Natalia Republic
Encyclopedia
The Natalia Republic was a short-lived Boer
republic, established in 1839 by local Afrikaans
-speaking Voortrekkers
shortly after the Battle of Blood River
. The republic was located on the coast of the Indian Ocean
beyond the Eastern Cape
, and was previously named Natalia by Portuguese
sailors. The republic was conquered and annex
ed by Britain
in 1843. After the British annexation of the Natalia Republic, most local Voortrekker Boers trekked north into Transorangia, later known as the Orange Free State
, and the Transvaal
.
Africans, the region was discovered and renamed in their language by the Portuguese
. The first Europeans to settle the country were emigrant Boers from the Cape Colony
, led by Piet Retief
(c. 1780-1838). He was of Huguenot
descent and of marked ability. Passing through the almost deserted upper regions, Retief arrived at the bay in October 1837. During this journey, he chose a site for the capital of the future state which he envisioned. He went to the capital or kraal of the Zulu
king, Dingane
, to obtain a cession of territory for the Dutch farmers. Dingane consented on condition that the Boers recover cattle stolen by the Tlokwa chief. Retief managed that and, with the help of the Rev. F. Owen, a missionary
living at Dingane's kraal, he drew up a deed of cession in English. Dingane and Retief signed it on the 4th of February 1838.
Two days later, Dingane ordered the execution of Retief and all of his party, 66 whites and 34 Hottentot servants. The Zulu king commanded his impi
s to kill all the Boers who had entered Natal. The Zulu forces crossed the Tugela the same day, and the most advanced parties of the Boers were massacred, many at a spot near where the town of Weenen now stands, its name (meaning wailing or weeping) commemorating the event. Other of the farmers hastily laagered and were able to repulse the Zulu attacks; the assailants suffering serious loss at a fight near Bushman River
. In one week after the murder of Retief, the Zulus killed 600 Boers - men, women and children.
Hearing of the attack on the Boers, the British settlers at the bay sent a force to help them. Robert Biggar commanded 20 British and a following of 700 friendly Zulus and crossed the Tugela
near its mouth. In a desperate fight (April 17), the British were overwhelmed and only four Europeans escaped to the bay. Pursued by the Zulus, the surviving inhabitants of Durban
took refuge on a ship then in harbour. After the Zulus retired, fewer than a dozen Englishmen returned to live at the port; the missionaries, hunters and other traders returned to the Cape.
The Boers had repelled the Zulu attacks on their laagers; joined by others from the Drakensberg
, about 400 men under Hendrik Potgieter and Piet Uys
advanced to attack Dingane. On the 11th of April, they were attacked and with difficulty cut their way out. Among those slain were Piet Uys and his son Dirk, aged 15.
Battle of Blood River
Toward the end of the year, the Boers received reinforcements. In December 460 men set out under Boer General Andries Pretorius
to seek revenge on the Zulus. On Sunday the 16th of December, while laagered near the Umslatos River, they were attacked by over 10,000 Zulus. Outnumbered more than 20 to 1, the Boers, led by Sarel Cilliers
, made a covenant with their God. With the power of their firearms, and with their ox wagons in a laager formation, the Boers fought off the Zulu, who had only assegai
s. After three hours, the Boers had killed an estimated 3,000 Zulus and had only three of their men were wounded. The Zulus withdrew in defeat, many crossing the river, and the water turned red with their blood which is why it is called the Battle of Blood River. The Boers celebrated the Day of the Covenant
every year on 16 December and most of them attributed the victory to their God.
, had invited the emigrants to return to the colony, he had stated his intention to take military possession of the port. He wanted to prevent the Boers from establishing an independent republic on the coast with a harbor through which access to the interior could be gained. Napier withdrew the Highlanders on Christmas Eve 1839.
, named in honour of leaders Piet Retief and Gerhard Maritz. They made it their capital and the seat of their volksraad
.
