The Piet Retief Delegation massacre was the 1838 killing of 100 Voortrekkers by the Zulu king Dingane in what is now KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The Voortrekkers, led by Piet Retief, migrated into Natal in 1837 and negotiated a land treaty in February 1838 with Dingane. Upon realizing the ramifications of the imposed contract, Dingane betrayed the Voortrekkers, killing the delegation including Retief on 6 February 1838. The land treaty was later found in Retief's possession. It gave the Voortrekkers the land between the Tugela River and Port St. Johns. This event eventually led to the Battle of Blood River and the eventual defeat of Dingane.
Despite warnings, Retief left the upper Tugela region, 28 January 1838, in the belief that he could negotiate with Dingane for permanent boundaries for the Natal settlement. He eventually met Dingane in Mgungundlovu. He had gotten the impression that Dingane was willing to negotiate but only if Retief returned cattle to him that was stolen by the Batlokwa chief named Sekonyela. Retief eventually was able to find the cattle and brought back a portion of the herd to Dingane. The deed of cession of the Tugela-Umzimvubu region, although dated 4 February 1838 and written by Jan Gerritze Bantjes, (Retief's secretary), was signed by Dingane on 6 February 1838, with the two sides recording three witnesses each. Dingane invited Retief's party to witness a special performance by his soldiers, whereupon Dingane leaped to his feet and ordered his soldiers to capture Retief's party and their colored servants.
Retief, his son, men, and servants, about 100 people in all were taken to a nearby hillside, Kwa-Matiwane below the Hlomo Amabuto, which means, "mustering of the soldiers".[1] The Zulus killed the entire party by clubbing them and killed Retief last so as to witness the deaths of his comrades. Their bodies were left on the Kwa-Matiwane hillside to be eaten by vultures and scavengers,[2] as was Dingane's custom with his enemies.
Motives
The attack is thought to have been premeditated, and it was unlikely that Dingane was going to concede the land through treaty in the first place as he believed the land was divinely inherited, despite the agreement.[3] As for the rationale behind his attack, there is no single reason, but a multitude of reasons.
One of the most popular reasons given by historians is that Dingane felt threatened because he had gotten news that Voortrekkers that had recently ousted Mzilikazi from the Transvaal region through conquest. The fact that Retief had sent Dingane letters alluding to the expulsion of Mzilikazi which could easily be interpreted as a veiled threat did not help Dingane as seeing the Voortrekkers as being genuine.[4]
It is likely that he saw Retief and the settlers with him coming into the land as an invasion. He feared that he could possibly share the same fate if he did not take a pre-emptive strike against the Voortrekkers.[3][5] There was also reports that the Voortrekkers were encircling around the settlement of Mgungundlovu, which was interpreted as being a reconnaissance.[5]
Another reason given is that Dingane's sending Retief and his band out to retrieve the stolen cattle was actually a strategic move to see whether or not Retief could be trusted. According to Dingane's intelligence officers, he did not give back all the cattle that he had gotten from Sekonyela.[3]
A reason cited by a few scholars is that is Dingane was also promised horses and guns, along with the return of his cattle. When Retief returned to give Dingane his cattle, he did not give him any guns or horses.[5][6]
A Voortrekker encampment resisting a surprise attack by an impi of Dingane, as depicted by Charles Bell
After the Retief massacre, Dingane directed attacks against several unsuspecting Voortrekker encampments including the one at Bloukrans.[7] This plunged the Great Trek into temporary disarray. In total 534 men, women and children were killed in the Weenen massacre.
Retief's death and the Weenen massacre eventually led to the decisive Voortrekker victory at Blood River, after which Andries Pretorius and his "victory commando" recovered the remains of the Retief party. They buried them on 21 December 1838. The twenty-one year old Jan Gerritze Bantjes (1817-1887), Retief's former secretary and now Pretorious' secretary, recorded the battle and the entire December campaign in the "Bantjes Journal".
