name	Shaka kaSenzangakhona
birth date	ca. 1787
birth place	KwaZulu-Natal, near Melmoth
death date	c. 1828
death place	KwaZulu-Natal
Death cause	assassination
Resting place	Stanger, South Africa
Resting place coordinates
occupation	Monarch of the Zulu Kingdom
reign	1816 - 1828
spouse	None
parents	Senzangakona (father)Nandi (mother)
issue	None known or recognized }}

Shaka kaSenzangakhona (c. 1787 – c. 22 September 1828), also known as Shaka Zulu (), was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom.

He is widely credited with uniting many of the Northern Nguni people, specifically the Mtetwa Paramountcy and the Ndwandwe into the Zulu Kingdom, the beginnings of a nation that held sway over the large portion of southern Africa between the Phongolo and Mzimkhulu Rivers, and his statesmanship and vigour marked him as one of the greatest Zulu kings. He has been called a military genius for his reforms and innovations, and condemned for the brutality of his reign. Other historians note debate about Shaka's role as a uniter versus a usurper of traditional Zulu ruling prerogatives, and the notion of the Zulu state as a unique construction, divorced from the localised culture and the previous systems built by his predecessor Dingiswayo. Research continues into the character and methods of the Zulu warrior king, whose reign still greatly influences South African culture.

Early life

Shaka was the first son of the chieftain Senzangakhona and Nandi, a daughter of Bhebhe, the past chief of the Elangeni tribe, born near present day Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal Province. He was conceived out of wedlock somewhere between 1781 and 1787.

Shaka spent his childhood in his mother's settlements. He is recorded as having been initiated there and inducted into an ''ibutho lempi'' (fighting unit). In his early days, Shaka served as a warrior under the sway of local chieftain Dingiswayo and the Mthethwa, to whom the Zulu were then paying tribute.

Dingiswayo called up the emDlatsheni ''iNtanga'' (age-group), of which Shaka was part, and incorporated it in the Izichwe regiment. Shaka served as a Mthethwa warrior for perhaps as long as ten years, and distinguished himself with his courage, though he did not rise, as legend has it, to a great position. Dingiswayo had been exiled after a failed attempt to oust his father. There were a number of other groups in the region (including Mabhudu, Dlamini, Mkhize, Qwabe, and Ndwandwe). Along with them, Dingiswayo helped develop new ideas of military and social organisation, in particular the ''ibutho'', sometimes translated as "regiment" or "troop". They were probably responding to slaving pressures from southern Mozambique.

The itbutho was rather an age-based labour gang (cohort) which included some better refined military activities, but by no means exclusively. Most battles before this time were to settle disputes, and while the appearance of ''ibutho lempi'' (fighting unit) dramatically changed warfare at times, it largely remained an instrument for seasonal raiding and political persuasion rather than outright slaughter.

Shaka granted permission to Europeans to enter Zulu territory on rare occasions. Henry Francis Fynn provided medical treatment to the king after an assassination attempt from a rival tribe member hidden in a crowd (see account of Nathaniel Isaacs). To show his gratitude, Shaka permitted European settlers to enter and operate in the Zulu kingdom. This would open the door for future British incursions into the Zulu kingdom that were not so peaceful. Shaka observed several demonstrations of European technology and knowledge, but held that the Zulu way was superior to that of the foreigners.

When Dingiswayo was murdered by Zwide, a powerful chief of the Ndwandwe (Nxumalo) clan, Shaka sought to avenge his death. At some point Zwide barely escaped Shaka, though the exact details are not known. In that encounter Zwide's mother Ntombazi, a Sangoma (Zulu seer or shaman), was killed by Shaka. Shaka chose a particularly gruesome revenge on her, locking her in a house and placing jackals or hyenas inside: they devoured her and, in the morning, Shaka burned the house to the ground. Despite carrying out this revenge, Shaka continued his pursuit of Zwide. It was not until around 1825 that the two great military men would meet, near Phongola, in what would be their final meeting. Phongola is near the present day border of KwaZulu-Natal, a province in South Africa. Shaka was victorious in battle, although his forces sustained heavy casualties, which included his head military commander, Umgobhozi Ovela Entabeni.

In the initial years, Shaka had neither the influence nor reputation to compel any but the smallest of groups to join him, and he operated under Dingiswayo's aegis until the latter's death at the hands of Zwide's Ndwandwe. At this point, Shaka moved southwards across the Thukela River, establishing his capital Bulawayo in Qwabe territory; he never did move back into the traditional Zulu heartland. In Qwabe, Shaka may have intervened in an existing succession dispute to help his own choice, Nqetho, into power; Nqetho then ruled as a proxy chieftain for Shaka.

Expansion of power and conflict with Zwide

thumb|align=right|Sketch of a Zulu warrior As Shaka became more respected by his people, he was able to spread his ideas with greater ease. Because of his background as a soldier, Shaka taught the Zulus that the most effective way of becoming powerful quickly was by conquering and controlling other tribes. His teachings greatly influenced the social outlook of the Zulu people. The Zulu tribe soon developed a "warrior" mindset, which Shaka turned to his advantage.

Shaka's hegemony was primarily based on military might, smashing rivals and incorporating scattered remnants into his own army. He supplemented this with a mixture of diplomacy and patronage, incorporating friendly chieftains, including Zihlandlo of the Mkhize, Jobe of the Sithole, and Mathubane of the Thuli. These peoples were never defeated in battle by the Zulu; they did not have to be. Shaka won them over by subtler tactics, such as patronage and reward. As for the ruling Qwabe, they began re-inventing their genealogies to give the impression that Qwabe and Zulu were closely related in the past. In this way a greater sense of cohesion was created, though it never became complete, as subsequent civil wars attest.

