Up! children of Zulu, your day has come.

Founded by Shaka, the Zulu Kingdom was a powerful political and martial entity in South Africa during the 19th Century. Though the Zulu engaged in numerous conflicts with not only other African tribal groups but also with the Boers and Voortrekkers colonizing Africa, perhaps their most well-known battles occurred with the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879. On January 22, 1879, a Zulu Impi (a military formation created as part of Shaka’s earlier reforms) consisting of ~20,000 men engaged a British force of ~1,800 men at Isandlwana. Using what is known as the “buffalo horns” formation (impondo zenkomo), the Zulu performed a successful pincer attack and surrounded the British forces. The result was a catastrophic defeat for the British with over 1,300 men lost. The Zulu would not have such fortune during the Battle of Rorke’s Drift as ~140 British troops of the 24th Regiment of Foot successfully repulsed a 3,000-4,000 strong Zulu force.

The weapon wielded by this Zulu warrior is known as a iklwa, a variation of the assegai unique to the Zulu and used primarily as a thrusting weapon for hand-to-hand combat and is another military reform by Shaka.