Recovered was the undamaged deed, "The Cession of Natal" from Retief's leather pouch, also written by Bantjes, and later verified by a member of the "victory commando", E.F. Potgieter. Two exact copies of the deed survive, (either of which could be the original) but legend states the original disappeared in transit to the Netherlands during the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). The site of the Retief grave was more or less forgotten until pointed out in 1896 by J.H. Hattingh, a surviving member of Pretorius's commando. A monument recording the names of the members of Retief's delegation was erected near the grave in 1922.[8]
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Moordkoppie.
↑ Wood, William (1840). "An Eyewitness Account of the Massacre of Retief". Statements respecting Dingaan, king of the Zulus. Collard & Co. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
↑ Kotzé, D. J. (1950). Letters of the American Missionaries, 1835–1838. Cape Town: Van Riebeeck Society. p. 235.
↑ Lock, Ron (2010). Zulu Conquered The March of the Red Soldiers, 1822-1888. pp.51–53.
1 2 3 Ndlovu, Sofiso (2017). African Perspectives of King Dingane kaSenzangakhona: The Second Monarch of the Zulu Kingdom. pp.83, 224, 229. ISBN978-3319860015.
↑ Berger, Iris (27 March 2009). South Africa in World History. p.61. ISBN978-0195337938.
↑ Wood, William (1840). "An Eyewitness Account of the Massacre of Retief". Statements respecting Dingaan, king of the Zulus. Collard & Co. Retrieved 2008-01-04.
↑ Stander, Eerw. P.P. Dingaanstat: Die Graf van Piet Retief en Sy Sewentig Burgers.
The Great Trek was a northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who travelled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the British Empire. It was also reflective of an increasingly common trend among individual Boer communities to pursue an isolationist and semi-nomadic lifestyle away from the developing administrative complexities in Cape Town. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers, meaning "pioneers", "pathfinders" in Dutch and Afrikaans.
Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu, commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan, was a Zulu prince who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828, after assassinating his brother Shaka Zulu. He set up his royal capital, uMgungundlovu, and one of numerous military encampments, or kraals, in the Emakhosini Valley just south of the White Umfolozi River, on the slope of Lion Hill (Singonyama).
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa. The large city of Pretoria, executive capital of South Africa, is named after him.
The Battle of Blood River was fought on the bank of the Ncome River, in what is today KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa between 464 Voortrekkers ("Pioneers"), led by Andries Pretorius, and an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 Zulu. Estimations of casualties amounted to over 3,000 of King Dingane's soldiers dead, including two Zulu princes competing with Prince Mpande for the Zulu throne. Three Voortrekker commando members were lightly wounded, including Pretorius.
The year 1838 was the most difficult period for the Voortrekkers from when they left the Cape Colony, till the end of the Great Trek. They faced many difficulties and much bloodshed before they found freedom and a safe homeland in their Republic of Natalia. This was only achieved after defeating the Zulu Kingdom, at the Battle of Blood River, which took place on Sunday 16 December 1838. This battle would not have taken place if the Zulu King had honoured the agreement that he had made with the Voortrekkers to live together peacefully. The Zulu king knew that they outnumbered the Voortrekkers and decided to overthrow them and that led to the Battle of Blood river.
Andries Hendrik Potgieter, known as Hendrik Potgieter was a Voortrekker leader and the last known Champion of the Potgieter family. He served as the first head of state of Potchefstroom from 1840 and 1845 and also as the first head of state of Zoutpansberg from 1845 to 1852.
Babanango is a small town located about 58 kilometers north-west of Melmoth in the KwaZulu-Natal Province of South Africa. Founded in 1904, the town is takes its name from the nearby stream and mountain.
The Natalia Republic was a short-lived Boer republic founded in 1839 after a Voortrekker victory against the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River. The area was previously named Natália by Portuguese sailors, due to its discovery on Christmas. The republic came to an end in 1843 when British forces annexed it to form the Colony of Natal. After the British annexation of the Natalia Republic, most local Voortrekkers trekked northwest into Transorangia, later known as the Orange Free State, and the South African Republic.