His half-brother, Sigujana, who had been destined to become Zulu Chief, was killed. The coup was relatively bloodless and accepted by the Zulu. Shaka still recognised Dingiswayo and his larger Mthethwa clan as overlord after he returned to the Zulu but, some years later, Dingiswayo was ambushed by Zwide's amaNdwandwe and killed. There is no evidence to suggest that Shaka betrayed Dingiswayo. Indeed, the core Zulu had to retreat before several Ndwandwe incursions; the Ndwandwe was clearly the most aggressive grouping in the sub-region.

Shaka was able to form an alliance with the leaderless Mthethwa clan and was able to establish himself amongst the Qwabe, after Phakathwayo was overthrown with relative ease. With Qwabe, Hlubi and Mkhize support, Shaka was finally able to summon a force capable of resisting the Ndwandwe (of the Nxumalo clan). Historian Donald Morris states that Shaka's first major battle against Zwide, of the Ndwandwe, was the Battle of Gqokli Hill, on the Mfolozi river. Shaka's troops maintained a strong position on the crest of the hill. A frontal assault by their opponents failed to dislodge them and Shaka sealed the victory by sending elephants in a sweep around the hill to attack the enemy's rear. Losses were high overall but the efficacy of the new Shakan innovations was proved. It is probable that, over time, the Zulu were able to hone and improve their encirclement tactics.

Another decisive fight eventually took place on the Mhlatuze river, at the confluence with the Mvuzane stream. In a two-day running battle, the Zulu inflicted a resounding defeat on their opponents. Shaka then led a fresh reserve some seventy miles to the royal kraal of Zwide, ruler of the Ndwandwe, and destroyed it. Zwide himself escaped with a handful of followers before falling foul of a chieftainess named Mjanji, ruler of the baPedi clan (he died in mysterious circumstances soon afterward). Shaka's general Soshangane (of the Shangaan) moved north towards what is now Mozambique to inflict further damage on less resistant foes and take advantage of slaving opportunities, obliging Portuguese traders to give tribute. Shaka later had to contend again with Zwide's son Sikhunyane in 1826.

Death and succession

Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's half-brothers, appear to have made at least two attempts to assassinate Shaka before they succeeded, with perhaps support from Mpondo elements, and some disaffected iziYendane people. While the British colonialists considered his regime to be a future threat, allegations that white traders wished his death are problematic given that Shaka had granted concessions to whites prior to his death, including the right to settle at Port Natal (now Durban). Shaka had made enough enemies among his own people to hasten his demise. It came relatively quickly after the devastation caused by Shaka's erratic behavior after the death of his mother Nandi. According to Donald Morris in this mourning period Shaka ordered that no crops should be planted during the following year, no milk (the basis of the Zulu diet at the time) was to be used, and any woman who became pregnant was to be killed along with her husband. At least 7,000 people who were deemed to be insufficiently grief-stricken were executed, though it wasn't restricted to humans, cows were slaughtered so that their calves would know what losing a mother felt like.

The Zulu monarch was killed by three assassins sometime in 1828, September is the most often cited date, when almost all available Zulu manpower had been sent on yet another mass sweep to the north. This left the royal kraal critically short of security. It was all the conspirators needed—they being Shaka's half-brothers, Dingane and Mhlangana, and an iNduna called Mbopa. A diversion was created by Mbopa, and Dingane and Mhlangana struck the fatal blows. Shaka's corpse was dumped into an empty grain pit by his assassins and filled with stones and mud. The exact site is unknown. A monument was built at one alleged site. Historian Donald Morris holds that it is somewhere on Couper Street in the village of Stanger, South Africa.

Shaka's half-brother Dingane assumed power and embarked on an extensive purge of pro-Shaka elements and chieftains, running over several years, in order to secure his position. A virtual civil war broke out. Dingane ruled for some twelve years, during which time he fought, disastrously, against the Voortrekkers, and against another half-brother Mpande, who with Boer and British support, took over the Zulu leadership in 1840, and ruled for some 30 years. Later in the 19th century the Zulus would be one of the few African peoples who managed to defeat the British Army; at the Battle of Isandlwana.

Shaka's social and military revolution

Some older histories have doubted the military and social innovations customarily attributed to Shaka, denying them outright, or attributing them variously to European influences. More modern researchers argue that such explanations fall short, and that the general Zulu culture which included other tribes and clans, contained a number of practices that Shaka could have drawn on to fulfill his objectives, whether in raiding, conquest or hegemony. Shaka drilled his troops frequently, forced marches sometimes covering more than a day in a fast trot over hot, rocky terrain. He also drilled the troops to carry out encirclement tactics.

Historian John Laband dismisses these stories as myth. "What are we to make, then, of [European trader Henry Francis] Fynn's statement that once the Zulu army reached hard and stony ground in 1826, Shaka ordered sandals of ox-hide to be made for himself?"

Well-organised logistic support by youth formations

Young boys aged six and over joined Shaka's force as apprentice warriors (''udibi'') and served as carriers of rations, supplies like cooking pots and sleeping mats, and extra weapons until they joined the main ranks. It is sometimes held that such support was used more for very light forces designed to extract tribute in cattle, women or young men from neighbouring groups. Nevertheless, the concept of "light" forces is questionable. The fast-moving Zulu raiding party or "ibutho lempi" on a mission invariably traveled light, driving cattle as provisions on the hoof, and were not weighed down with heavy weapons and supply packs. The herdboy logistic structure was deployed in support of these relatively short-term operations, and was easily adaptable to large or small expeditions.

