Okay...I've been dying to make this thread for a while. This thread is to celebrate the many African descent warriors WORLD WIDE that have made their mark on history by being fearless,ruthless, cunning and strong. From great military leaders, kings/queens,hero's, strategist, slave resistant leaders, freedom fighters, conquerors,etc. We celebrate them all in this thread. Whether it be during Ancient times or modern times. All can contribute...Again this thread is to celebrate African/Black warriors world wide!


Enjoy...

First up....

Bai Bureh(Sierra Leone)

As a ruler, Bureh never wanted to cooperate with the British who were living in the capital city of Freetown. Bai Bureh refused to recognise a peace treaty the British had negotiated with the Limba without his participation; and on one occasion, his warrior fighters raided the British troops across the border into French Guinea. On January 1, 1893, the British colonials instituted a Hut Tax in Sierra Leone and throughout British-controlled Africa. The tax could be paid in either money, grain, stock or labor. Many Africans had to work as laborers to pay the tax. The Hut Tax enabled the British to build roads, towns, railways and other infrastructure amenities in British-controlled Sierra Leone.
Bai Bureh refused to recognise the hut tax that the British had imposed. He did not believe the Sierra Leonean people had a duty to pay taxes to foreigners and he wanted all British to return to Britain and let the Sierra Leoneans solve their own problems. After refusing to pay his taxes on several occasions, the British issued a warrant to arrest Bureh. When the British Governor to Sierra Leone, Sir Frederic Cardew, offered the princely sum of one hundred pounds as a reward for his capture, Bai Bureh reciprocated by offering the even more staggering sum of five hundred pounds for the capture of the governor. In 1898, Bureh declared war on British in Sierra Leone. The war later became known as the Hut Tax War of 1898.
Most of Bureh's fighters came from several temne and Loko villages under his command, but other fighters came from Limba, Kissi and Kuranko villages, sent to his aid. Bai Bureh's men not only killed the British soldiers but also killed dozens of Creoles who were living in Northern Sierra Leone because it was thought by the indigenous people of Sierra Leone that they supported the British. One of the most notable Creole people who was killed by Bai Bureh's warriors was a trader John "Johnny" Taylor, who was killed in his house in Northern Sierra Leone.
Bai Bureh had the advantage over the vastly more powerful British for several months of the war. By 19 February, 1898, Bai Bureh's forces had completely severed the British line of communication between Freetown and Port Loko. They blocked the road and the river from Freetown. Despite their arrest warrant, the British forces failed to defeat Bureh and his supporters. Hundreds of British troops were killed, and hundreds of Bureh's fighters also died during the war.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bai_Bureh

Samori Ture( Wassoulou Empire)


[Born about 1830 in Sanankaro, a village southeast of Kankan in present-day Guinea, Samori Ture chose the path of confrontation, using warfare and diplomacy, to deal with the French colonial incursion into West Africa and established himself as the leading African opponent of European imperialism.

Samori's parents were traders and he followed this occupation until he was 20. Learning that his mother was captured in a slave raid, he offered to serve in her captor Sori Birama's army in exchange for his mother's release. Attaining the position of commander and displaying extraordinary military skill and prowess, he and his mother were subsequently released. Coupled with his experience as a trader, these two qualities were to serve him in good stead as he built his army.

Samori Ture observed that the Malinke peoples were disorganized and that there was no single chief with the ability to unite them. Declaring himself independent of Sori Birama, Samori Ture gained the support of an increasing number of Malinke chiefs for his vision of Malinke unity, and patiently began to construct an empire. Samori employed the triple thrust of persuasion, threat, and war, in the same way as Sundiata did in Mali, to expand the Mandinka state.

Utilizing a combination of traditional and innovative methods, Samori effectively organized the Malinke chiefdoms into a single state under his undisputed authority. At the core was the army, with Samori as both commander-in-chief as well as the head of state. This innovation intensified loyalty to the state, with primary allegiance to Samori.

Revolutionary and efficient at that time, Samori's organization of the state was a pyramid structure with him at the apex, which allowed him to exercise rigid and effective control as never seen before in the Western Sudan. Between 1852 and 1882, Samori Ture created the Mandinka Empire.

In 1881, Samori extended the empire to the east as far as Sikasso (in Mali); to the west, up to the Futa Djallon Empire (close to the middle of modern Guinea); to the north, from Kankan to Bamako (in Mali); to the south, up to the borders of present-day Sierra Leone and Liberia.

