by introducing the iklwa, a short stabbing spear, as a weapon and by organizing warriors into disciplined units that fought in close formation behind large cowhide shields.

Alleged battle

The popular account of the battle goes roughly as follows. In spite of being significantly outnumbered, masterful strategy and tactics won the battle for Shaka. To delay the Ndwandwe invasion army, under command of Zwide's eldest son and heir, Nomahlanjana, Shaka posted forces along the drifts (fords) of the White Umfolozi River to delay the enemy while the river was still relatively high. Meanwhile, he laid waste to the area on the south (Zulu) side the river, and moved most of his clan's noncombatants and cattle into hiding in the Nkandla Forest, on the southern extremities of Zulu land. He then placed the bulk of his troops around the top of Gqokli hill, with a reserve and all his supplies out of sight in a depression at the top of the hill. To Nomahlanja, it seemed like a much smaller force of Zulus at the top of the hill and he anticipated it would be an easy massacre, "Like butchering cattle in a kraal," he is reputed to have said. Dan Wylie, in his 1992 article “Textual Incest: Nathaniel Isaacs and the Development of the Shaka Myth” in the journal History in Africa, lays out how the story probably came to be:<blockquote>Gqokli hill, however, first appears in Bryant’s Olden Times, and then only as a landmark to the battle which occurred on the nearby Mhlatuze river. Bryant cites no source for this, and it appears in no oral traditional account. However, Ritter assimilates Bryant’s passing reference, apparently misreads his precursor’s reference to Shaka drawing up his men in a “great circle” (a pre-battle harangue, not a defensive formation), and embellishes it into a sixteen-page account, complete with ranges, maneuvers, and casualty figures. Wylie examines Ritter’s oral sources used in Shaka Zulu in detail. Ritter claimed that he had received his information on Gqokli Hill from two informants –Njengebantu and Mzuzeli Qwabe. Little is known of the latter, while the former is described as a son of Mahola who was in the same IziCwe regiment as Shaka under Dingiswayo. Wylie could find no other mention of Mahola in any other source, though this isn't definitive evidence, and could mean that Mahola was not a prominent figure. Ritter claimed that he was a daily listener to Njengebantu’s recital of Shaka’s deeds, and that this occurred when Ritter was 13 and Njengebantu was around 68 years of age. However, Ritter began writing the first draft of Shaka Zulu in 1949, 46 years after attending these daily sessions and therefore Wylie questions both the accuracy of Ritter’s memories as well as Njengebantu’s alleged retellings, especially in light of the story being completely absent from Zulu oral traditions. There are two possible references to Gqokli hill, both stories about battles at "Kwa Qori", a hill near the White Mfolozi River, just like Gqokli, but both battles were decisive defeats for Shaka. Further evidence against the battle is provided by the very precise casualty figures given by Ritter, with such precise figures not given in any other oral Zulu account. Due to this evidence, Wylie concludes the story of Gqokli hill was certainly fabricated by Ritter.

  • 1. Ritter, E.A., "Shaka Zulu: The Rise of the Zulu Empire", 1955, G.P.Putnam, Library of Congress Number 57-6735
  • 2. Knight, Ian, "Zulu 1816-1906", 1995, Osprey Publishing, Warrior Series #14,
  • 3. Bryant, A.T., "Olden Times in Zululand and Nata"l, 1929, Green & Co.
  • 4. Laband, John, "The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation", Arms & Armor Press,
  • 5. Morris, Donald R., "The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation", 1965, Simon & Schuster,
  • 6. Roberts, Brian, "The Zulu Kings: A Major Reassessment of Zulu History", 1974, Charles Scribner,
  • Early Zulu Battles
  • Obscure Battles: Gqokli Hill 1818
  • South African Military History

References