Shaka Zulu

"It's shocking how one act of a mothers love. Led to the most devastating warlord the world has ever know.''   it was fortold that shaka would bring death and destruction so his father ordered his immediate execution his mother rescued him and vowed revenge fleeing the tribe.     Since he ascended the throne of the Zulus in 1816, Shaka has forged one of the mightiest empires the the continent has ever known... In less than 6 years, his small, insignificant tribe has risen from obscurity and given its name to an all-powerful nation organized into a fearsome military machine. Shaka is known as a mass murderer - a depraved ogre whose thirst for conquest knows no limits. He has deluged his country with innocent blood, disregarding the most sacred ties of affection, turning father against son, son against brother, in a bloodbath that defies description.           Shaka Zulu was the illegitimate son of Senzangakona, King of the Zulus. He was born c. 1787. He and his mother, Nandi, were exiled by Senzangakona, and found refuge with the Mthethwa. Shaka fought as a warrior under Jobe, and then under Jobe's successor, Dingiswayo, leader of the Mthethwa Paramountcy. When Senzangakona died, Dingiswayo helped Shaka become chief of the Zulu Kingdom. After Dingiswayo's death at the hands of Zwide, king of the Ndwandwe, around 1818, Shaka assumed leadership of the entire Mthethwa alliance.   Shaka initiated many military, social, cultural and political reforms, forming a well-organized and centralized Zulu state. The most important reforms involved the transformation of the army, through the innovative tactics and weapons, and a showdown with the spiritual leadership, witchdoctors, effectively ensuring the subservience of the "Zulu church" to the state.   Another important reform integrated defeated clans into the Zulu, on a basis of full equality, with promotions in the army and civil service becoming a matter of merit rather than due to circumstances of birth.   The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill (1818). Within two years, Shaka had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlatuze River (1820) and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance, some of whom in turn began a murderous campaign against other Nguni tribes and clans, setting in motion what became known as Defecane or Mfecane, a mass-migration of tribes fleeing the remnants of the Ndwandwe fleeing the Zulu. The death toll has never been satisfactorily determined, but the whole region became nearly depopulated. Normal estimates for the death toll during this period range from 1 million to 2 million people. These numbers are however controversial.[3][4][5][6] By 1825, Shaka had conquered an empire covering an area of around 11,500 square miles (30,000 km2).   An offshoot of the Zulu, the amaNdebele, better known to history as the Matabele created an even larger empire under their king Mzilikazi, including large parts of the highveld and modern-day Zimbabwe.   Social and military revolution Weapons changes   Shaka is often said to have been dissatisfied with the long throwing assegai, and is credited with introducing a new variant of the weapon: the iklwa, a short stabbing spear with a long, broad, and indeed sword-like, spearhead.   Though Shaka probably did not invent the iklwa, according to Zulu scholar John Laband, the leader did insist that his warriors train with the weapon, which gave them a "terrifying advantage over opponents who clung to the traditional practice of throwing their spears and avoiding hand-to-hand conflict."[13] The throwing spear was not discarded but used as an initial missile weapon before close contact with the enemy, when the shorter stabbing spear was used in hand-to-hand combat.[10]   It is also supposed that Shaka introduced a larger, heavier version of the Nguni shield. Furthermore, it is believed that he taught his warriors how to use the shield's left side to hook the enemy's shield to the right, exposing the enemy's ribs for a fatal spear stab. In Shaka's time, these cowhide shields were supplied by the king, and they remained the king's property.[13] Different coloured shields distinguished different amabutho within Shaka's army. Some had black shields, others used white shields with black spots, and some had white shields with brown spots, while others used pure brown or white shields.[13]   Mobility of the army The story that sandals were discarded to toughen the feet of Zulu warriors has been noted in various military accounts such as The Washing of the Spears, Like Lions They Fought, and Anatomy of the Zulu Army. Implementation was typically blunt. Those who objected to going without sandals were simply killed.[14] Shaka drilled his troops frequently, in forced marches that sometimes covered more than 50 miles (80 km) a day in a fast trot over hot, rocky terrain.[14][15] He also drilled the troops to carry out encirclement tactics.   Historian John Laband dismisses these stories as myth, writing: "What are we to make, then, of [European trader Henry Francis] Fynn's statement that once the Zulu army reached hard and stony ground in 1826, Shaka ordered sandals of ox-hide to be made for himself?"[13]   Laband also dismissed the idea of a 50 miles (80 km) march in a single day as ridiculous. He further claims that even though these stories have been repeated by "astonished and admiring white commentators," the Zulu army covered "no more than 19 kilometres (12 mi) a day, and usually went only about 14 kilometres (8.7 mi)."[13] Furthermore, Zulus under Shaka sometimes advanced more slowly. They spent two whole days recuperating in one instance, and on another they rested for a day and two nights before pursuing their enemy.[13] Several other historians of the Zulu, and the Zulu military system, however, affirm the mobility rate of up to 50 miles per day.[16][17]   Logistic support by youths Boys and girls aged six and over joined Shaka's force as apprentice warriors (udibi) and served as carriers of rations, supplies like cooking pots and sleeping mats, and extra weapons until they joined the main ranks. It is sometimes held that such support was used more for very light forces designed to extract tribute in cattle and slaves from neighbouring groups. Nevertheless, the concept of "light" forces is questionable. The fast-moving Zulu raiding party, or "ibutho lempi," on a mission invariably travelled light, driving cattle as provisions on the hoof, and were not weighed down with heavy weapons and supply packs.   