In the second half of the nineteenth century, European powers decided to establish colonies in West Africa and could not tolerate strong states like the Mandika Empire and for the same reason, strong leaders like Samori Ture.

Samori developed a powerful, virtually professional army equipped with European arms and trained in modern methods of warfare. The army was divided into two flanks, the infantry or sofa, with 30,000 to 35,000 men, and the cavalry or sere of 3,000 men. Each wing was further subdivided into permanent units, fostering camaraderie among members and loyalty to both the local leaders and Samori himself.

In 1882, at the height of the Mandinka Empire, the French found their excuse. Samori Ture refused to comply with their order to withdraw from an important market center, Kenyeran, which his army had blockaded.

Between 1882 and 1885, Samori Ture fought the French, ending with a treaty in 1886 and then again in 1887.

In 1888, he took up arms again when the French reneged on the treaty by attempting to foster rebellion within the empire.

In 1890, he reorganized the army and concluded a treaty with the British in Sierra Leone, where he obtained modern weapons. He now stressed defense and employed guerilla tactics.

In 1891, with his improved weaponry and reorganized army, he defeated the French.

In 1892, French forces overran the major centers of the Mandinka empire, leaving death and destruction in their wake.

In 1893, deciding that the east was the only direction for expansion of the Mandinka empire, Samori moved the capital from Bisandougou to Dabakala.

In 1894, the final push by the French brought together all their troops in the Western Sudan to concentrate on Samori's remaining territories. Samori's army fought valiantly but was no match for the power of the French at full strength.

In 1898, Samori, forced to fight a total war against innumerable odds, was captured and exiled to Gabon, where he died two years later.

French colonialism triumphed, as one of the most resolute resistance movements against European colonization ended.

In 1959, Charles de Gaulle became president of France. Under his constitution, it was proposed that a French Community, with the relationship between France and the colonies similar to that of the British Commonwealth, be established. The colonies could accept or reject the proposal, in which case, France would cease all aid.

All the territories voted "Yes," with the exception of Guinea under the leadership of Samori Ture's grandson, Sekou Ture.
Source:
http://blackhistorypages.net/pages/samoriture.php

King Taharqa(Kushite)
[img]http://streetknowledge.files./2008/03/taharqa2.jpg[/img]
Taharqa's 26 year reign stands out from any other in the Third Intermediate Period by the extent of the building program he implemented in the first sixteen years of his reign, and the extent of the fighting against the Assyrians in the later years. Taharqa invested considerable resources into celebrating the glory of Amon, first in his native Kingdom of Napata, later in his Egyptian territories as well. Respectful of Egypt's cultural heritage, Taharqa set out to draw on the traditions of the Old and Middle Kingdoms, using new materials (previous Intermediate Period cash-strapped kings had taken to pilfering stone from older buildings) to restore and build anew. In the kingdom of Napata, he built in every important site: Sanam, Napata, Abu Dom, and Kawa. In Kawa particularly, he rebuilt and expanded a temple complex that became the second most important in Kush. In Egypt, it’s at Karnak that he made the greatest impact, thanks to the man he installed as Mayor of the City: the great Nubian Mentuemhet, a man who took an extraordinary pride out of his title as a fourth prophet to Amon. At Karnak, the Sacred Lake structures, the kiosk in the first court, and the colonnades at the temple entrance are all owed to Taharqa and Mentuemhet. Memphis, the capital of the Old Kingdom and royal residence of Kushite kings also received much attention, respecting the importance of Ptah, despite the Kushite's devotion to Amun.
Taharqa also warred against the Assyrians in Sydon around 677 BC which caused Esarhaddon’s campaigns against Lower Egypt in the following years. In 674 BC, King Esarhaddon of Assyria, angered over the Egyptian interference with his vassal states in Palestine and attacked Egypt. Taharqa swiftly rebuked their advance, and caused the invaders to retreat. But another three years later, in 671 BC, the Assyrians try again and succeed. The Delta subsequently falls into Assyrian possession while Taharqa escapes to Thebes. The Assyrians take Memphis, capture the royal queen and the crown prince and establish native puppet-chieftains and their representatives in all key positions. In Sais, a certain prince Nekau (Necho) swears allegiance to the Assyrians and his son is sent to Assyria for political training. As soon as the Assyrians leave the country to their Egyptian vassals, Taharqa drives his forces north again and regains full control of Egypt. In 669 BC Taharqa would have restored his rule over the complete Delta-region. In 667 BC, the Assyrians come back though, pushing much further south this time.