Legislative power was vested in the volksraad (consisting of 24 members), while the president and executive were changed every three months. For issues of importance, a meeting was called of het publiek, that is, of all who chose to attend, to sanction or reject it. "The result," says the historian Theal
, "was utter anarchy. Decisions of one day were frequently reversed the next, and every one held himself free to disobey any law that he did not approve of.. .. Public opinion of the hour in each section of the community was the only force in the land." (History of South Africa 1834 - 1854, chap. xliv.).
. In 1840, Mpande
(a.k.a., Panda), Dingane's half-brother, overthrew him, and Dingane was assassinated. The Boers allied with Mpande, creating a peace with the Zulus. This allowed for the creation and stability of the Natalia Republic.
The settlers were in loose alliance with and in quasi-supremacy over the Boer communities that had left the Cape and settled at Winburg
and at Potchefstroom. They declared a free and independent state under the title of "The Republic of Port Natal and adjacent countries," and sought (September 1840) from Sir George Napier
an acknowledgment of their independence by Great Britain.
Sir George did not give an answer but was sympathetic to the Boer farmers. He was disturbed when a commando force under Andries Pretorius attacked the Xhosa in December 1840. The national government declined to recognized Natalia's independence but proposed to trade with it if the people would accept a military force to defend against other European powers. Sir George communicated this decision to the volksraad in September 1841.
In December 1841, Napier announced his intention to resume military occupation of Port Natal, in part because of the Boers' attack on the Xhosa. In February 1842 the settlers responded, with a document written by J. N. Boshoff (afterwards president of the Orange Free State). The farmers complained about the lack of representative government, and concluded by a protest against the occupation of any part of their territory by British troops.
Soon after, the Boers were encouraged in their opposition to Great Britain. In March 1842 a Dutch vessel sent out by G. G. Ohrig, an Amsterdam merchant who sympathized with the farmers, reached port Natal. J. A. Smellekamp concluded a treaty with the volksraad assuring them of the protection of Holland. The Natal Boers believed the Netherlands to be one of the great powers of Europe, and were firmly persuaded that its government would aid them in resisting England.
(afterwards 14th earl of Derby), then secretary for the colonies in the second Peel Administration, wrote to Sir George Napier
that the establishment of a colony in Natal would be attended with little prospect of advantage, but at the same time stated that the pretensions of the emigrants to be regarded as an independent community could not be admitted. Various measures were proposed which would but have aggravated the situation.
Napier took the initiative however, and dispatched Colonel T. Charlton Smith with a garrison to occupy Port Natal. They arrived on May 4, 1842, much to the vehement demands from the Boers that the British should leave. Captain Smith decided to attack the Boers, before they could arrange the extra support they were expecting. At midnight on May 23/24, the British forces attacked the well defended village of "Kongela". The attack failed dismally forcing Smith to retreat to his camp, where he was besieged until June 26, 1842, when Lieutenant-colonel A. J. Cloete's relief force arrived in the war ship Southampton.
Sir George then appointed Mr Henry Cloete (a brother of Colonel Josias Cloete) a special commissioner to explain to the Natal volksraad the decision of the government. There was a considerable party of Natal Boers still strongly opposed to the British, and they were reinforced by numerous bands of Boers who came over the Drakensberg from Winburg and Potchefstroom. Commandant Jan Mocke of Winburg (who had helped to besiege Captain Smith at Durban) and others of the "war party" attempted to induce the volksraad not to submit, and a plan was formed to murder Pretorius
, Boshoff and other leaders, who were now convinced that the only chance of ending the state of complete anarchy into which the country had fallen was by accepting British sovereignty.
and Transvaal
provinces. At the end of 1843 there were not more than 500 Dutch families left in Natal.
