Isandlwana, South Africa — Half hidden in the early morning mist and drizzle, Isandlwana, the distinctive hill the Zulus call the "little hut," overlooks the escarpment and the plains that were once a bloody battlefield against the British.
The Zulu warriors won the battle of Isandlwana convincingly in 1879, routing and humiliating Queen Victoria's forces after they invaded Zululand. Historians call it the greatest single British military defeat during the imperial era.
The men that Britain mistakenly dismissed as mere "savages with sticks" proved their mettle that day, January 22, although superior British firepower later succeeded in subduing the Zulus - but not without a struggle. Zulus and Britons gathered Saturday to mark the 125th anniversary of the battle of Isandlwana with a recreation of the legendary military encounter on a battlefield that remains unchanged, located near Dundee, a small coal-mining town in the present-day KwaZulu Natal province of South Africa, about 300km (180 miles) southeast of Johannesburg.
Ready for battle, volunteers from the Dundee Diehards, and from as far as Wales, dressed up in the period scarlet tunics, with water bottles, haversacks, Glengarry caps, white pith helmets and, of course, their rifles. At the other end of the battlefield stood their adversaries in full Zulu glory, an "impi," (regiment) of 300 warriors, resplendent in animal skins, carrying their own traditional weapons of war - shields and assegais.
For the re-enactment of the battle, the Zulu spears had their sharp tips removed and their British adversaries fired blanks. Zulu war chants alternated with the plaintive bugle of the British forces in a faithful recreation of Isandlwana, the battle which marked the start of the Anglo-Zulu war. Mirroring events in 1879, the British were outnumbered, out flanked and out manoeuvred by the fleet-footed Zulu warriors.
"I am here because it is a day on which we are proud to remember the valour of our ancestors, " said South Africa's Home Affairs minister, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, who is also the Zulu nation's traditional prime minister, as well as a prominent member of the Zulu royal family, with links to the original battle at Isandlwana.
Buthelezi said it was important to pay tribute to "people of valour on both sides - the British and the Africa." He called it "an important day for reconciliation," and added: "My grandfather actually fought in this battle, as did his brother. His brother died, but he survived".
Buthelezi noted the folly of the British in refusing to take the Zulus seriously: "They thought it was a picnic, you know, but unfortunately they had a more serious adversary than they had thought. They underestimated us. Finally they had to deploy a force larger than that which they used to conquer India to conquer us in 1879."
Armed with spears, sticks and shields, the Zulus defeated the British soldiers who were fully armed with rifles and guns.
Buthelezi, Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, Deputy President Jacob Zuma and other leading Zulus were among the dignitaries at Isandlwana Saturday, along with British military and civilian officials, including Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister of Wales.
Hundreds of Welsh soldiers were among the 1,300 who lost their lives at Isandlwana, in the Anglo-Zulu war. Morgan told reporters the events were being held in a "spirit of reconciliation and mutual respect."
Dozens of white-painted cairns are scattered on the shoulder of the mountain and around the battlefield in tribute to the British dead and their allies in Isandlwana.
King Goodwill echoed the Welshman's call for reconciliation but also used the occasion to ask Britain to pay compensation for its invasion of Zululand 125 years earlier. Both the king and Buthelezi said more needed to be done to restore the Zulu monarchy to its former stature.
Buthelezi, who heads the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party, said a South African government commitment officially to recognise the Zulu king and kingdom had not been honoured since the adoption of the constitution. "Since then, nothing has been done about the position of the king and the institution of the monarchy within a free South Africa." He said 10 years of democracy "have an unfortunate record of broken promises and breaches of trust as far as the recognition of our king and our kingdom are concerned".
The king, wearing a traditional leopard-claw necklace, later led a wreath-laying ceremony accompanied by others in the Zulu hierarchy as well as some of their British visitors. They placed wreaths at a sculptured metal memorial built in honour of the fallen Zulu heroes at Isandlwana.
Saturday was a day of excitement for the people who attended the re-enactment. Hundreds of Zulu men, women and children, South Africans from other parts of the country as well as spectators - mostly British - from abroad assembled to watch the battle of Isandlwana 2004.