Taharqa flees to Napata this time and the Assyrians once again get Egyptian governors to pledge allegiance to Assyria. When they leave again, several local kings and governors plot to bring Taharqa back. But this time, the Assyrians squelch the insurrection by having all plotters assassinated. The only surviving Egyptian is Nekau, who had prudently abstained from participating in the plot while his son (the future Psamtik I) was still in the hands of the Assyrians. Taharqa now was betrayed a second time by the alien chiefs of the Delta and abandoned his hopes of ever regaining Egypt. Mentuemhet, the governor of Thebes, remained loyal to Taharqa, as did the Divine Adoratrice of Amon. (Text by Bart v. A.)
Source:
http://euler.slu.edu/~bart/egyptianhtml/kings%20and%20Queens/Taharqa.html

^^^Will Smith was originally suppose to do a movie playing the King, but sadly the film seems it won't be happening.

Nat Turner(African American)


Believing in signs and hearing divine voices, Turner had a vision in 1825 of a bloody conflict between black and white spirits. Three years later, he had what he believed to be another message from God. In his later confession, Turner explained "the Spirit instantly appeared to me and said the Serpent was loosened, and Christ had laid down the yoke he had borne for the sins of men, and that I should take it on and fight against the Serpent. " Turner would receive another sign to tell him when to fight, but this latest message meant "I should arise and prepare myself and slay my enemies with their own weapons."

Turner took a solar eclipse that occurred in February 1831 as a signal that the time to rise up had come. He recruited several other slaves to join him in his cause. On August 21, 1831, Turner and his supporters began their revolt against white slave owners with the killing the Travis family. Turner gathered more supporters—growing to a group of up to 40 or 50 slaves—as he and his men continued their murder spree through the county. They were able to secure arms and horses from those they killed. Most sources say that about 55 white men, women and children died during Turner's rebellion.

Initially Turner had planned to reach the county seat of Jerusalem and take over the armory there, but he and his men were foiled in this plan. They faced off against a group of armed white men at a plantation near Jerusalem, and the conflict soon dissolved into chaos.
Source:
http://www.biography.com/people/nat-turner-9512211?page=1

Please do tha bloods & tha crips next

pleep: Please do tha bloods $ tha crips next

Alright!

Tookie Williams(Crip)

That same year, Williams and three fellow gang members, under the influence of PCP-laced cigarettes, drove to a convenience store with the intention of robbing the clerk. According to later police reports, 26-year-old store clerk Albert Owens was walked into a back room by Williams while the other members of the gang took money from the register. Williams then shot out the security monitor in the back room and killed Owens with two execution-style shots to the back. The group made $120 from the transaction. Williams later denied killing Owens.

On March 11 of that same year, prosecutors say Williams broke into the office of the Brookhaven Motel in Los Angeles. Once inside, he allegedly killed three members of the Taiwanese family who owned and operated the motel. A ballistics expert linked the shotgun shell at the motel to Williams' gun, and several gang members testified that Williams had bragged about the crime. Williams denied this shooting as well, claiming that he was framed by other Crips members.
Source:
http://www.biography.com/people/stanley-tookie-williams-476676?page=2

Caaaaaariiiiiiiiiiiiiiip!!!!!

Monster Kody(Eight Tray Gangster Crips)

As a new member of the Crips Kody was mentored in the ways of gangbanging by Tray Ball. In 1977, at age thirteen, Kody and Tray Ball attempted to rob an older African American man walking through their neighborhood. The man punched Kody in the face and, after being physically restrained by Tray Ball when he attempted to run, Kody kicked and stomped the man for approximately twenty minutes. Kody's vicious attack left the man in a coma with his face permanently disfigured. According to Kody, Crips present at the crime scene overheard police officers saying that whoever assaulted the man was a "monster" and reported this back to Kody. From that point on other members of the ETG's referred to Kody as "Monster" and Kody took the name as a street moniker.
Kody's first arrest occurred in 1978 at age 14 after he shot at the employee of a fast-food restaurant who had assaulted his younger brother, Kershawn, and later assaulted and pulled a gun on Kody (Kershawn Scott later joined the Eight-Trays and assumed the nickname Lil' Monster). A week after being released from jail Kody was arrested again after being falsely accused of shooting a member of the Inglewood Family Bloods while he and other members of the Crips were on their way to a roller skating rink in Compton, California. On February 14, 1979 Kody was arrested for assault and grand theft auto and served nine months at Camp Munz in Lake Hughes, California.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanyika_Shakur

Hey this is the DEADLIEST WARRIORS....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEFYWyJ70k8

lol...Anyways back to being serious.

