THE KINGDOM OF THE ZULU 35
Any member of the Zulu royal family had to be greeted ceremonially by commoners, including chiefs. Any royal prince might also be greeted by some of the praise names of the king, such as 'source of the country', if the king were not there, though the royal salute, Bayede, and the names mkosi (king), inganyama (lion), should be strictly reserved for the king himself. This status of the princes brought some of them political power. Shaka's brothers became chiefs in the areas in which they settled. Mpande followed the practice of big, polygynous chiefs and settled his sons in various areas as chiefs there. The king was therefore head by descent of the powerful aristocratic Zulu lineage which was looked up to by all Zulu, and his position in the national organization was strengthened, since tribes scattered through Zululand were ruled by his close relatives, who were bound to him by strong kinship ties of mutual assistance and by their common membership of the royal lineage. Marriage between the royal family and families of chiefs established similar ties. The king would marry off a sister, a daughter, or even some girl belonging to him, to a chief, and her son (who ranked as a prince in the nation) should be heir. However, the princes might draw to themselves followers beyond those given them by the king, and as in the past brothers of tribal chiefs had broken away to establish independent tribes, so the princes within the nation were a potential threat to tne king, especially if he misruled. They were ready to intrigue against him and take advantage of the people's dislike of him. Zulu custom says the king should not eat with his brothers, lest they poison him. His relatives on his mother's side and by marriage were said to be his strongest supporters, for their importance in national life came from their relationship to him, rather than their relationship to the royal lineage.
Zulu therefore state, on the one hand, that the king rules with the support of his brothers and uncles, and, on the other hand, that the king hates his brothers and uncles, who may aspire to the throne. In practice, it appears that more often the princes and chiefs competed for importance at court, i.e. they intrigued against one another, rather than against the king. While Mpande lived his sons also struggled for power. The most important of these struggles was for Mpande's heirship. The rule of succession is that the heir is born of the woman whom the king makes his chief wife. Mpande first appointed Cetshwayo heir, for Cetshwayo was born