Shaka Zulu: The Rise of the Zulu Empire

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Johanneson, B.; Fernandez, M.; Roberts, B.; Jacobs, M.; Seleti, Y. (2011). Focus History: Learner's book. Grade 10. Cape Town: Maskew Miller Longman. ISBN 978-0-636-11449-4. The male amabutho. The young men were taken away to be enrolled alongside others from all sections of the kingdom in an appropriate amabutho, or age-regiment. This produced a sense of common identity amongst them. Each of these amabutho had its own name and was lodged at one of the royal households, which became military communities as well as retaining their traditional functions. Each military settlement had a herd of royal cattle assigned to it, from which the young men were supplied with meat. The hides of the cattle were used to provide the shields of the warriors and an attempt was made to select cattle with distinctive skin colouring for each amabutho.

Shaka, king of the Zulus, was born around 1787 to the Zulu chief Senzangakhona KaJama, and Nandi, of the neighboring Langeni clan. One popular narrative is that Shaka’s conception was a mistake after his parents got carried away during uku-hlobonga, a ritual for unmarried couples involving sexual foreplay and no penetrative sex. When Zulu elders including Senzangakhona himself discovered that Nandi was pregnant, they tried to deny it. Senzangakhona claimed that Nandi’s bloated belly was a symptom of iShaka, an intestinal and parasitic beetle. The female amabutho. Numbers of the young women of the kingdom were assembled at the military settlements. Officially, they were wards of the king. They were organized in female equivalents of the male amabutho and took part in ceremonial dancing and displays. When one of the male amabutho was given permission to marry, a female amabutho would be broken up and the women given out as brides to the warriors. Until such time, however, sexual intercourse between members of the male and female age regiments was forbidden. Transgressions were punished by death. Shaka decided to change the way battles were fought. Instead of hurling spears form a distance, he decided to close in on the enemy and engage in melee combat. When the opponent threw their spears, he would parry them with his shield. Then, he would charge forward, hook the enemy’s shield aside with his own, and stab the warrior to death with his light spear. To make himself a more effective warrior, Shaka discarded his cowhide sandals, as they hampered his movements.It was as a Mthethwa warrior that Shaka finally ascended to Senzangakhona's throne. Did this act go uncontested? That is a western view and not true. Remember, 50 million people died in the second world war in addition to other millions who died in the first world war. So, who was worse between Shaka and these Europeans behind the first and second world war? However, killing in this case should be taken in the context of that time. It is something people were used to. He would provide justification for the killing. For example, those proven to be witches were killed. Kings at that time survived by eliminating their rivals. Though much remains unknown about Shaka's personal appearance, sources tend to agree he had a strong, muscular body. [16] He was tall and his skin tone was dark brown.

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exist countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained. Laband also dismissed the idea of an 80-kilometre (50mi) 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 [12mi] a day, and usually went only about 8 + 1⁄ 2mi]." [16] 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. [16] Several other historians of the Zulu, and the Zulu military system, however, affirm the mobility rate of up to 80 kilometres (50mi) per day. [19] [20] Logistic support by youths [ edit ] During the year of mourning of the death of his mother - He became despondant and suffered from severe depression. During this time period is when a majority of his most atrocious and ruthless killings took place. urn:lcp:shakazulu00ritt:epub:4d482015-e0ad-4030-bc74-46b91a01587d Extramarc Cornell University Foldoutcount 0 Identifier shakazulu00ritt Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t1fj3jg0n Isbn 9780140048261 Leśniewski, Michał (2011). "Myth (De)Constructed: Some Reflections Provoked by Dan Wylie's Book Myth of Iron: Shaka in History". Werkwinkel. 6 (2): 55–69. hdl: 10593/13652.

A Turn of Fortunes – Shaka Becomes a Warrior

The military indunas or captains, as trusted favourites of the king, received many cattle from him and were able to build up large personal followings. These developments resulted in the evolution of powerful figures in later reigns with strong local power bases that they had been able to build up because of royal appointments and favours. KwaBulawayo. Shaka's first capital was on the banks of the Mhodi, a small tributary of the Mkhumbane River in the Babanango district. He named his great place KwaBulawayo (`at the place of the murder'). As his kingdom grew, he built a far bigger KwaBulawayo, a royal household of about 1,400 huts, in the Mhlathuze valley, some 27 km from the present town of Eshowe.