The Weenen massacre was the massacre of Khoikhoi, Basuto and Voortrekkers by the Zulu Kingdom on 17 February 1838. The massacres occurred at Doringkop, Bloukrans River, Moordspruit, Rensburgspruit and other sites around the present day town of Weenen in South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal province.
The following lists events that happened during 1838 in South Africa.
Pieter Mauritz Retief was a Voortrekker leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he later assumed command of punitive expeditions during the sixth Xhosa War. He became a spokesperson for the frontier farmers who voiced their discontent, and wrote the Voortrekkers' declaration at their departure from the colony.
The Battle of Italeni was a battle that took place at 28°27′37.76″S31°15′01.6″E in what is now KwaZulu Natal province, South Africa, between the Voortrekkers and the Zulus during the period of the Great Trek.
Petrus Lafras Uys (1797–1838) was a Voortrekker leader during the Great Trek.
Richard Philip King (1811–1871) 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 960 kilometres (600 mi) in 10 days, to request help for the besieged British garrison at Port Natal. In honour of his heroic actions, a highschool in the suburb of Amanzimtoti, Durban was named after him- Kingsway High School.
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or the Kingdom of Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa. During the 1810s, Shaka established a modern standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to the Pongola River in the north.
The Biggar family, Alexander Harvey Biggar and his two sons Robert and George, were pioneer traders at Port Natal, in what was to become the Colony of Natal. Subsequent to the massacre of Retief's delegation, they became involved in the exchange of attacks between Zulus and settlers. Although contributing to the overthrow of Dingane, all three lost their lives in the conflicts of 1838. Alexander's grandson John Dunn became a well-known Natal pioneer in his own right.
uMgungundlovu was the royal capital of the Zulu King Dingane (1828–1840) and one of several military complexes which he maintained. He established his royal kraal in 1829 in the eMakhosini valley against Lion hill (Singonyama), just south of the White Umfolozi River.
Matiwane, son of Masumpa, was the chief of an independent Nguni-speaking tribe, the amaNgwane, a people named after Matiwane's ancestor Ngwane. The amaNgwane lived at the headwaters of the White Umfolozi, in what is now northern KwaZulu-Natal. The cunning of Matiwane would keep the amaNgwane one step ahead of the ravages of the rising Zulu kingdom, but their actions also set the Mfecane in motion. After his tribe was ousted from their homeland by Zwide or Shaka, Matiwane and his army preyed on neighboring tribes and became vagrant marauders. Eventually he fled South into lands occupied by Xhosa States, which got his whole tribe annihilated at the Battle of Mbholompo. As a refugee Matiwane was at the mercy of the Basutos and Swazis, but eventually had to seek refuge with king Dingane, successor to Shaka. This despotic ruler put Matiwane to death shortly after Matiwane sought his protection.
Thomas Halstead or Holstead was an English trader who worked as an interpreter for Shaka Zulu as well as Dingane until 1838. He was an associate of the Biggar family and was killed with Piet Retief and approximately 100 other men on KwaMatiwane, hill of execution, within sight of Dingane's stronghold, Umgungundglovu, between Melmoth and Vryheid. Halstead was a descendant of the British Settlers.
Jan Gerritze Bantjes was a Voortrekker whose exploration of the Natal and subsequent report were the catalyst for mobilising the Great Trek. He was also the author of the treaty between the Zulu king Dingane kaSenzangakhona and the Voortrekkers under Andries Pretorius.
Francis Owen was the first English missionary to the Zulu kingdom, then ruled by King Dingane. He and his household were the only white witnesses to the massacre of Piet Retief and his approximate 80 followers in February 1838 in the Zulu capital of Umgungundlovu. He is also the only European to leave a detailed account of life in the Zulu court and travelling through Natal at that time.
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