Age-grade regimental system Age-grade groupings of various sorts were common in the Bantu culture of the day, and indeed are still important in much of Africa. Age grades were responsible for a variety of activities, from guarding the camp, to cattle herding, to certain rituals and ceremonies. Shaka organised various grades into regiments, and quartered them in special military kraals, with regiments having their own distinctive names and insignia. The regimental system clearly built on existing tribal cultural elements that could be adapted and shaped to fit an expansionist agenda.[18]   "Bull horn" formation Most historians[who?] credit Shaka with initial development of the famous "bull horn" formation."[19] It was composed of three elements:   The main force, the "chest," closed with the enemy impi and pinned it in position, engaging in melee combat. The warriors who comprised the "chest" were senior veterans.[19] While the enemy impi was pinned by the "chest," the "horns" would flank the Impi from both sides and encircle it; in conjunction with the "chest" they would then destroy the trapped force. The warriors who comprised the "horns" were young and fast juniors.[19] The "loins," a large reserve, was hidden, seated, behind the "chest" with their backs to the battle, for the sake of them not losing any confidence. The "loins" would be committed wherever the enemy impi threatened to break out of the encirclement.[19]   History and legacy he increased military efficiency led to more and more clans being incorporated into Shaka's Zulu empire, while other tribes moved away to be out of range of Shaka's impis. The ripple effect caused by these mass migrations would become known (though only in the twentieth century) as the Mfecane (annihilation).   Shaka's army set out on a massive programme of expansion, killing or enslaving those who resisted in the territories he conquered. His impis (warrior regiments) were rigorously disciplined: failure in battle meant death.[28]   At the time of his death, Shaka ruled over 250,000 people and could muster more than 50,000 warriors. His 10-year-long kingship resulted in a massive number of deaths, mostly due to the disruptions the Zulu caused in neighbouring tribes, although the exact death toll is a matter of scholarly dispute.[29][30] Further unquantifiable deaths occurred during mass tribal migrations to escape his armies.   The Mfecane produced Mzilikazi of the Khumalo, a general of Shaka's. He fled Shaka's employ, and in turn conquered an empire in Zimbabwe, after clashing with European groups like the Boers. The settling of Mzilikazi's people, the AmaNdebele or Matabele, in the south of Zimbabwe with the concomitant driving of the AmaShona into the north caused a tribal conflict that still resonates today. Other notable figures to arise from the Mfecane include Soshangane, who expanded from the Zulu area into what is now Mozambique.[31]   Disruptions of the Mfecane The theory of the Mfecane holds that the aggressive expansion of Shaka's armies caused a brutal chain reaction across the southern areas of the continent, as dispossessed tribe after tribe turned on their neighbours in a deadly cycle of fight and conquest. Some scholars contend that this theory must be treated with caution as it generally neglects several other factors such as the impact of European encroachment, slave trading and expansion in that area of Southern Africa around the same time.[30] Normal estimates for the death toll range from 1 million to 2 million. These numbers are, however, controversial.[32][33][34]   According to Julian Cobbing, the development of the view that Shaka was the monster responsible for the devastation is based on the need of apartheid era historians to justify the apartheid regime's racist policies.[35] Other scholars acknowledge distortion of the historical record by apartheid supporters and shady European traders seeking to cover their tracks, but dispute the revisionist approach, noting that stories of cannibalism, raiding, burning of villages, or mass slaughter were not developed out of thin air but based on the clearly documented accounts of hundreds of black victims and refugees. Confirmation of such accounts can also be seen in modern archaeology of the village of Lepalong, an entire settlement built underground to shelter remnants of the Kwena people from 1827–36 against the tide of disruption that engulfed the region during Shakan times.[36]   William Rubinstein wrote that "Western guilt over colonialism, have also accounted for much of this distortion of what pre-literate societies actually were like, as does the wish to avoid anything which smacks of racism, even when this means distorting the actual and often appalling facts of life in many pre-literate societies".[37] Rubinstein also notes:   One element in Shaka's destruction was to create a vast artificial desert around his domain... 'to make the destruction complete, organized bands of Zulu murderers regularly patrolled the waste, hunting for any stray men and running them down like wild pig'... An area 200 miles to the north of the center of the state, 300 miles to the west, and 500 miles to the south was ravaged and depopulated...[37]   Wylie (2006) expressed skepticism of the portrayal of Shaka as a pathological monster destroying everything within reach. They argue that attempts to distort his life and image have been systematic—beginning with the first European visitors to his kingdom. One (Nathaniel Isaacs) wrote to Henry Fynn, a white adventurer, trader and sometime local chieftain:   Here you are about to publish. Do make Shaka out to be as bloodthristy as you can; it helps swell out the work and make it interesting.[38] Fynn complies, and Wylie notes that he had an additional motive to distort Shaka's image—he applied for a huge grant of land—an area allegedly depopulated by Shaka's savagery.   [Fynn] stated that Shaka had killed 'a million people.' You will still find this figure, and higher, repeated in today's literature. However, Fynn had no way of knowing any such thing: it was a thumb-suck based in a particular view of Shaka—Shaka as a kind of genocidal maniac, an unresting killing-machine. But why the inventive lie? ... Fynn was bidding for a stretch of land, which allegedly had been depopulated by Shaka.. (he insinuated), Shaka didn't deserve that land anyway because he was such a brute, while he—Fynn—was a lonely, morally upright pioneer of civilization.     SHAKA HATED THE SPARROWS AND FOUGHT A VERY VIOLENT CAMPAIGN TO EXTERMINATE ALL OF THEM FROM THE CONTINENT. HE BELIEVED THEY WOULD BE THE DOWN FALL OF ALL OF ALKEBULAN and would bring nothing but death to the continent. Shaka kept a secret police force who answered directly to him and had all their faces covered the leader of this secret police was his most loyal and trusted adviser.