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𝐙𝐮𝐥𝐮, 𝐍𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: 𝐄𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐚, 𝐌𝐳𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐚𝐳𝐢 Meetings between Zulu King MisuZulu kaZwelithini and ceremonial Ndebele King Bulelani Lobengula Khumalo - a legitimate descendant of founding Ndebele King Mzilikazi - has been widely described as a major historic event; part of a broader rapproachement between the Zulu and Ndebele nations, which share historical and ancestral ties. The meetings symbolise a reunion between Zulu King Shaka and Ndebele nation founder King Mzilikazi, two historical military greats of the region during the early 19th century. Shaka and Mzilikazi, who were friends and worked together to lay the foundation of the Zulu Kingdom, had a major historic split in 1822 at the height of Mfecane; times of trouble, a regional conflict which triggered massive migration from present-day South Africa all the way to Tanzania. For years, there had been attempts to heal the historical split and the wound associated with Shaka and Mzilikazi’s consequential clash. Shaka was the son of Zulu Chief Senzangakhona, while Mzilikazi was a progeny of a Khumalo clan Chief Mashobane in Zululand. Mzilikazi helped Shaka build the Zulu Kingdom during its nascent stages before he left in a historic breakaway after disagreements over the spoils of Zulu military raids into neighbouring states, mostly the Sotho nation - cattle. Whenever Zulu elders meet their Ndebele brethren, they always ask jokingly: "Ziphi inkomo zenkosi?" (where is the King's cattle). Mzilikazi, a top Zulu chief and military commander of the time, left after refusing to surrender to Shaka the cattle he had raided. Their subsequent split was rather acrimonious, although the two did not fight directly. Mzilikazi fought battles and ruled parts of the Transvaal before he was further pushed north into Botswana and Zambia, then Zimbabwe. His other group crossed directly from South Africa into Zimbabwe. MisuZulu is the son of the late King Zwelithini, a descendant of Shaka's brothers through the bloodline of King Cetshwayo, King Mpande and King Dingane. Dingane and Mpande were Shaka's half-brothers, Senzangakhona's sons from different mothers. Bulelani is recognised by the mainstream Khumalo house as the legitimate heir to the Ndebele nation, which was overthrown by Cecil John Rhodes' colonial forces during the Anglo-Ndebele War in in 1893. His history is a bit complex due to historical twists and turns across Zimbabwe and South Africa. Bulelani is a South African citizen. He was born and bred in Grahamstown (Makhanda) in the Eastern Cape where there is a Lobengula museum, although his descendants, specifically Njube, son of Lobengula, were taken from Zimbabwe to there by Rhodes in a bid to dismantle the Ndebele Kingdom, the last bulwark to colonial invasion. Bulelani is a great-great-grandson of Lobengula, descending through Njube. Originally, Bulelani's roots by ancestry are in present-day KwaZulu-Natal as his descendants came to Zimbabwe from there with their famous leader Mzilikazi. They were then sent back to South Africa by colonial authorities. Although his role is currently not recognised by the Zimbabwean government as a ceremonial king, Ndebeles have widely embraced him as their cultural leader. There have been pretenders to the throne who include Peter Zwide KaLanga Khumalo and Stanley Raphael Tshuma who claims to be a Khumalo, calling himself King Mzilikazi II. In September every year, the Ndebele nation commemorates Mzilikazi Day to mark his death in 1868. The cultural event attracts huge crowds, bringing together the Ndebele nation and related bigger Nguni groups in South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and Tanzania. Mozambique is being lobbied to send its delegations from the Shangani people, who are also Nguni descendants from the Zulus. Shanganis - not Ndau or Tsonga - are of Nguni descent. 🔴Caption: Zulu King MisuZulu in brown and Ndebele King Bulelani in black and white.