South African Information - Kwazulu-Natal
In the early 19th cent. the area was inhabited primarily
by Bantu-speaking Zulu people. In the 1820s and 30s the British acquired
much of Natal from the Zulu chiefs Shaka and Dingane. Afrikaner farmers
( Boers ) arrived (see Trek, Great ) in 1837 and, after battles with the
Zulu (notably the Boer victory over Dingane at Blood River in 1838), established
(1838-39) a republic. In 1843, Britain annexed Natal to Cape Colony, and
a Boer exodus followed.
In 1856, Natal became a separate colony. Sugarcane cultivation
began c.1860, and many Indians (mostly indentured laborers) came to work
in the sugar industry. Many Indians remained in Natal after their indenture
expired; by 1900 they outnumbered whites. In 1893, Natal was given internal
self-government; in 1910 it became a founding province of the Union (now
Republic) of South Africa.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, KwaZulu-Natal was wracked
by conflict between the African National Congress and the Zulu-nationalist
Inkatha Freedom Party, under the leadership of Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi
; fighting has since diminished.
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