Written in Sesotho, it is a mythic fictional retelling of the story of the rise and fall of the Zulu emperor-king Shaka.

[1] To gather material for his novel, Thomas Mofolo made several trips to the South African province of Natal, including one in 1909 where he visited the grave of Shaka.

[2] The original Sotho manuscript was first submitted in 1910 to the Morija Sesuto Book Depot supported by the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS), but was only published in 1925.

[7] The novel received a polarised reception initially, with some readers accusing the author of being anti-Christian, in contrast to others who felt that Chaka was "deeply Christian in inspiration and intent".

"[3] In February 2002, Chaka was named one of the twelve best works of African literature of the 20th century by a panel organised by Ali Mazrui as part of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair.