Kwa-Bulawayo (prefixed according to context with 'gu-' or 'kwa-') was the royal

kraal Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch language, Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an pen (enclosure), enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African Human settlement ...

Shaka Zulu Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

, and as such was the capital of the early Zulu Empire. It was founded after Shaka's conquest of the

Ndwandwe The Ndwandwe are a Bantu Nguni-speaking people who populate sections of southern Africa. They owe their name to one of their early chiefs and are also known as the Nxumalo. Today, they can be found in South Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, Zimbabw ...

kingdom, in around 1820. During the conflict, Shaka made a stand outside Kwa-Bulawayo, facing two thousand Ndwande who returned from cattle rustling, in addition to five hundred more who survived the battle at Gqokli. At Kwa-Bulawayo, Shaka first met European traders, who had come from

Port Natal Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South Africa, on the Natal Bay o ...

."Bulawayo No. 2", KwaZulu Natal provincial government website

/ref> An account of Shaka's interaction with the whites also cited that the location hosted figures such as John Cane and Charles Rawden Maclean, who asked for the ruler's help and blessing. The kraal is not to be confused with the city in Zimbabwe. It was founded and possibly named after it in the 19th century by Matabele king

Lobengula Lobengula Khumalo ( 1835 – 1894) was the second and last official king of the Northern Ndebele people (historically called Matabele in English). Both names in the Zimbabwean Ndebele language, Ndebele language mean "the men of the long shields ...

, son of Shaka's former lieutenant

Mzilikazi Mzilikazi Moselekatse, Khumalo ( 1790 – 9 September 1868) was a Southern African king who founded the Ndebele Kingdom now called Matebeleland which is now part of Zimbabwe. His name means "the great river of blood". He was born the son of M ...

References

Zulu history {{SouthAfrica-hist-stub