Ulundi is the most important town in Zululand and was until 1994 capital of the "non-independent" homeland of KwaZulu, which consisted of ten separate areas of land, occupied by some 3 million Zulus out of the total Zulu population of 5.5 million. This region is now combined with Natal in the new province of KwaZulu/Natal.
Ulundi was founded in 1873 by the great Zulu chief Cetshwayo, and both before and after that date was the scene of important historical events.
After his defeat by the Boers in the battle of Blood River in 1838 the Zulu king Dingane fled to Swaziland, where he was killed in 1840. He was succeeded by Mpane, during whose reign the Zulus lost much of their territory to the Boers and the British (who had recently founded the colony of Natal). During the reign of his son and successor Cetshwayo the Boers in the growing republic of the Transvaal occupied further territory in Zululand; but although Britain declared this seizure of land illegal it gave the Zulus no effective help: it had other plans of its own. In January 1879, on the pretext that Cetshwayo had failed to respond to an ultimatum which was impossible of fulfillment, British troops invaded the Zulu kingdom. At first the Zulus, numerically much superior, successfully resisted the invasion. They defeated a British force in the bloody battle of Isandhlwana, but failed to follow up their advantage at Rorke's Drift (see Dundee) and finally suffered an annihilating defeat in the battle of Ulundi on July 4th.
Cetshwayo was taken prisoner, and in his place the British authorities appointed 13 chiefs on whom they could rely. Thereafter the Zulus were split between supporters and opponents of Cetshwayo, a situation of which the British authorities took advantage, dividing the territory of Zululand between the two parties, and in 1887, after repeated outbreaks of fighting between the rival groups, annexed the whole country and sent Dinzulu, Cetshwayo's son and successor, into exile in St Helena in the Cape Province. In 1897 the province of Natal was given responsibility for administering Zululand.
The present Zulu king is Goodwill Zwelethini, but the most powerful Zulu figure is the controversial Mangosuthu Buthelezi.
Apart from one of two places of historical interest the modern town of Ulundi has no tourist attractions. Opposite the Legislative Assembly in the town center are the grave of King Mpane and a small museum.
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