The age-grade regimental system

Age-grade groupings of various sorts were common in the Bantu culture of the day, and indeed are still important in much of Africa. Age grades were responsible for a variety of activities, from guarding the camp, to cattle herding, to certain rituals and ceremonies. Shaka organised various grades into regiments, and quartered them in special military kraals, with each regiment having its own distinctive names and insignia. The regimental system clearly built on existing tribal cultural elements that could be adapted and shaped to fit an expansionist agenda. There was no need to look for European inspiration hundreds of miles away.

The "buffalo horns" formation

Most historians credit Shaka with initial development of the famous "buffalo horns" formation. #The "horns," while the enemy Impi was pinned by the "chest," would flank the Impi from both sides and encircle it; in conjunction with the "chest" they would then destroy the trapped force. The warriors who comprised the "horns" were young and fast juniors. #The "loins," a large reserve, was placed, seated, behind the "chest" with their backs to the battle. The "loins" would be committed wherever the enemy Impi threaten to break out of the encirclement.

Coordination was supplied by regimental "izinduna" (chiefs or leaders) who used hand signals and messengers. The scheme was elegant in its simplicity, and well understood by the warriors assigned to each echelon.

Organization and leadership of the Zulu forces

The host were generally partitioned into three levels: regiments, corps of several regiments, and "armies" or bigger formations, although the Zulu did not use these terms in the modern sense. Any grouping of men on a mission could collectively be called an impi, whether a raiding party of 100 or horde of 10,000. Numbers were not uniform, but dependent on a variety of factors including assignments by the king or the manpower mustered by various clan chiefs or localities. A regiment might be 400 or 4000 men. These were grouped into corps that took their name from the military kraals where they were mustered, or sometimes the dominant regiment of that locality.

Shakan methods versus European technology

The expanding Zulu power inevitably clashed with European hegemony in the decades after Shaka's death. In fact, European travellers to Shaka's kingdom demonstrated advanced technology such as firearms and writing, but the Zulu monarch was less than convinced. There was no need to record messages, he held, since his messengers stood under penalty of death should they bear inaccurate tidings. As for firearms, Shaka acknowledged their utility as missile weapons after seeing muzzle-loaders demonstrated, but argued that in the time a gunman took to reload, he would be swamped by charging spear-wielding warriors.

Shaka as the creator of a revolutionary warfare style

A number of historians argue that Shaka 'changed the nature of warfare in Southern Africa' from 'a ritualised exchange of taunts with minimal loss of life into a true method of subjugation by wholesale slaughter'.

Much controversy still surrounds the character, methods and activities of the Zulu king. From a military standpoint, historian John Keegan notes exaggerations and myths that surround Shaka, but nevertheless maintains: :''Fanciful commentators called him Shaka, the Black Napoleon, and allowing for different societies and customs, the comparison is apt. Shaka is without doubt the greatest commander to come out of Africa.''

Scholarship on Shaka

Sources on Shaka's life

Scholarship in recent years has revised views of the sources on Shaka's reign. The earliest are two eyewitness accounts written by white adventurer-traders who met Shaka during the last four years of his reign. Nathaniel Isaacs published his ''Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa'' in 1836, creating a picture of Shaka as a degenerate and pathological monster which survives in modified forms to this day. Isaacs was aided in this by Henry Francis Fynn, whose diary (actually a rewritten collage of various papers) was edited by James Stuart only in 1950.

Their accounts may be balanced by the rich resource of oral histories collected around 1900 by the same James Stuart, now published in 6 volumes as ''The James Stuart Archive''. Stuart's early 20th century work was continued by D. McK. Malcolm in 1950. These and other sources such as A. T. Bryant gives us a more Zulu-centred picture. Most popular accounts are based on E. A. Ritter's novel ''Shaka Zulu'' (1955), a potboiling romance which was re-edited into something more closely resembling a history. The work of John Wright (history professor at University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg), Julian Cobbing and Dan Wylie (Rhodes University, Grahamstown) have been among a number of writers who have modified these stories.

Various modern historians writing on Shaka and the Zulu point to the uncertain nature of Fynn and Isaac's accounts of Shaka's reign. A standard general reference work in the field is Donald Morris's "The Washing of The Spears" that notes the sources, as a whole, for this historical era are not the best. Morris nevertheless references a large number of sources, including Stuart, and A. T. Bryant's extensive but uneven "Olden Times in Zululand and Natal" which is based on four decades of exhaustive interviews of tribal sources. After sifting through these sources and noting their strengths and weaknesses, Morris generally credits Shaka with a large number of military and social innovations, and this is the general consensus in the field.

A 1998 study by historian Carolyn Hamilton summarizes much of the scholarship on Shaka towards the dawn of the 21st century in areas ranging from ideology, politics and culture, to the use of his name and image in a popular South African theme park, ''Shakaland.'' It argues that in many ways, the image of Shaka has been "invented" in the modern era according to whatever agenda persons hold. This "imagining of Shaka" it is held, should be balanced by a sober view of the historical record, and allow greater scope for the contributions of indigenous African discourse.

Military historians of the Zulu War must also be considered for their description of Zulu fighting methods and tactics, including authors like Ian Knight and Robert Edgerton. General histories of Southern Africa are also valuable including Noel Mostert's "Frontiers" and a detailed account of the results from the Zulu expansion, J. D. Omer-Cooper's "The Zulu Aftermath", which advances the traditional Mfecane theory.

Shaka and the Mfecane

History and legacy

The increased military efficiency led to more and more clans being incorporated into Shaka's Zulu empire, while other tribes moved away to be out of range of Shaka's ''impis''. The ripple effect caused by these mass migrations would become known (though only in the twentieth century) as the ''Mfecane'' (annihilation). Some groups which moved off (like the Hlubi and Ngwane to the north of the Zulus) could have been impelled by the Ndwandwe, not the Zulu. Some moved south (like the Chunu and the Thembe), but never suffered much in the way of attack; it was precautionary, and they left many people behind in their traditional homelands.

