{{short description|River in South Africa}} {{Other uses|Tugela (disambiguation)}} {{Use South African English|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox river | name = Tugela | native_name = {{lang|zu|Thukela}} | native_name_lang = | name_other = {{lang|zu|Thukela}} | name_etymology = | image = Amphitheatre_Drakensberg.jpg | image_size = 300 | image_caption = The Tugela River with the Amphitheatre in the background | map = JCW-Map-Natal-Tugela.png | map_size = | map_caption = The course of the Tugela river, from the west to the east border of KwaZulu-Natal. | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_size = | pushpin_map_caption= | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = South Africa | subdivision_type2 = | subdivision_name2 = | subdivision_type3 = Province | subdivision_name3 = KwaZulu-Natal | subdivision_type4 = | subdivision_name4 = | subdivision_type5 = Towns | subdivision_name5 = Bergville, Colenso | length = {{cvt|560|km|mi}} | width_min = | width_avg = | width_max = | depth_min = | depth_avg = | depth_max = | discharge1_location= | discharge1_min = | discharge1_avg = | discharge1_max = | source1 = | source1_location = Drakensberg | source1_coordinates= {{coord|28|45|00|S|28|53|45|E|region:ZA-NL_type:landmark}} | source1_elevation = | mouth = Indian Ocean | mouth_location = | mouth_coordinates = {{Coord|29|13|26|S|31|30|0|E|display=inline,title}} | mouth_elevation = | progression = | river_system = | basin_size = {{cvt|29100|km2}} | tributaries_left = *Buffalo River | tributaries_right = *Mooi River }}
The '''Tugela River''' ({{langx|zu|Thukela}}; {{langx|af|Tugelarivier}}) is the largest river in KwaZulu, South Africa. With a total length of {{cvt|560|km}}, and a drop of 1{{thinsp}}370 metres in the lower 480 km,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://myfundi.co.za/e/Key_rivers_of_South_Africa | title=Key rivers of South Africa - MyFundi | access-date=2024-05-15 | archive-date=2012-07-10 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710162812/http://myfundi.co.za/e/Key_rivers_of_South_Africa | url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref> it is one of the most important rivers of the country.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=MyFundi |url=http://myfundi.co.za/e/Key_rivers_of_South_Africa |title=Key rivers of South Africa |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710162812/http://myfundi.co.za/e/Key_rivers_of_South_Africa |archive-date=2012-07-10}}</ref>
The river originates in Mont-aux-Sources of the of two other major South African rivers, the Orange and the Caledon River. From the Drakensberg range, the Tugela follows a {{cvt|560|km|mi}} route through the KwaZulu-Natal midlands before flowing into the Indian Ocean.<ref name="DWAF-ThukelaWMA-A">{{cite web |url=http://www.dwaf.gov.za/Documents/Other/CMA/Thukela/ThukelaAppendixA2.pdf |title=Proposal to establishment a Catchment Management Agency for the Thukela Water Management Area - Appendix A |date=July 2004 |publisher=Department of Water Affairs and Forestry |access-date=2008-10-21}}</ref> The total catchment area is approximately {{cvt|29100|km2|mi2}}.<ref name="DWAF-ThukelaWMA-A"/> Land uses in the catchment are mainly rural subsistence farming and commercial forestry.
==Tributaries== thumb|left|British troops crossing the river during the Second Boer War The Tugela is fed by a number of tributaries coming off the Drakensberg, the largest being the Mzinyathi ("Buffalo") River (rising near Majuba Hill). Others are the Little Tugela River, Klip River (rising near Van Reenen Pass), Mooi River, Blood River, Sundays River (rising in the Biggarsberg) Ingagani River and Bushman River.<ref name="DWAF-ThukelaWMA-A"/><ref>[http://www.dwaf.gov.za/iwqs/rhp/eco/FROC/WMA7Thukela.jpg Thukela WMA 7]</ref> The Buffalo River joins the Tugela some {{cvt|19|km|mi|0}} east of Tugela Ferry at <small>{{coord|28|43|04|S|30|38|41|E|}}</small>.
The Blood River was named by the Boers, led by Andries Pretorius, after they defeated the Zulu king Dingane on 16 December 1838. The river is said to have run red with the blood of Zulu warriors. Below the Blood River is Rorke's Drift, a crossing point and a battle site, in the Anglo-Zulu War.<ref name="EB1911">{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Tugela |volume=27 |page=364}} This has a very detailed description of the river's course.</ref>
==Ecology== The scaly yellowfish ''(Labeobarbus natalensis)'' is found in the Tugela River System. It is a common endemic fish in KwaZulu-Natal Province and it is found in different habitats between the Drakensberg foothills and the coastal lowlands, including rivers such as the Umkomazi.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wrc.org.za/Knowledge%20Hub%20Documents/Research%20Reports/KV212-web-conservation.pdf |title=Technical Report on the State of Yellowfishes in South Africa 2007 |access-date=2012-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629065416/http://www.wrc.org.za/Knowledge%20Hub%20Documents/Research%20Reports/KV212-web-conservation.pdf |archive-date=2017-06-29 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Spelling== The spelling ''Tugela'' was used for most of the twentieth century; it is an Anglicised version of the Zulu name ''Thukela''. Nineteenth-century writers adopted a variety of spellings including: *Isaacs (1836) used a number of different spellings in his book, ''Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa,''<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M8VjAAAAMAAJ&q=nathaniel+isaacs |author=Nathaniel Isaacs |publisher=Edward Churton |year=1836 |title=Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa - Vol I |access-date=2010-08-08}}</ref> including ''Ootergale'' and ''Ootoogale''. *C.R. Maclean (John Ross), writing in the ''Nautical Magazine'' in 1853, used the spelling ''Zootagoola''<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=The Nautical Magazine |author=C.R. Maclean |title=Loss of the Brig Mary at Natal with Early Recollections of that Settlement - Two |date=February 1853 |pages=74–80}} Reproduced in {{cite book |title=The Natal Papers of John Ross |year=1992 |publisher=Killie Campbell Africana Library |editor=Stephen Gray |isbn=978-0-869-80851-1}}</ref> *George French Angas, a nineteenth-century artist, used the name ''Tugala'' on the captions to his sketches.<ref>[http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/2356800 "Making outchoualla or native beer, at Gudu's kraal, Tugala River, Zulu country"], a sketch by G F Angas; National Library of Australia.</ref>
Some of the variations can be accounted for by the early European writers being unaware that Zulu grammar uses prefixes, often a "''i-''" or a "''u-''", to denote the noun class of a noun. thumb|right|Tugela river mouth
==See also== *List of rivers in South Africa
;Dams on the Tugela *Driel Barrage Dam *Spioenkop Dam *Woodstock Dam
==Notes== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline}}
{{Rivers of South Africa}} {{Authority control}}
Tugela River Category:Rivers of KwaZulu-Natal