Impi
Periodically, the older age grades were summoned to the kraals of sub-chieftains, or inDunas, for consultations, assignments, and an induction ceremony that marked their transition from boys to full-fledged adults and warriors, the ukuButwa.
Objectives were typically limited to such matters as cattle raiding, avenging some personal insult, or resolving disputes over segments of grazing land.
Outside the ritual battles, the quick raid was the most frequent combat action, marked by burning kraals, seizure of captives, and the driving off of cattle.
He began to implement his own individual methods and style, designing the famous short stabbing spear the iKlwa, a larger, stronger shield, and discarding the oxhide sandals that he felt slowed him down.
He sought to bring combat to a swift and bloody decision, as opposed to duels of individual champions, scattered raids, or limited skirmishes where casualties were comparatively light.
While his mentor and overlord Dingiswayo lived, Shaka's methods were reined in, but the removal of this check gave the Zulu chieftain much broader scope.
The throwing spear was not discarded, but standardised like the stabbing implement and carried as a missile weapon, typically discharged at the foe, before close contact.
The possession of firearms did little to change Zulu tactics, which continued to rely on a swift approach to the enemy to bring him into close combat.
Shields were the property of the king; they were stored in specialised structures raised off the ground for protection from vermin when not issued to the relevant regiment.
These were provided by young boys, who were attached to a force and carried rations, cooking pots, sleeping mats, extra weapons and other material.
It was customary in Zulu culture for young men to provide limited service to their local chiefs until they were married and recognised as official householders.
This may be true since large numbers of the society's men were isolated from normal occupations, but whatever the resource impact, the regimental system clearly built on existing tribal cultural elements that could be adapted and shaped to fit an expansionist agenda.
They would build their i=handa (often referred to as a 'homestead', as it was basically a stockade group of huts surrounding a corral for cattle), their gathering place when summoned for active service.
Upkeep of the regimental system and training seems to have continued after Shaka's death, although Zulu defeats by the Boers, and growing encroachment by British colonists, sharply curtailed raiding operations prior to the War of 1879.
The later period Zulu soldier went into battle relatively simply dressed, painting his upper body and face with chalk and red ochre, despite the popular conception of elaborately panoplied warriors.
Certain adornments were awarded to individual warriors for conspicuous courage in action; these included a type of heavy brass arm-ring (ingxotha) and an intricate necklace composed of interlocking wooden pegs (iziqu).
The attack layout was composed of four elements, each of which represented a grouping of Zulu regiments:[8] Encirclement tactics were not unique in the region and attempts to surround an enemy were not unknown even in the ritualised battles.
The use of separate manoeuvre elements to support a stronger central group was also known in pre-mechanised tribal warfare, as is the use of reserve echelons farther back.
Missions, available manpower and enemies varied, but whether facing native spear, or European bullet, the impis generally fought in and adhered to the classical buffalo horns pattern.
Lower level regimental izinduna, like the NCOs of today's armies, and yesterday's Roman centurions, were extremely important to morale and discipline.
Prior to the clash at Isandhlwana for example, they imposed order on the frenzied rush of warriors eager to get at the British, and steadied those faltering under withering enemy fire during the battle.
[15] Popular film re-enactments display a grizzled izinduna directing the Zulu host from a promontory with elegant sweeps of the hand, and the reserves still lay within top commanders' overall control.
Coordination after an army was set in motion however relied more on the initial pre-positioning and assignments of the regiments before the advance, and the deep understanding by Zulu officers of the general attack plan.
His major innovations were to blend these traditional elements in a new way, to systematise the approach to battle, and to standardise organization, methods and weapons, particularly in his adoption of the ilkwa – the Zulu thrusting spear, unique long-term regimental units, and the "buffalo horns" formation.
While other ancient powers such as the Carthaginians maintained a patchwork of force types, and the legions retained such phalanx-style holdovers like the triarii, later writers would attribute to Marius the implementation of one consistent standardised approach for all the infantry that likely actually took place gradually across many years.
[18] In terms of numbers, the operations of the impi would change—from the Western equivalent of small company and battalion size forces, to manoeuvres in multi-divisional strength of between 10,000 and 40,000 men.
Whether facing native spear or European bullet, impis largely fought as they had since the days of Shaka, from Zululand to Zimbabwe, and from Mozambique to Tanzania.
[24] When the Zulu did acquire firearms, most notably captured stocks after the great victory at Isandhlwana, they lacked training and used them ineffectively, consistently firing high to give the bullets "strength."
The ministrations of an isAngoma (plural: izAngoma) Zulu diviner or "witch doctor", and the bravery of individual regiments were ultimately of little use against the volleys of modern rifles, Gatling guns and artillery at the Ineyzane River, Rorke's Drift, Kambula, Gingingdlovu and finally Ulindi.
'Impi' is also the title of a very famous South African song by Johnny Clegg and his band Juluka, which has become something of an unofficial national anthem, especially at major international sports events and especially when the opponent is England.
