Murder of Piet Retief

E35750

The Murder of Piet Retief was a pivotal 1838 killing of the Voortrekker leader and his delegation by Zulu King Dingane, an event that dramatically escalated conflict during the Great Trek in South Africa.

Aliases (1)

Statements (47)
Predicate Object
instanceOf historical event
killing
massacre
alsoKnownAs Retief massacre
burialPlace near present-day Hlomo amabuto
cause dispute over land cession in Natal
tensions between Voortrekkers and Zulu Kingdom
conflict Voortrekker–Zulu conflict
country South Africa
date 1838-02-06
ethnicContext Voortrekkers
Zulu
followedBy Voortrekker commando campaigns against the Zulu
massacre of Voortrekker camps along the Bloukrans River
hasMainSubject Dingane kaSenzangakhona
Piet Retief
historicalPeriod 19th century
historicalRegion Natal
involvedParty Voortrekkers
Zulu Kingdom
languageContext Afrikaans
Zulu
locatedIn KwaZulu-Natal
uMgungundlovu
method execution by clubbing
impalement of bodies
numberOfVictims approximately 100
orderedBy Dingane kaSenzangakhona
partOf Great Trek
perpetrator Dingane kaSenzangakhona
placeOfDeath uMgungundlovu
precededBy negotiations between Piet Retief and Dingane
signing of a land cession agreement
relatedEvent Battle of Blood River
Great Trek
relatedPerson Andries Pretorius
Mpande kaSenzangakhona
result Battle of Blood River
Battle of Italeni
Voortrekker retaliation
escalation of Voortrekker–Zulu hostilities
significance key event in Afrikaner historical memory
major episode in Zulu–Boer relations
turning point in the Great Trek
victim Piet Retief
Voortrekker delegation
year 1838

Referenced by (2)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
Murder of Piet Retief ("Retief massacre")
alsoKnownAs
Great Trek
significantEvent

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