The Rise and Fall

HAVE you ever wondered why our school curricular on African History (Kingdom-based) is always on the Rise and Fall…? For instance, the Rise and Fall of the Bemba Kingdom; The Rise and Fall of the Kalonga Kingdom; The Rise and Fall of the Ngoni Kingdom. But why the ‘Rise and Fall?’ (For reference check Hantobolo History book).

However, when you go to European History, it is, “Scramble for Africa,” Splendid Isolation, Cold War, World War I, World War II, Italy (Benito Mussolini) etc. Learning European History in High School came with a certain level of supremacy, especially if one understood it well and it also had a lot of notes (bulky content). While, our own African History was so simplistic and mostly told from a ‘Portuguese’ point of view. Why? Was there no African to tell it for us? Or maybe it is because most of our history is folklore and never put on paper by us?

Check for instance, the Kazembe Kingdom told in our history books is different from the one witnessed and told during the Mutomboko Traditional Ceremony of the Lunda People. The most confusing part is how they crossed the Luapula/Lualaba River! Other history sources will tell you that the Mwata Kazembe and Mwata Yamvo were in the same entourage of his half brothers, Chiti and Nkole who left their Father, Mukulupe, in Katanga region to expand his Kingdom in the Northern part of modern-day Zambia. Other sources of history will tell you that Kazembe crossed over to modern-day Zambia to expand his brother’s Kingdom, Mwata Yamvo.

These historical disparities are well documented and we learn/have learnt them in our schools. Nevertheless, when one visits the actual Royal Establishments of these Kingdoms, one will be told a whole different story from what is documented in our school curriculum. I wonder why we have never taken an interest in documenting the actual told stories from the Royal Establishments and correcting the ‘Portuguese’ documented AFRICAN HISTORY.

The same goes for the famous Mthethwa Kingdom from which we saw the ‘Rise and Fall’ of the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka.

The Nguni people of Southern Africa remember the emergence of Shaka’s Zulu Kingdom between 1816 and 1828, the most dramatic episode in the formation of the Zulu State, as a time of dispersal, famine and human suffering. Scholars in the twentieth century have characterised the Shaka era as the MFECANE, a term standardised by historian Eric Walker in 1928 in the first edition of his ‘History of Southern Africa’ (James Gump, Associate Prof. of History at the University of San Diego).

In 1986, the Shaka Zulu television series directed by William Faure, written by American Writer Joshua Sinclair and starring Henry Cele (late, died in 2007) as Shaka hit the TV screens. Watching this series in the early 2000s was thrilling and much more relatable. Later during the years at Secondary School, reading The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Kingdom under Shaka, I recall during one of my history classes in Grade 9, when our history teacher made us watch “Shaka the Zulu” as part of the lesson. Thank God during the exams Shaka came and of course, justice was done to the paper😂😂😂.

Many born before 1999 who have watched Shaka Zulu will tell you that it is the best Shaka tv series ever cast and produced, and I agree with this notion. Many related the main Actor Henry Cele as the actual Shaka. I actually grew up believing he was the original Shaka.

However, it is interesting to listen to and read different views/reviews on the new MultiChoice’s 12-episode TV series ‘Shaka Ilembe’ co-produced by Nomzamo Mbatha, Gibson, Markgraaff and Nhlanhla Mtaka. This was expected, more especially with the ones that have watched the Joshua Sinclair ‘Shaka Zulu’. Many still believe that Henry Cele’s Shaka Zulu is the original Shaka ever told story. It is also important to note that Shaka Ilembe is not a remake of William Faure’s Iconic Shaka Zulu.

We need to tell our history from our own African perspective. Having attended many of the traditional ceremonies in Luapula Province, it saddens me a lot when I look at African History told from the European perspective albeit with a lot of disparities. We know our stories because they are ours.

The team that did Shaka Ilembe relied heavily on historians and the royal family to tell the story. Nomsa Philiso, General Entertainment CEO for MultiChoice is quoted saying, “We wanted to tell it [the story] from the perspective of where the man came from and we are going to tell it in our own language, in the way that we believe can be as authentic as possible.”

The research that was done in this story, more especially the one from the royal family, I call it brevity. Why? Because definitely at some point it will be in contrast with the European version. The beauty of this is that this is OUR story, UBUNTU story and not one with a colonial perspective.

Bringing this closer home, we need to be brave enough to do OUR stories with the originality they carry. This means making use of our traditional established structures such as royal establishments and the elders who are the epitome of wisdom as our primary sources of information. Moreover, African history is embodied in folklore and passed on from one generation to the other.

Written by
Chipili Makas, Co-founder of Operation Cultural Engineering / Communication Specialist/ Filmmaker