At the time of his death, Shaka ruled over 250,000 people and could muster more than 50,000 warriors. His 10-year-long kingship resulted in a massive number of deaths, mostly due to the disruptions the Zulu caused in neighbouring tribes, although the exact death toll is a matter of scholarly dispute. Further unquantifiable deaths occurred during mass tribal migrations to escape his armies.

Among the many fascinating cases of the Mfecane is that of Mzilikazi of the Khumalo who was a 'general' of Shaka's, who fled Shaka's employ, and in turn conquered an empire in Zimbabwe, after clashing with European groups like the Boers. The settling of Mzilikazi's people, the AmaNdebele or Matabele, in the south of Zimbabwe with the concomitant driving of the AmaShona into the north caused a tribal conflict which still resonates today. Other notable figures to arise from the Mfecane include Shoshangane, who expanded from the Zulu area into what is now Mozambique. Shaka was clearly a tough, able leader, the most able of his time who, during the last four years of his reign, indulged in several long-distance raids.

Disruptions of the Mfecane

The theory of the Mfecane holds that the aggressive expansion of Shaka's armies caused a brutal chain reaction across the southern areas of the continent, as dispossessed tribe after tribe turned on their neighbours in a deadly cycle of fight and conquest. This theory must be treated with caution, some scholars hold, as it generally neglects several other factors such as the impact of white encroachment, slave trading and expansion in that area of Southern Africa around the same time. The development of the view that Shaka was the monster responsible for the devastation is based on the need of apartheid era historians to justify the apartheid regime's racist policies. Other scholars acknowledge distortion of the historical record by apartheid supporters and shady white traders seeking to cover their tracks, but dispute the revisionist approach, noting that stories of cannibalism, raiding, burning of villages, or mass slaughter were not developed out of thin air but based on the clearly documented accounts of hundreds of black victims, and refugees. Confirmation of such accounts can also be seen in modern archaeology of the village of Lepalong, an entire settlement built underground to shelter remmnants of the Kwena people from 1827-36 against the tide of disruption that engulfed the region during Shakan times.

William Rubinstein wrote that "Western guilt over colonialism, have also accounted for much of this distortion of what pre-literate societies actually were like, as does the wish to avoid anything which smacks of racism, even when this means distorting the actual and often appalling facts of life in many pre-literate societies". Rubinstein also notes:

"One element in Shaka's destruction was to create a vast artificial desert around his domain ... 'to make the destruction complete, organized bands of Zulu murderers regularly patrolled the waste, hunting for any stray men and running them down like wild pig.' ... An area 200 miles to the north of the center of the state, 300 miles to the west, and 500 miles to the south was ravaged and depopulated ..."

Physical descriptions

Though much remains unknown about Shaka's personal appearance, sources tend to agree he had a strong, muscular body and was not fat. He was of medium height and his skin tone was dark brown. He was uncircumcised, which bucked a trend in Zulu culture near that time.

Shaka's enemies described him as ugly in some respects. He had a big nose, according to Baleka of the Qwabe, as told by her father.

Other Zulu sources are sometimes critical of Shaka, and numerous negative images abound in Zulu oral history. When Shaka's mother Nandi died for example, the monarch ordered a massive outpouring of grief including mass executions, forbidding the planting of crops or the use of milk, and the killing of all pregnant women and their husbands. Oral sources record that in this period of devastation, a singular Zulu, a man named ''Gala'', eventually stood up to Shaka and objected to these measures, pointing out that Nandi was not the first person to die in Zululand. Taken aback by such candid talk, the Zulu king is supposed to have called off the destructive edicts, rewarding the blunt teller-of-truths with a gift of cattle.

The figure of Shaka thus remains an ambiguous one in African oral tradition, defying simplistic depictions of the Zulu king as a heroic, protean nation builder on one hand, or a depraved monster on the other. This ambiguity continues to lend the image of Shaka its continued power and influence, almost two centuries after his death.

uShaka Marine World, an aquatic theme park in Durban opened in 2004.

Popular culture

Shaka Zulu is a playable character in ''Deadliest Warrior: Legends''. Shaka Zulu was pitted against William Wallace in Spike's TV show, Deadliest Warrior. The winner of the match was William Wallace. Shaka used the Zulu axe, the iklwa, the iwisa, and poison. Shaka Zulu has been featured as leader of the Zulu Civilization in most of the Civilization video games.

Shaka Zulu was the inspiration for Afrika Bambaataa's Zulu Nation uniting gang culture and hip-hop.

See also

List of Zulu kings

African military systems to 1800

African military systems after 1900

African military systems (1800–1900)

Brother, assassin, Umthlangana

King Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho

Ndebele

''Shaka Zulu'', an SABC TV series about Shaka

List of South Africans – Voted 14th in the TV Show 100 Greatest South Africans

''Chaka'', a novel by Thomas Mofolo based loosely on Shaka Zulu's life

''Nada the Lily'', a novel by Henry Rider Haggard based in part on the events of Shaka's reign

''Emperor Shaka the Great''- a heroic epic poem based on Zulu Oral history collected by Mazisi Kunene

References

Further reading

Chanaiwa, David Shingirai (1980), "The Zulu Revolution: State Formation in a Pastoralist Society," In: African Studies Review 23(3) (Dec. 1980): 1–20.

