The regime of absolute control reorganized relations within Zulu society, establishing a rigid patriarchy in which the native head man of each kraal, or village, exercised total authority over minors and women within his domain. By law he was the “absolute owner of all property belonging to his kraal,” and it was his duty to “settle all disputes” within. All residents of a kraal were “minors in law,” except for married men, widowers, and adult men “not related to the kraal head.” Unless exempted by civil legal authorities, women were “always considered minors and without independent power.”
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