Background
NATHANIEL ISAACS was born in 1808 in England.
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1836
NATHANIEL ISAACS was born in 1808 in England.
Born in England, at age fourteen he was sent to Saint Helena to work for his uncle, but soon took an opportunity to sail to the Cape of Good Hope. When the commander of the boat heard that a friend of his was lost in East Africa, Isaacs, then sixteen years old, agreed to help him search for the missing man. In 1825, their brig arrived in Port Natal but was totally wrecked; the surviving Europeans, among them Isaacs, had no way of leaving. They began to build a ship, which took three years to complete. Meanwhile Isaacs determined to make the best of the situation by cultivating the soil and instructing some of the natives in the vicinity.
The Europeans decided to explore the interior and reached the notorious Zulu ring, Tchaka, who received them civilly. Isaacs, however, was shocked by the ghastly methods of torture commonly used at the court. Tchaka had only to nod his head and executioners would seize a score of people and kill them on the spot. The Europeans for their part were at Tchaka's mercy and any unfavorable whim could mean their end. Tchaka decided that his reputation would be boosted if the white men were to assist him in his wars. The Europeans gave Isaacs the responsibility of dissuading Tchaka from this plan, which he did by presenting the king with the white men’s tent. Tchaka was so delighted that he excused the white men from fighting, confident that the tent would strike fear into the heart of his enemies.
Isaacs had to attend the royal kraal regularly and continued to witness massacres. At first the Europeans were protected and even favored, but relations became tense when two of the Europeans’ servants committed a brutal crime against the wife of a Zulu chief. As punishment, Tchaka threatened to kill all the white men and only agreed to spare them on condition that Isaacs lead a war party against his enemies, the Swazis. Isaacs had to agree, and thanks to his European weapons, scored a victory, although he himself was seriously wounded. His reputation, however, was established while Tchaka gave him a new name, Tamboosa (biavc warrior), and made him a Natal chief.
He was granted a large area of land and extensive rights of trading with the Zulus.
He continued to live in Natal under Tchaka’s successorand assassin, Dingaan. He ranged through Dingaan’s lands, bartering brass armlets, beads of ivory, hippopotamus teeth, and cattle. He proposed the planting of sugar in Natal when he noticed the presence of a wild variety in its interior. For seven years he did his utmost to extend commerce with the British and was among the founders of Durban. He urged the British authorities to establish trade relations with Natal and pressed the British government to annex the territory. He trained the Zulus in agriculture and cattle raising. All this he achieved before the age of twenty-four, when he left Natal, never to return.
The British annexed Natal in 1843, but by then Isaacs was a trader in Sierra Leone.
Quotes from others about the person
In the words of a historian of Natal, “Isaacs was hardy, bold, keen in perception, resourceful in action. He came to Natal a mere boy, he departed a stripling — but he left a vivid impress on its nascent years.”