The Candaces of Meroe(Kushite)

Most scholars would dismiss the accounts of Herodotus, Strabo, and Diodorous as compelling evidence to support the existence of women warriors in Africa, although all three ancient writers have proved accurate in the great majority of their testable observations about life in the centuries before Christ. As time progresses, the evidence supporting the presence of a tradition of African women warriors grows in its persuasiveness.

An impressive series of Nubian warrior queens, queen regents, and queen mothers, known as kentakes (Greek: Candace" Candake", are only appearing to the light of history through the ongoing deciphering of the Merotic script. They controlled what is now Ethiopia, Sudan, and parts of Egypt. One of the earliest references to the kentakes comes from 332 B.C. when Alexander the Great set his sights on the rich kingdom of Nubia.

The presiding kentakes, known in history as "Black Queen Candace of Nubia," designed a battle plan to counter Alexander's advance. She placed her armies and waited on a war elephant for the Macedonian conqueror to appear for battle. Alexander approached the field from a low ridge, but when he saw the Black Queen's army displayed in a brilliant military formation before him, he stopped. After studying the array of warriors waiting with such deadly precision and realizing that to challenge the kentakes could quite possibly be fatal, he turned his armies away from Nubia toward a successful campaign in Egypt.

Bas-reliefs dated to about 170 B.C. reveal kentakes Shanakdakheto, dressed in armor and wielding a spear in battle. She did not rule as queen regent or queen mother but as a fully independent ruler. Her husband was her consort. In bas-reliefs found in the ruines of building projects she commissioned, Shanakdakheto is portrayed both alone as well as with her husband and son, who would inherit the throne by her passing. The following African queens were known to the Greco-Roman world as the "Candaces": Amanishakhete, Amanitore, Amanirenas, Nawidemak, and Malegereabar.
Source: Jones, David E., Women Warriors: A History, Brasseys, Inc.; (March 1, 2000)
Source:
http://wysinger.homestead.com/candace.html

pleep post some Nigerian warriors.

Usman Dan fodio.

Spartacus

Scipion lafricain

Shaka Zulu

paul biYa

onila: paul biYa

war spoil, typical from a forest dweller

Empress Yodit of Ethiopia Gudit(Ethiopian)
[img]http://tseday.files./2009/03/ethiopianwomenbyaddisgebru.jpg?w=700[/img]
Around 940-980 Empress Yodit of Ethiopia Gudit (Tigrinya: Yodit, Judith) is a semi-legendary non-Christian queen (flourished c.960) who laid waste to Axum and its countryside, destroyed churches and monuments, and attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling Axumite dynasty. Her deeds are recorded in the oral tradition and mentioned incidentally in various historical accounts.

The accounts of Gudit are contradictory and incomplete. Paul B. Henze wrote, "She is said to have killed the emperor, ascended the throne herself, and reigned for forty years. Accounts of her violent misdeeds are still related among peasants in the north Ethiopian countryside.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gudit

Ojukwu

shaka zulu

takes the crown

he killed his pple like chickens

Jonas Savimbi(Angolan)

As the MPLA was supported by the Soviet bloc since 1974, and declared itself "Marxist-Leninist" in 1977, Savimbi repealed his earlier Maoist leanings, and contacts with China, posing on the international scene as a protagonist of anti-communism. The war between the MPLA and UNITA, whatever its internal reasons and dynamics, thus became a sub-plot to the Cold War, with both Moscow and Washington viewing the conflict as important to the global balance of power. In 1985, with the backing of the Reagan administration, Jack Abramoff and other U.S. conservatives organized the Democratic International in Savimbi's base in Jamba, in Cuando Cubango Province in southeastern Angola. The meeting included several of the "anti-communist" guerrilla leaders of the Third World, including Savimbi, Nicaraguan Contra leader Adolfo Calero, and Abdul Rahim Wardak, then leader of Afghan mujahideen who later became as Afghanistan's Defense Minister.[11]
Savimbi was strongly supported by the influential, conservative Heritage Foundation. Heritage foreign policy analyst Michael Johns and other conservatives visited regularly with Savimbi in his clandestine camps in Jamba and provided the rebel leader with ongoing political and military guidance in his war against the Angolan government. Savimbi's U.S.-based supporters ultimately proved successful in convincing the CIA to channel covert weapons and recruit guerrillas for Savimbi's war against Angola's Marxist government, which greatly intensified and prolonged the conflict. During a visit to Washington, D.C. in 1986, Reagan invited Savimbi to meet with him at the White House. Following the meeting, Reagan spoke of UNITA winning "a victory that electrifies the world." Two years later, with the Angolan Civil War intensifying, Savimbi returned to Washington, where he was filled with gratitude and praise for the Heritage Foundation's work on UNITA's behalf. "When we come to the Heritage Foundation", Savimbi said during a June 30, 1988 speech at the foundation, "it is like coming back home. We know that our success here in Washington in repealing the Clark Amendment and obtaining American assistance for our cause is very much associated with your efforts. This foundation has been a source of great support. The UNITA leadership knows this, and it is also known in Angola."


