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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Zulu War
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(1879) In the mid-19C two areas of *South Africa were settled by whites on the borders of a powerful Zulu kingdom, recently formed out of many separate tribes by *Shaka (c.1787–1828); they were *Natal to the south and the *Transvaal to the west. Border disputes and other minor transgressions were used by the British early in 1879 as a pretext to attack *Cetshwayo (c.1834–84), a nephew of Shaka who was by then king. Disaster followed almost immediately.
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On January 22 an ill-prepared British camp at *Isandhlwana was surprised by a Zulu army and some 1200 troops were massacred. The Zulus moved on to attack a much smaller garrison nearby at *Rorke's Drift, where a force of only about 100 men put up a heroic defence and by dawn the next morning had repelled the enemy, inflicting casualties of some 350 for only 17 British dead. In the way of selective national memories, Rorke's Drift is the name famous in Britain from that day of two battles. A decisive victory over the Zulus in July at *Ulundi effectively brought the war to an end. After a period as a crown colony, Zululand became in 1897 a part of Natal.
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