Natalia Republic
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The Natalia Republic was a short-lived Boer republic, established in 1839 by local Afrikaans speaking Voortrekkers shortly after the famous battle at Nacome River. The republic was located on the coast of the Indian Ocean beyond the Eastern Cape, and was previously named Natalia by Portuguese sailors. The republic was conquered and annexed by Britain in 1843. The British were adverse to what they saw as their subjects trekking away from their authority into lands beyond their control. After the British annexation of the Natalia Republic, most local Voortrekker Boers trekked north into Transorangia, later known as the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal.
Andries Pretorius, a Boer General who lead the Boer retaliation against the Zulus at Nacombe River, was the leader of the Natalia Republic. While the Boers defeated the Zulus in a battle, they did not conquer or subjugate them, since they continued to exist as a distinct group with their own dispensation within their own territory to the north and east in the region known as Zululand. A Boer alliance with Mpande, the new Zulu King, maintained a peace between the Boers and Zulus, and allowed for the creation and stability of the Natalia Republic.
Piet Retief and Gerhard Maritz, the Boer leaders before Pretorius, settled into a treaty with Dingane, the Zulu king at the time, through which they obtained the rights to settle in part of the Zulu land. However, he held a superstition of them being wizards after watching them shooting their rifles, and after reconsideration Dingane murdered Retief, his son and Maritz, under the pretense of a formal ceremony where the Boer leaders where told to leave their weapons behind. After having killed about 70 members of the Boer delegation, Dingane's Zulu impis went on to massacre almost 300 Boer civilians who had followed Retief into Natal as part of a migration later known as the Great Trek. The land treaty that Retief obtained from Dingaan is still seen by many Boers as a legitimate deed to the land in question. The capital of the republic was called Pietermaritzburg in honour of the slain leaders.
After being annexed by Britain and joined with Zululand, which itself was annexed by Britain in 1879, was known as Natal. It became on of the four founding provinces of South Africa, and is currently known as Kwa-Zulu Natal. This province is still home to the Zulu nation, but also has a large East Indian population, as well as a caucasian population to the north, who are generally offspring of the Boers and British settlers.
Flag
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The flag of the Natalia Republic was a white isosceles triangle with red in the upper quadrant and blue in the lower quadrant. The flag was based on the red, white and blue tricolour flag used at Swellendam and Graaff-Reinet in 1795, which was based on the Dutch flag.fr:Natalia