Umthlangana (? - 1828) (also known as Mahlangane ?) was a Zulu prince - the son of Senzangakona, a brother of Shaka, and half-brother of Dingane and Mpande. He assisted Dingane and Shaka's induna (advisor) Mbopa in Shaka's assassination in 1828, and was himself assassinated by Dingane shortly afterwards.
Before this embassy started, news came that Chaka had been murdered (23rd of September 1828) at a military kraal on the Umvote about fifty miles from Port Natal.
Chaka was a victim to a conspiracy by his half brothers Dingaan and Umthlangana, while a short time afterwards Dingaan murdered Umthlangana, overcame the opposition of a third brother, and made himself king of the Zulu.
Bloodstained as had been Chaka's rule, that of Dingaan appears to have exceeded it in wanton cruelty, as is attested.
The demoralised state of many such refugee clans undoubtedly made them easy for both the British and the Voortrekkers to subjugate, and thus indirectly advanced the cause of colonialism, with the Anglo-Zulu War.
Although Shaka made preliminary contacts with Europeans from the British Empire, he was killed by his half-brother and successor Dingane with help from another brother Umthlangana (Mahlangane) and his induna (advisor) Mbopa before he could test his strategic brilliance against an army equipped with flintlock muskets.
His successors got plenty such opportunities, both against the Voortrekkers and against British forces.
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