![]() The army that he had built devastated any force that stood in its way. Some historians have hailed Shaka Zulu’s military as one of the greatest war machines the world has ever seen. He became one of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu Kingdom and led his fighting force to land incredible victories in legendary battles around the region. ![]() Shaka established his authority over his people and re-organized the Zulu military into what became an incontrovertibly formidable force. He founded the Zulu Empire and is widely regarded as the fiercest warrior in the entire history of the Zulus. He was murdered within the year by his half-brother, Dingane, who succeeded him as ruler.Įven though he created brutal conditions for his subjects, it was his legacy that created the powerful Zulu Kingdom and consolidated a nation and its pride.Shaka Zulu was a military genius who ruled as the King of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. He imposed a year of celibacy on his people and executed anyone who did not show enough grief at the death of his mother. His actions were partly responsible for spreading the Southern African tribes as far away as Mozambique.Īlthough he maintained a good relationship with the Europeans in Africa, including the Colonial authorities, he was disliked by other Africans, including his own people, who suffered under his long, cruel and debilitating rule of constant war.Īfter 10 years of unrelenting warfare that placed incredible strains on the Zulu nation, Shaka, always psychologically unstable and obsessively worried about being replaced by an heir, finally snapped into derangement after the death of his mother in 1828. Conquering tribe after tribe, he assimilated all his conquests into the Zulu nation, making it swell with numbers and power, but also causing the displacement of thousands. On the battlefield, he developed the now-famous “horns of the bull” formation (a two-pronged attack). He introduced the shorter ‘stabbing’ spear that replaced the traditional long and awkward ‘throwing’ spear. The Mfengu called the drought, “madlatule” (‘eat what you can and say nothing’).ĭuring this period Shaka reorganized the Zulu into a military clan, and he soon made them into a force unchallenged in Southern African kingdoms. Peoples moved in search of food, and fought for meager supplies. Starting in 1800, a long drought then made southern Africa inhospitable. As the local population increased, they competed for more land to cultivate corn and to graze livestock. Not carefully managed, corn depleted the soil of nutrients. Introduced from the Americas, corn (maize) flourished in the mild seasons of southern Africa. By 1825, two and half million starving, homeless people wandered about southern Africa looking for respite. The Afrikaners and the British called the catastrophe “the Wars of Calamity”. This event was named the “Mfecane” (‘the crushing of people’) by the Nguni, and the “Difaqane” (‘the scattering of tribes’) by the Sotho and Tswana. Tragedy on a vast scale struck Southern Africa in the early 1800’s. When the Zulu leader was murdered by a rival clan, Shaka assumed the throne. Taking refuge with his mother in the court of the Zulu leader of the day, he grew up to become a great military leader. Photograph of a Zulu warrior – The Zulu people, Zulu Tribe and legendary King Shaka Zulu from the 19th century.Ĭirca 1787 – 22 September 1828 Shaka was born circa 1787, son of a minor Zulu chief, but his mother was an unranked woman, and Shaka was a humiliated and discredited child.
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