Cloete, before returning to the Cape, visited Mpande
and obtained from him a valuable concession. Hitherto the Tugela River
from source to mouth had been the recognized frontier between Natal and Zululand. Mpande gave up to Natal all the territory between the Buffalo
and Tugela rivers, now forming Klip River county.
in 1843, it became a part of Cape Colony in 1844. The power of the volksraad did not truly end until 1845, when an effective British administration was established under Martin West
as lieutenant-governor. After the Anglo-Zulu War
of 1879, the British defeated the Zulu army, and annexed Zululand
to Natal in 1893. One of the four founding provinces of South Africa
, it is now KwaZulu-Natal
. This province is still home to the Zulu nation, which forms the majority of the population and Zulu is the official language, but it also has a large ethnic East Indian
population, as well as Boer
-descended residents in the north and ethnic British descendants, mainly in the cities.
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
republic, established in 1839 by local Afrikaans
Afrikaans
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language, spoken natively in South Africa and Namibia. It is a daughter language of Dutch, originating in its 17th century dialects, collectively referred to as Cape Dutch .Afrikaans is a daughter language of Dutch; see , , , , , .Afrikaans was historically called Cape...
-speaking Voortrekkers
Voortrekkers
The Voortrekkers were emigrants during the 1830s and 1840s who left the Cape Colony moving into the interior of what is now South Africa...
shortly after the Battle of Blood River
Battle of Blood River
The Battle of Blood River, so called due to the colour of water in the Ncome River turning red with blood, was fought between 470 Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000–15,000 Zulu attackers on the bank of the Ncome River on 16 December 1838, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal,...
. The republic was located on the coast of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
beyond the Eastern Cape
Eastern Cape
The Eastern Cape is a province of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are Port Elizabeth and East London. It was formed in 1994 out of the "independent" Xhosa homelands of Transkei and Ciskei, together with the eastern portion of the Cape Province...
, and was previously named Natalia by Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
sailors. The republic was conquered and annex
Annexation
Annexation is the de jure incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity . Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being annexed is the smaller, more peripheral, and weaker of the two merging entities, barring physical size...
ed by Britain
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
in 1843. After the British annexation of the Natalia Republic, most local Voortrekker Boers trekked north into Transorangia, later known as the Orange Free State
Orange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
, and the Transvaal
South African Republic
The South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
.
European settlement and setbacks
Long inhabited by varying cultures of indigenousIndigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
Africans, the region was discovered and renamed in their language by the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
. The first Europeans to settle the country were emigrant Boers from the Cape Colony
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony, part of modern South Africa, was established by the Dutch East India Company in 1652, with the founding of Cape Town. It was subsequently occupied by the British in 1795 when the Netherlands were occupied by revolutionary France, so that the French revolutionaries could not take...
, led by Piet Retief
Piet Retief
Pieter Mauritz Retief was a South African Boer leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he assumed command of punitive expeditions in response to raiding parties from the adjacent Xhosa territory...
(c. 1780-1838). He was of Huguenot
Huguenot
The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France during the 16th and 17th centuries. Since the 17th century, people who formerly would have been called Huguenots have instead simply been called French Protestants, a title suggested by their German co-religionists, the...
descent and of marked ability. Passing through the almost deserted upper regions, Retief arrived at the bay in October 1837. During this journey, he chose a site for the capital of the future state which he envisioned. He went to the capital or kraal of the Zulu
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
king, Dingane
Dingane
Dingane kaSenzangakhona Zulu —commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan—was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828...
, to obtain a cession of territory for the Dutch farmers. Dingane consented on condition that the Boers recover cattle stolen by the Tlokwa chief. Retief managed that and, with the help of the Rev. F. Owen, a missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...
living at Dingane's kraal, he drew up a deed of cession in English. Dingane and Retief signed it on the 4th of February 1838.
Two days later, Dingane ordered the execution of Retief and all of his party, 66 whites and 34 Hottentot servants. The Zulu king commanded his impi
Impi
An Impi is an isiZulu word for any armed body of men. However, in English it is often used to refer to a Zulu regiment, which is called an ibutho in Zulu. Its beginnings lie far back in historic tribal warfare customs, where groups of armed men called impis battled...
s to kill all the Boers who had entered Natal. The Zulu forces crossed the Tugela the same day, and the most advanced parties of the Boers were massacred, many at a spot near where the town of Weenen now stands, its name (meaning wailing or weeping) commemorating the event. Other of the farmers hastily laagered and were able to repulse the Zulu attacks; the assailants suffering serious loss at a fight near Bushman River
Bushman River
The Bushman's River is an east to north-easterly flowing tributary of the Tugela River, in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. It rises in the Drakensberg Mountain range, with its upper catchment in the Giant's Castle Game Reserve, north of the Giant's Castle promontory...
