Editing Impi (section)

==Genesis==

The Zulu impi is popularly identified with the ascent of [[Shaka Zulu|Shaka]], ruler of the relatively small Zulu tribe before its explosion across the landscape of southern Africa, but its earliest shape as an instrument of statecraft lies in the innovations of the [[Mthethwa Paramountcy|Mthethwa]] chieftain [[Dingiswayo]], according to some historians (Morris 1965).<ref>Donald Morris, The Washing of the Spears. p. 32-67</ref> These innovations in turn drew upon existing tribal customs, such as the ''iNtanga''. This was an age grade tradition common among many of the Bantu peoples of the continent's southern region. Young men were organised into age groups, with each cohort responsible for certain duties and tribal ceremonies. Periodically, the older age grades were summoned to the kraals of sub-chieftains, or ''inDunas'', for consultations, assignments, and an induction ceremony that marked their transition from boys to full-fledged adults and warriors, the ''ukuButwa''. Kraal or settlement elders generally handled local disputes and issues.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Victor Davis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGr16-CxpH8C|title=Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power|date=2007-12-18|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-307-42518-8}}</ref> Above them were the inDunas, and above the inDunas stood the chief of a particular clan lineage or tribe. The inDunas handled administrative matters for their chiefs – ranging from settlement of disputes, to the collection of taxes. In time of war, the inDunas supervised the fighting men in their areas, forming leadership of the military forces deployed for combat. The age grade ''iNtangas'', under the guidance of the inDunas, formed the basis for the systematic regimental organisation that would become known worldwide as the impi.<ref name="Morris, 32-67">Morris, 32–67</ref>

===Limited nature of early tribal warfare===
Warfare was of low intensity among the KwaZulu Natal tribes prior to the rise of Shaka, though it occurred frequently. Objectives were typically limited to such matters as [[cattle raiding]], avenging some personal insult, or resolving disputes over segments of grazing land. Generally a loose mob, called an ''impi'' participated in these [[melee]]s. There were no campaigns of extermination against the defeated. They simply moved on to other open spaces on the [[veld]]t, and equilibrium was restored. 

The bow and arrow were known but seldom used. Warfare, like the hunt, depended on skilled spearmen and trackers. The primary weapon was a thin {{convert|6|ft|m|adj=on| spell=in}} throwing spear, the ''[[assegai]]''; several were carried into combat. Defensive equipment included a small cowhide shield, which was later improved by King Shaka. Many battles were prearranged, with the clan warriors meeting at an agreed place and time while women and children of the clan watched from some distance away. Ritualized taunts, single combats and tentative charges were the typical pattern. If the affair did not dissipate before, one side might find enough courage to mount a sustained attack and drive their enemies. Casualties were usually light. The defeated clan might pay in lands or cattle and have captives to be ransomed but extermination and mass casualties were rare. Tactics were rudimentary. 

Outside the ritual battles, the quick raid was the most frequent combat action, marked by burning kraals, seizure of captives, and the driving off of cattle. Pastoral herders and light agriculturalists, the Bantu did not usually build permanent fortifications to fend off enemies. A clan under threat simply packed their meagre material possessions, rounded up their cattle and fled until the [[Looting|marauders]] were gone. If the marauders did not stay to permanently dispossess them of grazing areas, the fleeing clan might return to rebuild in a day or two. The genesis of the Zulu impi thus lies in tribal structures existing long before the coming of Europeans or the Shaka era.<ref name="Morris, 32-67"/>

===Rise of Dingiswayo===

In the early 19th century, a combination of factors began to change the customary pattern. These included rising populations, the growth of white settlement and slaving that dispossessed native peoples both at the Cape and in Portuguese Mozambique, and the rise of ambitious "new men." One such man, a warrior called Dingiswayo (''the Troubled One'') of the Mthethwa rose to prominence. Historians such as Donald Morris hold that his political genius laid the basis for a relatively light hegemony. This was established through a combination of diplomacy and conquest, using not extermination or slavery, but strategic reconciliation and judicious force of arms. This hegemony reduced the frequent feuding and fighting among the small clans in the Mthethwa's orbit, transferring their energies to more centralised forces. Under Dingiswayo the age grades came to be regarded as military drafts, deployed more frequently to maintain the new order. It was from these small clans, including among them the [[eLangeni]] and the Zulu, that Shaka sprung.<ref name="Morris, 32-67"/>