c. 1670
Oral traditions place the founding of the Zulu royal line
Later oral traditions associate an ancestor named Zulu with the founding of a small northern Nguni chiefdom or lineage.
disputed
state-formation
Later oral traditions associate an ancestor named Zulu with the founding of a small northern Nguni chiefdom or lineage.
Significance
The entry provides context for the much later emergence of the Zulu kingdom under Shaka.
Why it matters
The entry provides context for the much later emergence of the Zulu kingdom under Shaka.
Disputed interpretations
The date is an approximate genealogical reconstruction and should not be confused with the nineteenth-century Zulu kingdom.