. In one week after the murder of Retief, the Zulus killed 600 Boers - men, women and children.
Hearing of the attack on the Boers, the British settlers at the bay sent a force to help them. Robert Biggar commanded 20 British and a following of 700 friendly Zulus and crossed the Tugela
Tugela
Tugela is a brown Thoroughbred mare. Bred by Khalid Abdullah's prominent Juddmonte Farms. Tugela was sired by Riverman and out of Rambushka who in turn was a daughter of Epsom Derby winner, Roberto, a two-time Leading sire in France.Tugela is best known as the dam of Makybe Diva , the champion...
near its mouth. In a desperate fight (April 17), the British were overwhelmed and only four Europeans escaped to the bay. Pursued by the Zulus, the surviving inhabitants of Durban
Durban
Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...
took refuge on a ship then in harbour. After the Zulus retired, fewer than a dozen Englishmen returned to live at the port; the missionaries, hunters and other traders returned to the Cape.
The Boers had repelled the Zulu attacks on their laagers; joined by others from the Drakensberg
Drakensberg
The Drakensberg is the highest mountain range in Southern Africa, rising to in height. In Zulu, it is referred to as uKhahlamba , and in Sesotho as Maluti...
, about 400 men under Hendrik Potgieter and Piet Uys
Piet Uys
Petrus Lafras Uys was a Voortrekker leader during the Great Trek.He was born in Swellendam, the third son of Jacobus Johannes Uys...
advanced to attack Dingane. On the 11th of April, they were attacked and with difficulty cut their way out. Among those slain were Piet Uys and his son Dirk, aged 15.
Battle of Blood RiverBattle of Blood RiverThe Battle of Blood River, so called due to the colour of water in the Ncome River turning red with blood, was fought between 470 Voortrekkers led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000–15,000 Zulu attackers on the bank of the Ncome River on 16 December 1838, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal,...
Toward the end of the year, the Boers received reinforcements. In December 460 men set out under Boer General Andries PretoriusAndries Pretorius
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the Transvaal Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa....
to seek revenge on the Zulus. On Sunday the 16th of December, while laagered near the Umslatos River, they were attacked by over 10,000 Zulus. Outnumbered more than 20 to 1, the Boers, led by Sarel Cilliers
Sarel Cilliers
Charl Arnoldus Cilliers was a Voortrekker leader and a preacher. With Andries Pretorius, he led the Boers to a huge victory over the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River in 1838...
, made a covenant with their God. With the power of their firearms, and with their ox wagons in a laager formation, the Boers fought off the Zulu, who had only assegai
Assegai
An assegai or assagai is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron.-Iklwa:...
s. After three hours, the Boers had killed an estimated 3,000 Zulus and had only three of their men were wounded. The Zulus withdrew in defeat, many crossing the river, and the water turned red with their blood which is why it is called the Battle of Blood River. The Boers celebrated the Day of the Covenant
Day of the Vow
The Day of the Vow is the name of a religious public holiday in South Africa until 1994, when it was renamed the Day of Reconciliation. The holiday is December 16...
every year on 16 December and most of them attributed the victory to their God.
British at Port Natal
Returning south, Pretorius and his commandos found that the British had occupied Port Natal (now Durban) on the 4th of December with a detachment of the 72nd Highlanders from Cape Colony. While the governor of the Cape, Major-General Sir George NapierGeorge Thomas Napier
Lieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier KCB entered the British army in 1800, and served with distinction under Sir John Moore and the Duke Wellington in the Peninsula--and lost his right arm at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, where, as a Major in the 52nd Foot, he led the Light Division's...
