Shaka Transforms War
1817
The young Zulu king Shaka abandoned traditional throwing spears and long-range posturing in favor of a short stabbing assegai and the "buffalo horns" enveloping formation. His impis trained barefoot to run fifty miles a day. Within a decade he had subjugated most of what is now KwaZulu-Natal and set off the mfecane - the scattering of peoples across southern Africa.
In context
Also in 1817 (3 other events on record)
- First Cholera Pandemic · South Asia · Disaster
- Monroe Inaugurated · North America · Politics
- Mississippi Statehood · North America · Politics
Before and after in Africa
Before and after in War
- Before: June 18, 1815: Waterloo
- After: 1818: Zulu Kingdom Consolidated
Era
Industrial Age (1801–1900), one of 513 events from that era on Saeculum.