Edgerton, Robert (1988) ''Like Lions They Fought''

Hamilton, Carolyn (1998) ''Terrific Majesty: the Powers of Shaka Zulu and the Limits of Historical Invention''

Knight, Ian (1995) ''Anatomy of the Zulu Army''

Laband, John (1997) "The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation"

Mostert, Noel (1992) ''Frontiers''

Omer-Cooper, J. D. (1965) ''The Zulu Aftermath''

Ritter, E. A. (1955) ''Shaka Zulu: The Rise of the Zulu Empire''

Wylie, Dan (2006) ''Myth of Iron: Shaka in History''

The South African Military History Society - The Zulu Military Organization and the Challenge of 1879

Shaka: Zulu chieftain

The History of Shaka

Statue proposal

"Shaka Zulu," Carpe Noctem

Rory Carroll in Johannesburg, Shaka Zulu's brutality was exaggerated, says new book, Monday May 22, 2006, The Guardian.

|- | colspan=3 align=center | King of the Zulu Nation |- | align="center" | Preceded by:Senzangakhona | align="center" | Reign1816–1828 | align="center" | Succeeded by:Dingane

Category:1787 births Category:1828 deaths Category:1828 crimes Category:19th-century African people Category:History of KwaZulu-Natal Category:Murdered monarchs Category:People from KwaZulu-Natal Category:Zulu kings

af:Shaka ar:شكا زولو be:Чака be-x-old:Шака bg:Шака Зулу bs:Shaka Zulu ca:Shaka cs:Čaka cy:Shaka da:Shaka de:Shaka el:Σάκα Ζούλου es:Shaka eo:Ŝaka eu:Shaka Zulu fa:شاکا fr:Chaka Zulu fy:Sjaka Sûlû ga:Shaka Zulu gl:Shaka ko:샤카 hi:शाका ज़ूलू hr:Shaka id:Shaka zu:Shaka is:Sjaka it:Shaka he:שאקה sw:Shaka ku:Shaka Zulu lad:Shaka Zulu lv:Šaka hu:Saka Zulu ms:Shaka mn:Чака nl:Shaka Zoeloe ja:シャカ・ズールー no:Shaka nds:Shaka (Zulu) pl:Czaka pt:Shaka Zulu ro:Shaka Zulu ru:Чака sa:शाका ज़ूलू scn:Shaka simple:Shaka Zulu sk:Šaka sl:Shaka sr:Шака Зулу sh:Shaka Zulu fi:Shaka Zulu sv:Shaka Zulu tl:Shaka ta:சாக்கா சூலு th:ชากาซูลู tr:Shaka Zulu uk:Шака vec:Shaka Zulu fiu-vro:Shaka war:Shaka yo:Shaka zh:恰卡

name	Johann Hari
pseudonym	David Rose
birth date	January 21, 1979
birth place	Glasgow, Scotland
occupation	Journalist and writer
alma mater	King's College, Cambridge
nationality	British
religion	None (atheist)
signature	}}

Johann Eduard Hari (born 21 January 1979) is a British journalist who was a columnist at ''The Independent'' and ''The Huffington Post'', and contributed to several other publications, before, in 2011, admitting to plagiarism. He was suspended from ''The Independent'' and surrendered his 2008 Orwell Prize. He admitted making Wikipedia edits under a pseudonym to attack people he had disputes with, and said he would undergo training in journalism ethics. In 2012 he announced he would not return to ''The Independent'' and that he was writing a book.

Early life

Hari was born in Glasgow and raised in London. He attended John Lyon School, (an independent school affiliated to Harrow School) and then Woodhouse College, a state sixth-form. He graduated from King's College, Cambridge, in 2001 with a double first in Social and Political Sciences.

Career

In 2000 he was joint winner of ''The Times'' Student News Journalist of the Year award for his work on the Cambridge student newspaper ''Varsity''. After university he joined the ''New Statesman'', where he worked between 2001 and 2003, and then wrote two columns a week for ''The Independent''. At the 2003 ''Press Gazette'' Awards, he won Young Journalist of the Year.

A play by Hari, ''Going Down in History'', was performed at the Garage Theatre in Edinburgh, and his book ''God Save the Queen?'' was published by Icon Books in 2002.

Personal views

Hari has declared his sympathy with the environmental movement, republicanism, and drug legalisation He is gay and a self-declared secularist and atheist.

Hari supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, based on a visit to Iraq in December 2002 and a March 2003 story by Kenneth Joseph. In 2006 he reversed this position.

Journalistic controversy

In June 2011 Hari was accused of plagiarism in his use of unattributed quotations in interviews, where he had used previously published quotes in place of his interviewees' recorded answers. The Orwell Prize, which he had won in 2008, was withdrawn following a comparison between one of the articles for which he won the award and the original ''Der Spiegel'' article on which it was based. He was shown to have made misleading edits on Wikipedia under a pseudonym. Hari apologised for his actions, although that apology was publicly criticised.

Plagiarism

Problems with Hari's journalism were first publicized by the magazine ''Private Eye'' in 2003. In 2011 bloggers DSG (Deterritorial Support Group) and Brian Whelan (editor of Yahoo! Ireland) highlighted his plagiarism by comparing Hari's interviews with previous interviews by other journalists and previous written works by his interview subjects. The story was taken up by ''The Guardian'', ''The Telegraph'', and ''The Washington Post''.

Initially Hari said on his blog that he had taken material previously written by interviewees and presented it as part of the interview, but said that this was not plagiarism as he was not passing off someone else's thoughts as his own. Later, both on his blog and in ''The Independent'', Hari said his use of unattributed quotes was only a clarification. Reviewing this defence, ''The Guardian'''s media law consultant focused on copyright issues. The newspaper's former editor, Peter Preston, wrote that Hari had been foolish, but not dishonest as his attackers alleged. Simon Kelner, then editor-in-chief of ''The Independent'', said on 28 June that the newspaper had not previously received any complaints about Johann Hari. In July 2011, Hari was suspended from ''The Independent'' for two months "pending investigation" by Andreas Whittam Smith.

