49 Facts About Shaka

King Shaka was born in the lunar month of uNtulikazi in the year 1787, in Mthonjaneni, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa.

Shaka spent part of his childhood in his mother's settlements, where he was initiated into an ibutho lempi, serving as a warrior under Inkosi Dingiswayo.

King Shaka further refined the ibutho military system with the Mthethwa Paramountcy's support over the next several years.

Shaka forged alliances with his smaller neighbours to counter Ndwandwe raids from the north.

The initial Zulu maneuvers were primarily defensive, as King Shaka preferred to apply pressure diplomatically, with an occasional strategic assassination.

King Shaka's reign coincided with the start of the, a period of devastating warfare and chaos in southern Africa between 1815 and 1840 that depopulated the region.

Shaka was ultimately assassinated by his half-brothers, King Dingane and Prince Mhlangana and Mbopha kaSithayi.

Shaka was the eldest of many sons, but was considered to be a bastard child and was sent away to live with his mother's tribe, known as the Elangeni, leaving his half-brother to rule the Zulu kingdom.

When Shaka reached a suitable age, he and his mother were sent to the Mthethwa clan, the most powerful regional tribe.

When Inkosi Dingiswayo discovered Shaka was royalty, he put him in charge of a regiment, helping to develop Shaka's military tactics and strategy.

Shaka chose a particularly gruesome revenge on her by locking her in a house with jackals or hyenas inside.

Shaka was victorious in battle, although his forces sustained heavy casualties, including his military commander, Mgobhozi Ovela Entabeni.

Already at this time, Shaka had grown famous for his use of the short stabbing spear.

The Zulu tribe soon developed a warrior outlook, which Shaka used to his advantage.

Shaka's hegemony was primarily based on military might, smashing rivals and incorporating scattered remnants into his own army.

Shaka supplemented this with a mixture of diplomacy and patronage, incorporating friendly chieftains, including Zihlandlo of the Mkhize, Jobe of the Sithole, and Mathubane of the Thuli.

Shaka won them over with subtler tactics, such as patronage and reward.

Shaka still recognised Dingiswayo and his larger Mthethwa clan, as overlord after he returned to the Zulu land but, some years later, Dingiswayo was ambushed by Zwide's Ndwandwe and killed.

Shaka was able to form an alliance with the leaders of the Mthethwa peoples and was able to establish himself amongst the Qwabe, after Phakathwayo was overthrown with relative ease.

Shaka's troops maintained a strong position on the crest of the hill.

Shaka then led a fresh reserve some 110 kilometres to the royal kraal of Zwide, ruler of the Ndwandwe, and destroyed it.

Shaka later had to contend again with Zwide's son, Sikhunyane, in 1826.

Shaka granted permission to Europeans to enter Zulu territory on rare occasions.

Shaka observed several demonstrations of European technology and knowledge, but he held that the Zulu way was superior to that of the foreigners.

Dingane and Mhlangana, Shaka's half-brothers, appeared to have made at least two attempts to assassinate Shaka before they succeeded, with support from the Mpondo elements and some disaffected iziYendane people.

Shaka had made enough enemies among his own people to hasten his demise.

Shaka was killed by three assassins sometime in 1828; September is the most frequently cited date, when almost all available Zulu manpower had been sent on yet another mass sweep to the north.

Shaka's corpse was dumped by his assassins in an empty grain pit, which was then filled with stones and mud.

Shaka set up his main residence at Mgungundlovu and established his authority over the Zulu kingdom.

Some older histories have doubted the military and social innovations customarily attributed to Shaka, denying them outright, or attributing them variously to European influences.

Shaka is often said to have been dissatisfied with the long throwing assegai, and is credited with having introduced a new variant of the weapon: the iklwa, a short stabbing spear with a long, broad, sword-like spearhead.

Shaka organised various grades into regiments, and quartered them in special military kraals, with regiments having their own distinctive names and insignia.

Shaka created ruthless determination in his army by instilling in his warriors the knowledge of what would happen if their courage failed them in battle or their regiments were defeated.

The result was, that though Shaka's armies were occasionally defeated, they were rarely annihilated, and they never ran away.

European travellers to Shaka's kingdom demonstrated advanced technology such as firearms and writing, but the Zulu monarch was less than convinced.

The first major clash after Shaka's death took place under his successor Dingane, against expanding European Voortrekkers from the Cape.

Shaka is without doubt the greatest commander to have come out of Africa.

Some scholars hold that popular depictions of Shaka as a suddenly appearing genius creating innovation are overstated, and that to the contrary, Shaka was a borrower and imitator of indigenous methods, customs and even ruler-lineages already in place.

Shaka's triumphs did not succeed in obliterating or diminishing the memories of his better-born rivals.

Shaka's impis were rigorously disciplined: failure in battle meant death.

At the time of his death, Shaka ruled over 250,000 people and could muster more than 50,000 warriors.

Shaka's 12-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.

Shaka fled Shaka's employ, and in turn conquered an empire in Zimbabwe, after clashing with European groups like the Boers.

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.

One element in Shaka's destruction was to create a vast artificial desert around his domain.

Shaka had a big nose, according to Baleka of the Qwabe, as told by her father.

Supposedly if he killed Magaye, it would appear to be out of jealousy because Magaye was so handsome and "Shaka himself was ugly, with a protruding forehead".

Shaka is the great hubbub like the rocks of Nkandla Where elephants take shelter When the heavens frown.

Oral sources record that in this period of devastation, a single Zulu, a man named "Gala", eventually stood up to Shaka and objected to these measures, pointing out that Nandi was not the first person to die in Zululand.