Ulundi, also known as Mahlabathini, is a town in the

Zululand District Municipality The Zululand District Municipality () is one of the 11 districts of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Its seat is Ulundi. As of 2011, a majority of its 803,575 inhabitants spoke isiZulu. The district code is DC26. Geography Neig ...

. At one time the capital of the

Zulu Kingdom The Zulu Kingdom ( ; ), sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire, was a monarchy in Southern Africa. During the 1810s, Shaka established a standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of So ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and later the capital of the

Bantustan A Bantustan (also known as a Bantu peoples, Bantu homeland, a Black people, black homeland, a Khoisan, black state or simply known as a homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party (South Africa), National Party administration of the ...

KwaZulu KwaZulu was a semi-independent Bantustan in South Africa, intended by the apartheid government as a homeland for the Zulu people. The capital was moved from Nongoma to Ulundi in 1980. It was led until its abolition in 1994 by Chief Mangos ...

, Ulundi now lies in

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

Province (of which, from 1994 to 2004, it alternated with

Pietermaritzburg Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...

as the provincial capital). The town now includes Ulundi Airport, a three-star hotel, and some museums amongst its sights. In the 2024 Census, the population of the town was recorded as 30,828.

History

When Cetshwayo became king of the

Zulus Zulu people (; ) are a native people of Southern Africa of the Nguni. The Zulu people are the largest ethnic group and nation in South Africa, living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. They originated from Nguni communities who took p ...

on 1 September 1873, he created, as was customary, a new capital for the nation, naming it "Ulundi" ("The high place"). On 4 July 1879, in the

Battle of Ulundi The Battle of Ulundi took place at the Zulu capital of Ulundi () on 4 July 1879 and was the last battle of the Anglo-Zulu War. The British Army broke the military power of the Zulu Kingdom by defeating the main Zulu army and capturing and bu ...

(the final battle of the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in present-day South Africa from January to early July 1879 between forces of the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Two famous battles of the war were the Zulu victory at Battle of Isandlwana, Isandlwana and th ...

), the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

captured 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 ...

and razed it to the ground. Nearby is Ondini, where King

Mpande Mpande kaSenzangakhona (c. 1798–18 October 1872) was monarch of the Zulu Kingdom from 1840 to 1872. He was a half-brother of Sigujana kaSenzangakhona, Sigujana, Shaka and Dingane, who preceded him as list of Zulu kings, Zulu kings. He came to ...

, Cetshwayo's father, had his kraal. A large Zulu hut now is on the site.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as humid subtropical (Cfa). It is rainier in the warmer months.

References

External links

Battles around Ulundi
* Populated places in the Ulundi Local Municipality Populated places established in 1873 {{KwaZuluNatal-geo-stub