, had invited the emigrants to return to the colony, he had stated his intention to take military possession of the port. He wanted to prevent the Boers from establishing an independent republic on the coast with a harbor through which access to the interior could be gained. Napier withdrew the Highlanders on Christmas Eve 1839.
Internal affairs
Meantime the Boers had founded PietermaritzburgPietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg is the capital and second largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It was founded in 1838, and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. Its "purist" Zulu name is umGungundlovu, and this is the name used for the district municipality...
, named in honour of leaders Piet Retief and Gerhard Maritz. They made it their capital and the seat of their volksraad
Volksraad
The Volksraad was the parliament of the former South African Republic , which existed from 1857 to 1902 in part of what is now the South Africa. The body ceased to exist after the British victory in the Second Anglo-Boer War. The Volksraad sat in session in Ou Raadsaal in Church Square, Pretoria...
.
Legislative power was vested in the volksraad (consisting of 24 members), while the president and executive were changed every three months. For issues of importance, a meeting was called of het publiek, that is, of all who chose to attend, to sanction or reject it. "The result," says the historian Theal
George McCall Theal
George McCall Theal , was the most prolific and influential South African historian, archivist and genealogist of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.-Life history:...
, "was utter anarchy. Decisions of one day were frequently reversed the next, and every one held himself free to disobey any law that he did not approve of.. .. Public opinion of the hour in each section of the community was the only force in the land." (History of South Africa 1834 - 1854, chap. xliv.).
Territorial policy
The Zulus continued to exist as a distinct and numerous people with their own dispensation within their own territory to the north and east, in the region known as ZululandZulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
. In 1840, Mpande
Mpande
Mpande , uMsimude owavela ngesiluba phakathi kwamaNgisi namaQadasi, as he was praised, was king of the Zulu nation from 1840 to 1872, making him the longest reigning Zulu king. He was a half-brother of Shaka and Dingane, who both preceded him as kings of the Zulu...
(a.k.a., Panda), Dingane's half-brother, overthrew him, and Dingane was assassinated. The Boers allied with Mpande, creating a peace with the Zulus. This allowed for the creation and stability of the Natalia Republic.
The settlers were in loose alliance with and in quasi-supremacy over the Boer communities that had left the Cape and settled at Winburg
Winburg
Winburg is a small mixed farming town in the Free State province of South Africa.It is the oldest proclaimed town in the Orange Free State, South Africa and thus along with Griquatown, one of the oldest settlements in South Africa located north of the Orange River.Winburg is situated midway...
and at Potchefstroom. They declared a free and independent state under the title of "The Republic of Port Natal and adjacent countries," and sought (September 1840) from Sir George Napier
George Thomas Napier
Lieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier KCB entered the British army in 1800, and served with distinction under Sir John Moore and the Duke Wellington in the Peninsula--and lost his right arm at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, where, as a Major in the 52nd Foot, he led the Light Division's...
an acknowledgment of their independence by Great Britain.
Sir George did not give an answer but was sympathetic to the Boer farmers. He was disturbed when a commando force under Andries Pretorius attacked the Xhosa in December 1840. The national government declined to recognized Natalia's independence but proposed to trade with it if the people would accept a military force to defend against other European powers. Sir George communicated this decision to the volksraad in September 1841.
British and Dutch influences
The Boers strongly resented the contention of the British that they could not shake off British nationality though beyond the bounds of any recognized British possession, nor were they prepared to see their only port garrisoned by British troops. They rejected Napier's overtures.In December 1841, Napier announced his intention to resume military occupation of Port Natal, in part because of the Boers' attack on the Xhosa. In February 1842 the settlers responded, with a document written by J. N. Boshoff (afterwards president of the Orange Free State). The farmers complained about the lack of representative government, and concluded by a protest against the occupation of any part of their territory by British troops.
