 mpande (1798â1872), was monarch of the zulu kingdom from 1840 to 1872, making him the longest reigning zulu king. he was a half-brother of shaka and dingane, who both preceded him as kings of the zulu. he came to power after overthrowing dingane in 1840. though his reign was lengthy, for the latter part of his reign he was king in name only. his son cetshwayo became de facto ruler in 1856. mpande himself claimed that he preferred a quiet life and had only become king because he was forced into it. ==biography== ===early career=== mpande was born in babanango, zululand, the son of senzangakhona kajama (1762 - 1816) and his ninth wife songiya kangotsha hlabisa. he was considered a weak man in comparison to his contemporaries. while other half-brothers were eliminated when his brother dingane assassinated shaka to become king in 1828, he was allowed to live. mpande apparently showed no interest in zulu power politics. mpande came to prominence when dingane suffered a catastrophic disaster at the battle of blood river in december 1838. his defeat at the hands of the boers led to unrest, which dingane attempted to control by eliminating potential successors such as mpande. in september 1839 mpande defied his brother, who demanded his support in a war against the swazi people. fearing he would be killed if he joined dingane, mpande instead led thousands of zulus into the boer republic of natalia. the boers led by andries pretorius and gert rudolph decided to support mpande, hoping to gain concessions if he could oust dingane. in january 1840 mpande's army led by nongalaza defeated dingane at the battle of maqongqo. mpande arrived shortly after with pretorious' force of boers, and was proclaimed king. after executing his own general ndlela kasompisi, dingane escaped, but was soon murdered in hlatikhulu forest. mpande was now unopposed as king. mpande later claimed that he had been forced to become king against his own wishes. the boers immediately laid claim to a large stretch of territory in exchange for their help. ===early
1798_births 1872_deaths 19th-century_monarchs_in_Africa History_of_KwaZulu-Natal History_of_South_Africa Zulu_kings