In the vicinity of this hill a British force under the immediate command of Lieut.-Col. A. W. Durnford and Brevet-Lieut. Col. B. Pulleine was virtually annihilated on the 22nd January 1879 by a Zulu impi of between 20 000 and 25 000 men under the command of Ntshingwayo Ka Mahole Khoza. In this famous Battle of Isandhlwana, 52 officers, 806 non-commissioned officers and men as well as 471 Non-White troops and non-combatants in the British side lost their lives, while about 3000 Zulus were killed. This led directly to the heroic defence of Rorke's Drift which lies ten miles to the west of the Isandhlwana Battlefield.