Soon after, the Boers were encouraged in their opposition to Great Britain. In March 1842 a Dutch vessel sent out by G. G. Ohrig, an Amsterdam merchant who sympathized with the farmers, reached port Natal. J. A. Smellekamp concluded a treaty with the volksraad assuring them of the protection of Holland. The Natal Boers believed the Netherlands to be one of the great powers of Europe, and were firmly persuaded that its government would aid them in resisting England.
Napier takes charge
The British government was still undecided as to its policy towards Natal. In April 1842 Lord StanleyEdward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby
Edward George Geoffrey Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby, KG, PC was an English statesman, three times Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and to date the longest serving leader of the Conservative Party. He was known before 1834 as Edward Stanley, and from 1834 to 1851 as Lord Stanley...
(afterwards 14th earl of Derby), then secretary for the colonies in the second Peel Administration, wrote to Sir George Napier
George Thomas Napier
Lieutenant-General Sir George Thomas Napier KCB entered the British army in 1800, and served with distinction under Sir John Moore and the Duke Wellington in the Peninsula--and lost his right arm at the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo, where, as a Major in the 52nd Foot, he led the Light Division's...
that the establishment of a colony in Natal would be attended with little prospect of advantage, but at the same time stated that the pretensions of the emigrants to be regarded as an independent community could not be admitted. Various measures were proposed which would but have aggravated the situation.
Napier took the initiative however, and dispatched Colonel T. Charlton Smith with a garrison to occupy Port Natal. They arrived on May 4, 1842, much to the vehement demands from the Boers that the British should leave. Captain Smith decided to attack the Boers, before they could arrange the extra support they were expecting. At midnight on May 23/24, the British forces attacked the well defended village of "Kongela". The attack failed dismally forcing Smith to retreat to his camp, where he was besieged until June 26, 1842, when Lieutenant-colonel A. J. Cloete's relief force arrived in the war ship Southampton.
Annexation
Finally, in deference to the strongly urged views of Sir George Napier, Lord Stanley, in a despatch of the 13th of December, received in Cape Town on the 23rd of April 1843, consented to Natal becoming a British colony. The institutions adopted were to be as far as possible in accordance with the wishes of the people, but it was a fundamental condition "that there should not be in the eye of the law any distinction or disqualification whatever, founded on mere difference of colour, origin, language or creed."Sir George then appointed Mr Henry Cloete (a brother of Colonel Josias Cloete) a special commissioner to explain to the Natal volksraad the decision of the government. There was a considerable party of Natal Boers still strongly opposed to the British, and they were reinforced by numerous bands of Boers who came over the Drakensberg from Winburg and Potchefstroom. Commandant Jan Mocke of Winburg (who had helped to besiege Captain Smith at Durban) and others of the "war party" attempted to induce the volksraad not to submit, and a plan was formed to murder Pretorius
Andries Pretorius
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the Transvaal Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa....
, Boshoff and other leaders, who were now convinced that the only chance of ending the state of complete anarchy into which the country had fallen was by accepting British sovereignty.
Extent of the colony
In these circumstances the task of Mr Henry Cloete was one of great difficulty and delicacy. He behaved with the utmost tact and got rid of the Winburg and Potchefstroom burghers by declaring that he should recommend the Drakensberg as the northern limit of Natal. On the 8th of August 1843 the Natal volksraad unanimously agreed to the terms proposed by Lord Stanley. Many of the Boers who would not acknowledge British rule trekked once more over the mountains into what became the Orange Free StateOrange Free State
The Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
and Transvaal
Transvaal Province
Transvaal Province was a province of the Union of South Africa from 1910 to 1961, and of its successor, the Republic of South Africa, from 1961 until the end of apartheid in 1994 when a new constitution subdivided it.-History:...
provinces. At the end of 1843 there were not more than 500 Dutch families left in Natal.
