Eras
Start from an era
Four curated entry points into the atlas. Each brings together the people, places, events and sources of its period.
c.1816 – 1840
The Shakan era
From Shaka's accession to the end of Dingane's reign: the expansion of the Zulu kingdom, the great amakhanda (military towns), and the first sustained contact with traders and Voortrekkers.
1840 – 1884
Mpande and Cetshwayo
Mpande's long reign, the succession struggle at Ndondakusuka, Cetshwayo's coronation, the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 and the partition of the kingdom that followed.
1884 – 1948
After 1879: annexation and resistance
Dinuzulu's reign, civil war, British annexation in 1887, exile to St Helena, incorporation into Natal in 1897, the Bambatha uprising and the long twentieth-century effort to keep the kingship alive.
1948 – today
The modern kingdom
King Goodwill Zwelithini's fifty-year reign, the constitutional place of traditional leadership after 1994, and King Misuzulu's recognition in 2022. For official information, visit the Royal House's own website.