Zulu dynasty

Zulu royal family
Country	KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Titles	King, natively: Ingonyama yamaZulu
Founded	1816
Founder	Shaka
Current head	Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu

The Zulu royal family consists of the reigning monarch of the Zulus of South Africa, King Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuzulu, his consorts, legitimate descendants, near relatives and male-line descendants of his great-grandfather, King Mpande who, as a half-brother of the Zulu Pater Patriae, King Shaka, reigned from 1840 to 1872. Shaka's policies and conquests transformed a small clan into one of South Africa's most influential pre-colonial realms, extending over much of what is now KwaZulu-Natal.

The Nguni-speaking clan of the southern Bantus, which evolved into the Zulu people, takes its name from the third of its recorded chiefs. Malandela, believed to have reigned in the early part of the sixteenth century, is the patrilineal ancestor of the present king, whose lineage comes down from him through Chief Senzangakhona to the latter's son, Shaka. Originally part of the early nineteenth century Mtetwa Empire of Dingiswayo, the Zulus united, expanded and founded an independent empire under King Shaka who, however, never married. The dynasty continues to reign in the male-line descent of his half-brother, King Mpande, whose realm's borders were recognised by the Boers' Commandant-General Andries Pretorius in 1840. He had at least 28 children by different wives, many of whom have living descendants. In 1887 the British annexed Zululand, effectively mediatising the Zulu dynasty as paramount chiefs in the region. The Zulu people and dynasty retained their distinct cultural identity and a measure of independence under the governments of South Africa through the establishment of Zululand as a bantustan and the subsequent abolition of apartheid in the Republic.

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