Senzangakhona kaJama (c. 1762 – 1816) was the king of the Zulu Kingdom, and primarily notable as the father of three Zulu kings ( Shaka, Dingane and Mpande) who ruled during the period when the Zulus achieved prominence, led by his oldest son Shaka.
Biography
His father was chief Jama kaNdaba and his mother was Mthaniya Sibiya. He succeeded on his father's death. During the chieftaincy of Senzangakhona, the Zulus were a small clan in the Mthethwa confederation which was ruled by Dingiswayo.
Senzangakhona’s name is derived from the Zulu word meaning "he who acts with a good reason".
Although the Zulus practised ritual circumcision, the practice was slowly dying out. Senzangakhona and Shaka were not circumcised, marking this trend in Zulu culture.
Wives and children
thumb|[[Shaka, son of Senzangakhona]]
Senzangakhona married at least sixteen women by which he had fourteen known sons. His daughters were not recorded.
Nandi kaBhebhe eLangeni (Nandi, daughter of Bhebhe, from eLangeni district), bore him his first son Shaka, said to have been conceived during an act of ukuhlobonga, a form of coitus interruptus without penetration allowed to unmarried couples at a time known as "the fun of the roads" (amahlaya endlela), but the lovers became carried away. Nandi and Shaka were initially accepted into Senzangakhona's kraal, and she was treated as a lesser wife.