Request pdf terrific majesty the powers of shaka zulu and the limits of historical invention review biography 242 2001 491 493 when asked most of my american undergraduates can supply . Journal of world history 122 2001 512 514 terrific majesty the powers of shaka zulu and the limits of historical invention by carolyn hamilton. Terrific majesty the powers of shaka zulu and the limits of historical invention by carolyn hamilton 317 rating details 23 ratings 0 reviews since his assassination in 1828 king shaka zulu founder of the powerful zulu kingdom and leader of the army that nearly toppled british colonial rule in south africa has made his empire in popular imaginations throughout africa and the . Terrific majesty explores the reasons for the potency of shakas image examining the ways it has changed over time from colonial legend through africanist idealization to modern cultural icon this study suggests that tradition cannot be freely invented either by european observers who recorded it or by subsequent african ideologues there are particular historical limits and constraints that operate on the activities of invention and imagination and give the various images of . Terrific majesty explores the reasons for the potency of shakas image examining the ways it has changed over time from colonial legend through africanist idealization to modern cultural icon this study suggests that tradition cannot be freely invented either by european observers who recorded it or by subsequent african ideologues there are particular historical limits and constraints that operate on the activities of invention and imagination and give the various images of