Impi
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Impi is a Nguni word meaning war or combat and by association any body of men gathered for war, for example impi ya masosha is a term denoting an army. Impi were formed from regiments from large militarised homesteads. In English impi is often used to refer to a Zulu regiment, which is called an ibutho in Zulu or the army.
Zulu warrior armed with the iklwa stabbing spear (assegai) and iwisa club (knobkerrie). His kilt is of genet tails
"Ready for War"; "A Zulu"; "Zulu Policemen" – the man pictured to the right wears the head-ring (isicoco) denoting his married status
Zulu warrior in full regimental regalia, carrying the large isihlangu war shield. c. 1860. The upper body is covered in cow tails, the kilt is of spotted cat, genet or civet skin and the shins are decorated with cowtails. The elaborate headdress consists of a browband and face-framing flaps of leopard skin with another band of otter skin above. There are multiple ostrich feather plumes and a single upright crane's feather.
Cetshwayo
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Cetshwayo kaMpande was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1873 to 1884 and its Commander in Chief during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His name has been transliterated as Cetawayo, Cetewayo, Cetywajo and Ketchwayo. Cetshwayo consistently opposed the war and sought fruitlessly to make peace with the British and was defeated and exiled following the Zulu defeat in the war. He was later allowed to return to Zululand, where he died in 1884.
Cetshwayo c.1875.
Cetshwayo (called Cettiwayo in the caption of the photo above), in Cape Town shortly after his capture in the 1879 Anglo-Zulu War. He was exiled from Southern Africa after his capture, although eventually allowed to return by the British government.
Cetshwayo visited England in 1882 when this portrait was painted by Karl Rudolf Sohn.