Complex sentence: The small kingdom grew to dominate much of Southern Africa, and came into conflict with the British empire in the 1870s during the Anglo-Zulu War and was defeated despite early Zulu victories in the war.
Split into simpler sentences: The small kingdom grew to dominate much of Southern Africa. It came into conflict with the British empire in the 1870s (see Anglo-Zulu War) and was defeated, despite early Zulu victories in the war.