Brian Whelan compared Hari's 2010 interview with Gideon Levy against Levy's previous writing.

Guy Walters in the ''New Statesman'' compared Hari's 2006 interview with Hugo Chávez with earlier interviews with Chavez by other journalists.

Other interviews with Malalai Joya, with Ann Leslie, with George Michael, and with Gareth Thomas were also shown to have used misattributed quotations copied from earlier works and other interviews.

Orwell Prize withdrawal

In June 2011, the Media Standards Trust announced that they recognised the potential of allegations of plagiarism to damage the reputation of the Orwell Prize, which Hari had been awarded in 2008 (as the youngest-ever recipient), and instructed the Council of the Orwell Prize to take action to examine the allegations. A month later the spokesman for the Council of the Orwell Prize announced that it had "arrived at a clear and unanimous decision" as to whether Hari would be allowed to retain the prize he had been awarded in 2008. Public announcement was delayed after the ''Independent'' had "requested that the council consider further representations by Johann Hari before announcing the decision", which could not be made while the ''Independent'' inquiry was ongoing.

In July 2011, both ''Private Eye'' and Damian Thompson in his ''Telegraph'' blog accused Hari of inventing an atrocity for his Orwell Prize winning article on the Central African Republic. Thompson said that this "horrified the charity so much that it complained to Simon Kelner, the editor of the Independent. Nothing happened".

In September 2011, Johann Hari announced that, though he stood by the articles which won the Orwell Prize in 2008, he would be returning it as an act of contrition for the errors he had made elsewhere. The return of the plaque by courier was confirmed by the Council of the Orwell Prize. Later the Council confirmed that the Orwell Prize would have been withdrawn had Hari not returned it, because after reviewing one particular article, 'How multiculturalism is betraying women', "The Council concluded that the article contained inaccuracies and conflated different parts of someone else’s story (specifically, a report in ''Der Spiegel''). The Council ruled that the substantial use of unattributed and unacknowledged material did not meet the standards expected of Orwell Prize-winning journalism." The council also disclosed that Hari had not returned the prize money he received of 2000 pounds.

Wikipedia editing

In July 2011 ''New Statesman'' legal correspondent David Allen Green wrote on his personal blog that in January 2005 a Wikipedia user had discovered that a Wikipedia editor, David Rose, using the sockpuppet account 'David r from meth productions' shared an IP address with ''The Independent'' newspaper. On the same day Nick Cohen in ''The Spectator'' wrote that he had been attacked on Wikipedia by David Rose following a dispute with Johann Hari, as had ''Telegraph'' columnist Cristina Odone, and Oliver Kamm, the ''Times'' leader writer. Cohen also wrote that Hari's own Wikipedia entry had been edited by Rose "to make him seem one of the essential writers of our times".

In September 2011 "David Rose" was shown to be Johann Hari.

Apology

''The Independent'' reported in September 2011 that "Johann Hari, the writer and columnist for ''The Independent'', has admitted plagiarism allegations and will attend a journalism training course before being allowed to rejoin the newspaper" but that the results of the investigation by Whittam Smith are not to be made public. The editor of ''The Independent'', Chris Blackhurst, said that some aspects of Hari's journalism had fallen short of the publication's ethical standards, and that Hari had "acknowledged his mistakes and made a full apology."

Hari published an apology and admission of misconduct, and admitted to using a pseudonym to add positive material to the Wikipedia article about himself and negative material to Wikipedia articles about people he had had disputes with. Hari said he would take unpaid personal leave of absence until 2012 and seek training in journalistic ethics at his own expense.

According to Blackhurst, speaking as a witness during the Leveson inquiry on 10 January 2012, Hari had "severely damaged" the paper, but announced that he would return to ''The Independent'' during February as a columnist. This development was soon reversed. On his blog, Hari stated on 20 January 2012 that, following his stay in the U.S., he had decided not to return to his job at ''The Independent'', because he was going to write a book which would require international travel. He wrote: "I'm not willing to see other people, who are [sic] played no part in those errors ... take the flack [sic] too".

Criticism of apology

After Hari's apology was published, Cristina Odone, blogging for ''The Telegraph'', said that neither she nor the other victims had received any direct apology from ''The Independent'' or from Hari himself for his malicious editing of their Wikipedia articles.

The published apology attracted a strongly worded critique from journalist Toby Young, who also criticized ''The Independent'' for failing to sack Hari. Tom Chivers, also in ''The Daily Telegraph'', called the apology "evasive", while Richard Seymour wrote in ''The Guardian'' that the apology was "self-serving" and that Hari had acknowledged "none of the serious charges made against him..." . David Allen Green in the ''New Statesman'' wrote: "the terms of the apology do not really approximate to what was actually done. Something very wrong happened, over a significant amount of time, involving a systemic exercise of malice and dishonesty".

Awards

''Newspaper Journalist of the Year'' at Amnesty International Awards 2010 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism 2010 ''Journalist of the Year'' at the Stonewall Awards, 2009 ''Cultural Commentator of the Year'' at the Comment Awards, 2009 Author of ''Story of the Year'' at the Environmental Press Awards 2008 The Orwell Prize for political journalism, 2008 (withdrawn 2011) Amnesty International Newspaper Journalist of the Year in 2007 'Young Journalist of the Year' at the British Press Awards in 2003 'Student News Journalist of the Year' by The Times in 2000

See also

Journalism scandals

References

External links

Articles about Johann Hari in the ''Guardian''

Articles for the ''Independent''

