The role of women in shaping and sustaining the Zulu monarchy in the late 18th and 19th centuries

Abstract

From the beginning, women had a great contribution or share in shaping history by different means during different epochs. Africa in general and South Africa in particular, are replete with many examples of female dynasties, regents and rulers who took up positions of leadership through periods of nation-building and wars of resistance. Zulu culture is fraught with a plethora of women who contributed in shaping Zulu monarchy to what it became in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The aim of this paper is to discuss the contribution of women in shaping and sustaining the Zulu monarchy during the period in question.

Keywords: Zulu monarchy, women, princess Mkabayi, queen Nandi, queen Monase