African Tribal Dances Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

African Tribal Dances - Essay Example Furthermore, when they dance, for them all time stops, the air draws back and the past, the present and the future merge into a single indescribable jewel in eternity. We will discuss about the culture of the famous Zulu tribe of Africa. Zulu is the largest ethnic group of Africa. It has a population of an estimated 10-11 million people, living mainly in the province of Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Their language is ‘isiZulu’. It is ‘Bantu language’, more specifically part of the ‘Nguni’ subgroup. Their importance is revealed by the fact that the Zulu Kingdom played a major role in South African History during the 19th and 20th centuries. At one time, Zulu people were classified as the third-class citizens and suffered from state sanctioned discrimination, now they are the most numerous ethnic group among the African tribes and share equal rights among all the other citizens. The Zulu are descendents from a chief from the Congo area. They migrated south in the 16th century, picking up many of the traditions of the San, who also inhabited this South African area. During the 17th and 18th centuries, as a result of the treaties made by many of their most powerful chiefs, the control of the Zulu villages was given to the British. As Zulu had a strong village government systems, so this created much of the conflict and they fought against the British, but could not win because of their small strength. Till 1879, much of the Zulu area was given under the British, but still, the Zulu as a whole decided not to be under British rule, so as a result, war erupted between the British and Zulu. Although the result was in favor of Zulu, as they won the war, but within six months, they were conquered by the British, who exiled the Zulu Kings and divided up the Zulu kingdom. In 1906, another Zulu uprising was lead, continuing their try