Born to the leader of the Zulu Kingdom out of wedlock, Shaka kaSenzangakhona, or Chaka in the historical romance retelling, was never meant to be king. His father, Senzangakhona kaJama, and Mother Nandi Bhebhe gave birth to Shaka before they were married—dooming him from ever becoming king. After the death of his father, Shaka’s half-brother took over the tribe. Shaka was determined to take over the Zulu tribe and become the leader. With help of his other half-brother, Dingiswayo, Shaka proved his worth to his people by battling and killing his half-brother Sigujana for the leadership position (“Shaka”). In Mofolo’s version, he depicts Chaka as a strong leader, “a fine little fellow with fat cheeks who never cried even when he fell down. Even when he was beaten he did not often cry: he might cry for a moment and then be quiet” (Mofolo 8). The descriptive character traits of Chaka illustrate the famous real-life Zulu leader, Shaka.

            Readers see this character development parallel along with many other similarities between this historic event and Chaka: A Historical Romance by Mofolo. All the events that happen in Chaka, line up with the historic events of Shaka almost perfectly. Henry Newbolt writes in his introduction of the book, “but there can be no doubt that in the author’s own view, it is a serious contribution to history…his intention is further shown by the fact that he has made more than one journey into Natal to ascertain dates and other details for his narrative” (xi). Along with the historical accuracies, the fact that Mofolo traveled to the location where the story takes place—KwaZulu Natal—and is from a country not too far away from the setting, makes him a trustworthy narrator with an abundance of knowledge of the actual Shaka (“Shaka”).

Works Cited

Mofolo, Thomas. Chaka. Oxford University Press, 1931.

“Shaka.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaka.