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DateOriginal Topic
9th February 2005Dabulamanzi photo
By Peter Ewart

On page 4 (photo no 1) of Guy's "The View Across the River" he reproduces the well known photo usually captioned as Dabulamanzi kaMpande. It is the one with the hat & greatcoat/jacket buttoned up under the chin (see Nothing Remains but to Fight p58, Brave Men's Blood p79, Then & Now p46 etc etc).

However, Guy captions his as Ndabuko kaMpande, which was a bit of a surprise and in his picture credits he explains that "I initially believed this to be a photograph of the redoubtable Dabulamanzi kaMpande, taken in Pietermaritzburg, where his presence, dressed in similar clothing, was recorded in the press. I now suspect that those who disagreed with this identification were correct and that it is in fact a photograph of the king's full brother."

Anyone privy to these discussions? Have there been any published ruminations? Ndabuko's likeness appears in various publications - does this therefore throw doubt on their identification and captions? (eg picture no 72 in Rope of Sand?) It doesn't help that Mpande's sons all looked so alike!

I think the source for most of the published pictures of these men is the collection in the Natal Archives (now PMB Archives Repository).

Peter
DateReplies
9th February 2005John Young
Peter,

I can confirm that Guy's identification is correct, and that any other is in error. Thanks to my links to the family of Prince Dabulamanzi, they have confirmed that the photograph of Prince Ndabuko and one of their forebear were taken at the same sitting by a Natal photographer at the time of restoration of King Cetshwayo kaMpande. I have seen the family's photograph and I can confirm that the engraving of Prince Dabulamanzi which appears in 'They Fell Like Stones' is based on said photograph.

'The Graphic' issue covering the king's restoration also has an engraving of Prince Ndabuko, and surprise, surprise it is based on the incorrectly identified photograph.

I have pointed this error out in presence of the heirs of Dabulamanzi in the course of at least three of my lectures themed on Zulu history, and they concur with my opinion that the identities of the princes depicted in the photographs have been confused subsequent to 1882.

I'll check when I'm at home next, as to the photographer who took the images.

John Y.
10th February 2005Peter Ewart
John

Many thanks for that clarification. It was the first I'd known about the confusion between the two photographic identities. One or two other questions come to mind as a result, but I'm not with my library at the moment & I'll need to go through quite a few publications to sort out further questions.

Thanks again.

Peter