As the air filled with Zulu war cries, one woman got so carried away that she joined in, swaying along with the warriors with her umbrella and handbag substituting the assegai and shield. "I am very much interested in this. It's the way they are singing and the way they are fighting, yes, I like it. I wish I could be a woman warrior," she laughed, and continued dancing and singing.
Christopher John, a 15-year old Welsh schoolboy, was among the British enthusiasts who travelled to South Africa to take on the Zulu warriors. The teenager played the part of one of the five Bugle boys, all under-16 in the British army who were part of the original battle of Isandlwana, and he described what happened to them: "They all died here. Two of them died on the firing line, running back to the camp. Three of them were actually found in the wagons when the Zulus were ransacking the wagons. Not being considered 'warriors,' the Zulus totally mutilated the bodies, sticking them on meat hooks and 'nunula'd' (disembowelled) them, opened them up to let the spirits out".
With a smile, John said he hoped to avoid the same fate, adding that, after blowing the bugle, he would lie down on the battlefield and play dead. Britain was appalled by the death of the bugle boys, which led to a change in military practice. "What the Zulus did to them, the British were so terrified that it was going to happen again that they sent every Bugle boy in the entire empire back home. It's the last time the bugle boy was ever used in battle, so I'm here to represent those five Bugle boys".
The Welsh boy said he had made good friends during his two-week visit to KwaZulu Natal and did not hold the past against the Zulus, whom he greatly admired.
In the 19th century, the British imperialists underestimated the military prowess of the Zulu warriors. That was their mistake, said historian David Rattray, who has chronicled the Anglo-Zulu war. In 1789, more than twenty thousand Zulus massed together, using King Shaka's military strategy. In Buffalo-horn formation, they fanned out to the left and right - with a great body of men in the middle. The disciplined Zulu 'impi' then surprised and overran the British soldiers.
In the 19th century, the British imperialists underestimated the military prowess of the Zulu warriors. But, back in the 19th century, the British imperialists underestimated the military prowess of the Zulu warriors. That was their mistake, said historian David Rattray, who has chronicled the Anglo-Zulu war. In 1789, more than twenty thousand Zulus massed together, using King Shaka's military strategy. In Buffalo-horn formation, they fanned out to the left and right - with a great body of men in the middle. The disciplined Zulu 'impi' then surprised and overran the British soldiers.
Credit where credit is due, said Rattray: "For too long we've been painting this battle as a British blunder. It was a great British disaster certainly, but more than that, it was a Zulu victory. And all credit to the great Zulu commander for that. It was his day. His warriors performed beautifully. His command was absolute. It was a fantastic military feat that was achieved by the Zulus. The British general was "out-generalled" by the Zulu general and that is the fact of this matter".
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Rattray explained why this battle still had a "disproportionately high profile," as he put it. "It was an incomprehensible thing that happened here from the English point of view. I think today we have to reflect on the fact that it was this battle that made the Zulu people the famous people that they are."
The esteemed Anglo-Zulu war historian said the Zulu achievement was "unparalleled" and "elevated them onto a platform that no one could ever have anticipated. You know, Z is for Zulu in every cockpit of every aeroplane in the world today. These people have an extraordinary profile and they deserve the respect that this battle gave them."
Catching his breath after all the exertion on the battlefield, an elated present day Zulu warrior summed up the general feeling on Saturday. Simphiwe Cele told AllAfrica: "To me it feels great. I'm too happy to be here. Today is a day to remember. Our great grand fathers, mmm...of course I am proud to be Zulu. The Zulus were great warriors and they were clever at that time".
Very little was said by the Zulus about the fact that, after their ancestors tasted victory at Isandlwana in January 1789, later the same evening the Zulu warriors were defeated by the British troops a few miles away at Shiyane-Rorke's Drift and, after a valiant and spirited defence, eventually lost the Anglo-Zulu war
The two pivotal battles were immortalised in the epic films, "Zulu" and "Zulu Dawn" and inspired the musical called "The Zulu" by the South African composer, Mbongeni Ngema.