Profile of Hari from ''Commentary'' magazine

Category:1979 births Category:Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:Atheism activists Category:British atheists Category:British journalists Category:British republicans Category:British writers Category:Drug policy reform activists Category:Gay writers Category:Gay journalists Category:Gay people from England Category:Gay writers from the United Kingdom Category:Living people Category:People from Glasgow Category:Social democrats Category:The Independent people Category:People from London Category:Gay people from Scotland Category:Anglo-Scots

de:Johann Hari fr:Johann Hari la:Ioannes Hari

name	Nadine Coyle
background	solo_singer
birth name	Nadine Coyle
birth date	June 15, 1985
origin	Derry, Northern Ireland
nationality	Irish
secondary school	Thornhill college
instrument	Voice piano
genre	Pop, Pop rock, R&B
occupation	Singer, songwriter
years active	2001–present
label	Polydor, Fascination, Black Pen TESCO Records
associated acts	Girls Aloud, Six, Cheryl Cole, Aggro Santos
website	}}

Nadine Coyle (born 15 June 1985); is an Irish singer, songwriter, actress, and model who rose to fame in the early 2000s as a member of the band Six before becoming a member of successful girl-group Girls Aloud. The group amassed a joint fortune of £25 million by May 2009. With Girls Aloud, Coyle has been successful in achieving a string of 20 consecutive UK top ten singles (including four number ones), two UK number one albums, and received nominations for five BRIT Awards, winning Best Single in 2009 for "The Promise".

Coyle released her debut solo album ''Insatiable'' and its title track was released on 8 November 2010 through her own label, Black Pen Records in partnership with supermarket giant Tesco. The album peaked at number twenty on the Irish Album Charts and number forty-seven on the UK Album Charts in the UK.

Life and career

1985-2001: Early life

Coyle was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, on 15 June 1985 to Lillian and Niall Coyle. Her parents first noticed her talent for singing at the age of two, when she sang The Drifters' "Saturday Night at the Movies." Coyle was uninterested in her education but received good grades. She recorded a demo CD, which was distributed to Louis Walsh and ''The Late Late Show''. The CD included cover versions of "Fields of Gold", "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", "Love Is", and the aria "Summertime".

2002-2009: Girls Aloud

In 2001, while attending Thornhill College, Coyle auditioned for the Irish version of the reality television talent show ''Popstars'', on which Walsh was a judge. She won a place in the band Six; however, it was revealed that Coyle had lied about her age. She was just 16 years old, two years younger than the minimum age requirement of 18. Coyle said she was "exploited" by RTÉ. She returned to Thornhill College in Derry. She later revealed how she had a cancer scare when she found a lump in her breast when she was 17.

Louis Walsh encouraged Coyle to enter ''Popstars The Rivals'', the second British series of the international ''Popstars'' franchise. The series' goal was to create two winning pop groups - a boy band and a girl group, each consisting of five members who would then partake in "a battle of the sexes" as they vie for the Christmas number one on the UK Singles Chart. Several thousand applicants attended auditions across the UK in hope of being selected. Ten girls and ten boys were chosen as finalists by judges Walsh, Pete Waterman, and Geri Halliwell. These finalists then took to the stage participating in weekly Saturday night live performances (alternating weekly between the girls and boys). Following her performance of "Fields of Gold", Walsh told her she gave the "performance of the night. Stole the show for me," while fellow judge Halliwell said, "I'd love to buy a single of yours already".

Coyle joined Cheryl Cole, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts, and Kimberley Walsh to comprise the new girl group Girls Aloud, formed through the show by a public vote on 30 November 2002. The group's debut single "Sound of the Underground" peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the 2002 Christmas number one. Girls Aloud hold the record for the shortest time between formation and reaching number one. The group released their debut album. ''Sound of the Underground'' in May 2003, which entered the charts at number two and was certified platinum by the British Phonographic Industry later the same year. Since 2003, Girls Aloud have released twenty consecutive top ten singles. Their singles "I'll Stand by You", "Walk This Way", and "The Promise" have charted at number one. Two of their albums have reached the top of the UK Album Chart; their greatest hits album ''The Sound of Girls Aloud'' and 2008's ''Out of Control'', both of which entered the chart at number one, with over one million copies of the former being sold. All their albums are certified platinum. They have been nominated for five BRIT Awards, and in 2009 won Best British Single at that year's BRIT Awards for "The Promise".

In 2009, Girls Aloud decided they would partake in a hiatus to pursue solo projects.

2009-2011: ''Insatiable''

Coyle announced plans to release a solo album during Girls Aloud's hiatus. She enlisted Barbara Charone, who was worked with Madonna and Christina Aguilera, as a publicist and Bruce Garfield as her manager. Despite early reports indicating three major record labels interested in Coyle, it was reported that Coyle had failed to earn a solo record deal, even being turned down by Girls Aloud's label Polydor Records. In April 2010, it was reported she had signed to Geffen Records. The deal later fell through. In August 2010, Coyle officially signed a deal with grocery store chain Tesco's new record label, releasing the album through her own Black Pen Records imprint.

In September 2010, Coyle announced the release of her debut album ''Insatiable'' on 8 November. Coyle worked with a number of famous songwriters and producers during recording sessions, such as Desmond Child, Guy Chambers, Mike Elizondo, Steve Booker, Toby Gad, Tony Kanal and newcomer Ricci Riccardi. Nadine also worked with Lucie Silvas, Matchbox Twenty's Kyle Cook, William Orbit, and Tiesto. According to an interview with Booker, Coyle had worked on song ideas using GarageBand which she then presented to Booker in England to work on together further. The producer said, "She was singing her songs to loops, and then I took the loops out and rewrote the music from scratch to her ideas." He described her songs as "very pop". Booker also worked on songs to show off Coyle's vocals: "Because she’s got such a belting voice, I tried a couple of things where she could really belt," he said. The album was released on 8 November.

