creation of a sizeable Indian population,
one that would eventually out-
number the Whites in Natal."?
By 1870, there were three distinct communities in Natal, distinguished by
history, culture, and wealth and power in the colonial situation. The Af-
ricans, numbering more than a quarter million, had experienced two drastic
changes in fifty years: the rise ofthe Zulu kingdom, which had removed most
of them from Natal, and the creation of the white colony, which had given
them some security on limited acreage. Many Africans still had a partial
autonomy in the locations, many others were labor tenants or rent payers on
white property, a few were landowners, and others were occasional wage
laborers. All were experiencing the effects of white power and influence,
which limited the authority of chiefs, imposed taxes, created new material
needs, eroded customary values, and insinuated new ones. The Whites,
newcomers to Natal, numbered about eighteen thousand, owned most of
the land, controlled the legislative branch of government, exerted great
influence over the executive branch, and steadfastly ignored the nonracial
principle set out in the annexation proclamation. The six thousand Indians,
more recent arrivals still, were beginning to exploit opportunities
that,