Nandi, Queen of Zululand
Once upon a time in the great Zulu kingdom of South Africa there lived a great king. He was young, strong, handsome, powerful, and respected by all the other kings in that region. He had three wives, and six daughters, and his wealth was immense. The only problem was that this king did not have a son, and he knew that without a son his greatness could never be complete. So one day as he was taking his daily walk through his kingdom he saw the prettiest girl he had ever seen before. He knew he just had to make her his wife. He asked his elders about her, and they said her name was Nandi. The elders, and people of his kingdom had only good things to say about her, and this made the king even more convinced that she had to be his wife.
Nandi respected the young king so she had no objections to being his wife. Apart from this, when she was finally introduced to him there was an instant connection between the both of them. A few months after they got married Nandi gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, whom the king named Chaka. Now the kings other wives were upset. They didn't like Nandi because she was prettier than all three of them, and now their hate for her grew even stronger because she had given the king one thing they could not give him- a son. The king's wives were angry about this, and began to plot against her. They came up with several wicked plans but all of them failed. They even told lies about Nandi to the king but the king loved Nandi so much that he did not believe them. Finally, these three women accused Nandi of using witchcraft to entice the king into marrying her. Since the use of witchcraft in Zululand was a crime punishable by banishment or death the good king had no choice but to reluctantly banish Nandi, and his young son from the kingdom.
The wicked wives were happy because they thought they had finally seen the end of Nandi. Nandi humbly left the kingdom. While on exile, Nandi remained steadfast, and continued to raise her son Chaka with love, discipline, and obedience. She raised him with the kind of training and guidance a royal heir deserved. Her many sacrifices were paid back when her son grew up, and returned to take his rightful place in his father's kingdom. His father was pleased to see him, and welcomed him and his mother back home. The wicked wives confessed to their lies, and were condemned to public humiliation and death. Nandi and the king lived the remaining of their lives together, and Chaka grew up to become the famous Chaka Zulu the greatest of all Zulu kings.
