AFRICANWARSAND WHITEINVADERS
came a Zulu, owing allegiance to Shaka. Nevertheless, as Carolyn Ham-
ilton, drawing on Zulu evidence, points out, "The process ofcentralization
was far from smooth .....
There were ...
great inequalities within the
Zulu kingdom, deep-seated divisions and considerable disaffection....
[O]utbreaks of rebellion ...
prompted continued coerciveresponses from
the Zulu authorities. These included merciless campaigns and stern sen-
tences for individual rebels....
The Zulu authorities fostered this image
through carefully managed displays of despotism and brutal justice at the
court, using terror as a basis for absolute rule across a huge kingdom. "
During the 1820S, the Zulu kingdom became increasingly predatory.
Shaka sent the army on annual campaigns, disrupting local chiefdoms to
the north and the south, destroying their food supplies, seizingtheir cattle.
Tensions within the royal family came to a head on September 24, 1828.
While the army was away on a campaign to the north, Shaka's personal
servant and two of his half-brothers assassinated him. One of those half-
brothers, Dingane, eliminated his rivals and succeeded to the kingship,
maintaining Shaka's domestic and external policies, though he lacked
Shaka's originality and panache.t"