CETYWAYO (d. 1884), king of the Zulus, was the eldest son of King Umpande or Panda and a nephew of the two previous kings, Dingaan and Chaka. Cetywayo was a young man when in 1840 his father was placed on the throne by the aid of the Natal Boers; and three years later Natal became a British colony. Cetywayo had inherited much of the military talent of his uncle Chaka, the organizer of the Zulu military system, and chafed under his father's peaceful policy towards his British and Boer neighbours. Suspecting Panda of favouring a younger son, Um bulazi, as his successor, Cetywayo made war on his brother, whom he defeated and slew at a great battle on the banks of the Tugela in Dec. 1856. In the following year, at an assembly of the Zulus, the management of the affairs of the nation was entrusted to Cetywayo, though the old chief kept the title of king. Cetywayo was, however, suspicious of the Natal government, which af forded protection to two of his brothers. The feeling of distrust was removed in 1861 by a visit from Theophilus Shepstone, sec retary for native affairs in Natal, who induced Panda to pro claim Cetywayo publicly as the future king. Friendly relations were then maintained between the Zulus and Natal for many years. In 1872 Panda died and Cetywayo was declared king, Aug. 1873, in the presence of Shepstone, to whom he made solemn promises to live at peace with his neighbours and to govern his people more humanely. These promises were not kept. Cety wayo's attitude became menacing; he allowed a minor chief to make raids into the Transvaal, and seized natives within the Natal border.
Sir Bartle Frere, who became high commissioner of South Africa in March 1877, was convinced that the Kafir revolt of that year on the eastern border of Cape Colony was part of a design or desire "for a general and simultaneous rising of Kafir dom against white civilization"; and in Dec. 1878 Frere sent the Zulu king an ultimatum, which, while awarding him the territory he claimed from the Boers, required him to make reparation for the outrages committed within the British borders, to receive a British resident, to disband his regiments, and to allow his young men to marry without the necessity of having first "washed their spears." Cetywayo, who had found a defender in Bishop Colenso, vouchsafed no reply, and Lord Chelmsford entered Zululand, at the head of 13,000 troops, on Jan. II, 1879, to enforce the British demands. After the initial disaster of Isandhlwana and the de fence of Rorke's Drift the Zulus were utterly routed at Ulundi (July 4). Cetywayo became a fugitive, but was captured on Aug. 28. His kingdom was divided among 13 chiefs and he himself taken to Cape Town, whence he was brought to London in Aug. 188 2. While he was in England the Gladstone government de cided upon his restoration. Restoration, however, proved to refer only to a portion of his old kingdom. Even there one of his kinsmen and chief enemies, Usibepu, was allowed to retain the territory allotted to him in 1879. Cetywayo was reinstalled on Jan. 29, 1883, by Shepstone, but his enemies, headed by Usibepu, attacked him within a week, and after a struggle of nearly a year's duration he was defeated and his kraal destroyed. He then took refuge in the native reserve, where he died at Ekowe, on Feb. 8, 1884.
His son Dinizulu was exiled to St. Helena (1889-98), and was then allowed to return home and become a chief. He was arrested in Dec. 1907 for alleged complicity in a Zulu revolt, and in Nov. 1908 was tried before a special court. His defence was under taken by Mr. W. P. Schreiner. The charge of treason was not proved, but he was convicted of harbouring rebels and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.