Cloete, before returning to the Cape, visited Mpande
Mpande
Mpande , uMsimude owavela ngesiluba phakathi kwamaNgisi namaQadasi, as he was praised, was king of the Zulu nation from 1840 to 1872, making him the longest reigning Zulu king. He was a half-brother of Shaka and Dingane, who both preceded him as kings of the Zulu...
and obtained from him a valuable concession. Hitherto the Tugela River
Tugela River
The Tugela River is the largest river in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. The river originates in the Drakensberg Mountains, Mont-aux-Sources, and plunges 947 metres down the Tugela Falls...
from source to mouth had been the recognized frontier between Natal and Zululand. Mpande gave up to Natal all the territory between the Buffalo
Buffalo River (KwaZulu-Natal)
The Buffalo River is the largest tributary of the Thukela River. Its source is northeast of Volksrust, close to the Mpumalanga / KwaZulu-Natal border in South Africa. It follows a southerly route into KwaZulu-Natal past Newcastle then turns southeast past Rorke's Drift, before joining the Tugela...
and Tugela rivers, now forming Klip River county.
Aftermath
Proclaimed the British Colony of NatalColony of Natal
The Colony of Natal was a British colony in south-eastern Africa. It was proclaimed a British colony on May 4, 1843 after the British government had annexed the Boer Republic of Natalia, and on 31 May 1910 combined with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa, as one of its...
in 1843, it became a part of Cape Colony in 1844. The power of the volksraad did not truly end until 1845, when an effective British administration was established under Martin West
Martin West
Sir Martin West was born in England, the son of a civil servant in the Treasury.Martin West studied at Balliol College, Oxford, before joining the British East India Company...
as lieutenant-governor. After the Anglo-Zulu War
Anglo-Zulu War
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.Following the imperialist scheme by which Lord Carnarvon had successfully brought about federation in Canada, it was thought that a similar plan might succeed with the various African kingdoms, tribal areas and...
of 1879, the British defeated the Zulu army, and annexed Zululand
Zulu Kingdom
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or, rather imprecisely, Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to Pongola River in the north....
to Natal in 1893. One of the four founding provinces of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, it is now KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal is a province of South Africa. Prior to 1994, the territory now known as KwaZulu-Natal was made up of the province of Natal and the homeland of KwaZulu....
. This province is still home to the Zulu nation, which forms the majority of the population and Zulu is the official language, but it also has a large ethnic East Indian
Asians in South Africa
The majority of the Asian South African population is Indian in origin, most of them descended from indentured workers transported to work in the 19th century on the sugar plantations of the eastern coastal area, then known as Natal. They are largely English speaking, although many also retain the...
population, as well as Boer
Boer
Boer is the Dutch and Afrikaans word for farmer, which came to denote the descendants of the Dutch-speaking settlers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 18th century, as well as those who left the Cape Colony during the 19th century to settle in the Orange Free State,...
-descended residents in the north and ethnic British descendants, mainly in the cities.
See also
- Battle of CongellaBattle of Congella-Background:According to South African history, in the mid-1820s King Shaka swept through the countryside now known as KwaZulu-Natal, killing almost the entire native population of bushmen. Through his conquests king Shaka founded the first unified Zulu Kingdom...
- Dick KingRichard Philip KingRichard Philip "Dick" King was an English trader and colonist at Port Natal, a British trading station in the region now known as KwaZulu-Natal. He is best known for a historic horseback ride in 1842, where he completed a journey of in 10 days, in order to request help for the besieged British...
- KwaZulu-Natal Province
- South African RepublicSouth African RepublicThe South African Republic , often informally known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer-ruled country in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century. Not to be confused with the present-day Republic of South Africa, it occupied the area later known as the South African...
- Orange Free StateOrange Free StateThe Orange Free State was an independent Boer republic in southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, and later a British colony and a province of the Union of South Africa. It is the historical precursor to the present-day Free State province...
- VolkstaatVolkstaatVolkstaat is a proposal for the establishment of self determination for the Boer and Afrikaners minority in South Africa according to federal principles, alluding to full independence in the form of a homeland for Boer and Afrikaners....
- Boer republicsBoer RepublicsThe Boer Republics were independent self-governed republics created by the northeastern frontier branch of the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of the north eastern Cape Province and their descendants in mainly the northern and eastern parts of what is now the country of...