What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to explore the political dynamics in KwaZulu-Natal during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, emphasizing mobility and flexibility rather than fixed territorial states.

April 1, 2026Open Access

Rethinking the Political Order in the KwaZulu-Natal Region in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: Fluidity, Mobility, and Flexibility

Puntos clave

The aim is to explore the political dynamics in KwaZulu-Natal during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, emphasizing mobility and flexibility rather than fixed territorial states.
Reread oral source materials beyond traditional interpretations.
Analyze historical accounts as practices of navigating political change.
Examine the evolution of political structures in the region.
Identified a degree of mobility in the political order during this period.
Argued that political flexibility was a core feature of governance.
Challenged the notion of rigid territorial states, presenting a more dynamic view of historical polities.

Resumen

Abstract The history of the KwaZulu-Natal region in the period under study has mostly been written round the evolution of a series of polities seen as more or less firmly bounded territorial “states.” This approach goes hand in hand with readings of recorded oral source materials as “oral traditions.” In this article, we reread the materials not simply as relayed historical accounts but as evidence of past discursive practices geared towards the navigation of change. This allows us to argue that a fundamental feature of the political order at this time was a degree of mobility and political flexibility that earlier studies hardly engage with.

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