Shaka kaSenzangakhona, also known as Shaka Zulu and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reforms that reorganized the military into a formidable force.
1824 European artist's impression of Shaka with a long throwing assegai and heavy shield. No drawings from life are known.
Large statue representing Shaka (rather obviously based on actor Henry Cele) at the Camden markets in London, England.
A sketch of a Zulu warrior, drawn in 1913.
Shaka's methods reached their high point during the Zulu victory at Isandhlwana. Regimental deployments and lines of the attack showed his classic template at work.
The Zulu Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Zulu Empire or the Kingdom of Zululand, was a monarchy in Southern Africa. During the 1810s, Shaka established a standing army that consolidated rival clans and built a large following which ruled a wide expanse of Southern Africa that extended along the coast of the Indian Ocean from the Tugela River in the south to the Pongola River in the north.
Drawing of King Shaka (c. 1824)
Military innovations such as the assegai, the age-grade regimental system and encirclement tactics helped make the Zulu one of the most powerful clans in southern and south-eastern Africa.
The Battle of Isandlwana, 1879
King Cetshwayo (c. 1875)