The album was preceded by the release of her debut single, the title track "Insatiable". Co-written with Guy Chambers and produced by Ricci Riccardi, the song has an "80s feel" and "a harder, guitar-led sound." On 29 October 2010, Coyle performed "Insatiable" for the first time live on the ITV television show Paul O'Grady Live.

On 26 May, it was announced that Coyle will be releasing her debut single in the US, entitled "Runnin'" from her debut album Insatiable. It was also revealed that Coyle would release another new single titled "Sweetest High" worldwide, on 22 June 2011.

2012-Present: ''Sweetest High''

In April 2012 it was announced by Coyle that her second studio album ''Sweetest High'' is currently in working progress and should be released at the end of the year. She is currently recording new material and working with several artists across America and performing new tracks including Don Julio, Are You Crazy and Save Me at Gumbopop. Coyle's next single is to be released on the 14th May 2012 entitled ''Don Julio''. Coyle also confirmed that tracks Love Me For A Reason and Back For Good will be added as bonus tracks from her second album, plus a video recording live on Paul O'Grady's Halloween Special in 2011.

Other projects

As a member of Girls Aloud, Coyle has also appeared in the fly on the wall documentary ''Girls Aloud: Home Truths'', the E4 documentary series ''Girls Aloud: Off the Record'', and a one-off variety show entitled ''The Girls Aloud Party''. Coyle has expressed interest in an acting career, following Girls Aloud's cameo appearance as schoolgirls in the film ''St. Trinian's'' and Coyle's appearance on Keith Barry's show ''The Great Escape'', which aired on ITV on 29 December 2007. Coyle made a cameo appearance in Natasha Bedingfield's video for "I Wanna Have Your Babies".

Coyle contributed to the book ''Dreams that Glitter - Our Story'', an autobiography with her Girls Aloud bandmates, in October 2008. The book was written with a ghostwriter and published by the Transworld imprint Bantam Press. The book featured unseen photographs and included insights into the members' personal lives, their success together, style tips, and "everything we've learned about life, love and music." The book was previewed and serialised by ''OK!'' prior to its release. Girls Aloud held a book signing at Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London to promote the release. The title ''Dreams that Glitter'' comes from a line in the group's 2007 single "Call the Shots".

In March 2010, Coyle made her first solo appearance, singing "Love Me for a Reason" with Boyzone on a televised tribute to the late Stephen Gately. She collaborated with Boyz II Men for their album ''Love'', recording a cover of the Take That song "Back for Good". The song did not appear on the album. Coyle also worked with Jay Sean, although the duet was later scrapped.

She was reportedly approached by Gillette to advertise their female range of razors. As a member of Girls Aloud, Coyle has also endorsed Barbie, KitKat, Nintendo DS, Samsung, and Sunsilk.

Coyle owns a pub named Nadine's Irish Mist in Sunset Beach, Orange County. In December 2009, Coyle visited her hometown of Derry to successfully break the record of the most trees planted in one site in an hour by 100 volunteers. Coyle has also dedicated some of her time to charities, including the Northern Ireland children’s hospice.

Coyle published her new record label "Black Pen Records", which additionally released her debut album Insatiable and her further singles. Coyle has been confirmed as a judge for the next series of America's Next Top Model.

In April 2012 it was announced that Coyle would be appearing in Celebrity Big Brother 2012 (UK) for a fee of £500,000.

Personal life

In January 2008, she dated former American football player Jason Bell, and the two were engaged until their split in May 2011.

Discography

Studio albums

{|class="wikitable" |- !rowspan="2"| Year !rowspan="2"| Title !colspan="4"| Peak Positions |- style="font-size:85%" !width="60"| Ireland !width="60"| IrelandIndie !width="60"| UnitedKingdom !width="60"| UK Indie |- |2010 | ''Insatiable''

Released: 8 November 2010

Label: Black Pen, Tesco

Formats: CD, digital download

| style="text-align:center;"| 20 | style="text-align:center;"| 2 | style="text-align:center;"| 47 | style="text-align:center;"| 4 |}

Singles

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" !rowspan="2" | Year !rowspan="2" | Single !colspan="4"| Peak positions !rowspan="2" | Album |- style="font-size:85%" !width="60"| Ireland !width="60"| Scotland !width="60"| United Kingdom !width="60"| UK Indie |- |rowspan="1"|2010 |align="left" valign="top"|"Insatiable" |align="center" valign="top"|20 |align="center" valign="top"|23 |align="center" valign="top"|26 |align="center" valign="top"|3 |''Insatiable'' |- |2011 |align="left" valign="top"|"Sweetest High" |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |align="center" valign="top"|- |rowspan="1"| Non-album single |}

Filmography

! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
2007		Herself	Cameo
2008		Herself	Cameo

Television

! Year	! Programme	! Role	! Notes
2002	''Popstars The Rivals ''	Contestant
2005	''Girls Aloud: Home Truths ''	Herself
2006	''Girls Aloud: Off the Record ''	Herself; Series Regular
2007	''The Friday Night Project ''	Presenter
2008	''The Passions of Girls Aloud ''	Herself
2008	''The Girls Aloud Party ''	Presenter & Performer
2012	''America's Next Top Model''	Judge/Guest

References

External links

Category:1985 births Category:Expatriates from Northern Ireland in the United States Category:Living people Category:Girls Aloud members Category:Participants in Irish reality television series Category:People educated at Thornhill College Category:People from Derry Category:Reality show winners Category:Female singers from Northern Ireland Category:Pop singers from Northern Ireland es:Nadine Coyle fr:Nadine Coyle it:Nadine Coyle nl:Nadine Coyle pl:Nadine Coyle pt:Nadine Coyle ro:Nadine Coyle ru:Койл, Надин sv:Nadine Coyle