Iklwa (short stabbing spear) and the 'horns of the buffalo' tactic
Iklwa (lanza corta) y táctica de los cuernos del búfalo
- Date
- c. 1816-1820 · confidence medium
- Place
- KwaBulawayo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- Credited to
- Shaka, Zulu king
- Field
- Conflict
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A short broad-bladed spear for close combat, with a large hide shield and a four-part formation (chest, horns and loins) that enveloped the enemy. It let the Zulu dominate southern Africa until their defeat by the British.
Attributing all the innovations to Shaka is traditional but revised by recent historiography (Hamilton, Wylie), which sees gradual evolution in neighbouring societies; sources are oral or written by Europeans years later.
What it led to
- the expansion of the Zulu kingdom and the mfecane
- age-regiment armies (amabutho)
- the victory at Isandlwana (1879)