Savimbi meeting European Parliament deputies in 1989
Complementing his military skills, Savimbi also impressed many with his intellectual qualities. He spoke seven languages fluently - four European, three African. In visits to foreign diplomats and in speeches before American audiences, he often cited classical Western political and social philosophy, ultimately becoming one of the most vocal anti-communists of the Third World. Some dismiss this intellectualism as nothing more than careful handling by his politically shrewd American supporters, who sought to present Savimbi as a clear alternative to Angola's communist government. But others saw it as genuine and a product of the guerrilla leader's intelligence. Savimbi's biography describes him as "an incredible linguist. He spoke four European languages, including English although he had never lived in an English-speaking country. He was extremely well read. He was an extremely fine conversationalist and a very good listener."[13] These contrasting images of Savimbi would play out throughout his life, with his enemies calling him a power-hungry warmonger, and his American and other allies calling him a critical figure in the West's bid to win the Cold War.
As U.S. support began to flow liberally and leading U.S. conservatives championed his cause, Savimbi won major strategic advantages in the late 1980s, and again in the early 1990s, after having taken part unsuccessfully in the general elections of 1992. As a consequence, Moscow and Havana began to reevaluate their engagement in Angola, as Soviet and Cuban fatalities mounted and Savimbi's ground control increased. By then UNITA held total control of several limited areas, but was able to develop significant guerrilla operations everywhere in Angola, with the exception of the coastal cities and Namibe Province. At the height of his military success, Savimbi was beginning, in 1989 and 1990, to launch attacks on government and military targets in and around the country's capital, Luanda. Observers felt that the strategic balance in Angola had shifted and that Savimbi was positioning UNITA for a possible military victory.[14] Signaling the concern that the former Soviet Union was placing on Savimbi's advance in Angola, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev raised the Angolan war with Reagan during numerous U.S.-Soviet summits. In addition to meeting with Reagan, Savimbi also met with Reagan's successor, George H. W. Bush, who promised Savimbi "all appropriate and effective assistance."[15]
In January 1990 and again in February 1990, Savimbi was wounded in armed conflict with Angolan government troops. But the injuries did not prevent him from again returning to Washington, where he met with his American supporters and President Bush in an effort to further increase U.S. military assistance to UNITA.[16] Savimbi's supporters warned that continued Soviet support for the MPLA was threatening broader global collaboration between Gorbachev and the U.S. On February 1992, Antonio da Costa Fernandes and Nzau Puna defected from UNITA, declaring publicly that Savimbi was not interested in a political test, but on preparing another war. Under military pressure from UNITA, the Angolan government negotiated a cease-fire with Savimbi, and Savimbi ran for president in the national elections of 1992. Foreign monitors claimed the election to be fair. But because neither Savimbi (40%) nor Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos (49%) obtained the 50 percent necessary to prevail, a run-off election was scheduled.[18] In late October 1992, Savimbi dispatched UNITA Vice President Jeremias Chitunda and UNITA senior advisor Elias Salupeto Pena to Luanda to negotiate the details of the run-off election. But on November 2, 1992 in Luanda, Chitunda and Pena's convoy was attacked by government forces and they were both pulled from their car and shot dead. Their bodies were taken by government authorities and never seen again.[19] The MPLA offensive against UNITA and the FNLA has come to be known as the Halloween Massacre.
Alleging governmental electoral fraud and questioning the government's commitment to peace, Savimbi withdrew from the run-off election and resumed fighting, mostly with foreign funds. UNITA again quickly advanced militarily, encircling the nation's capital of Luanda.[20] One of Savimbi's largest sources of financial support was the De Beers corporation, which bought between $500 and $800 million worth of illegally mined diamonds in 1992-1993.[citation needed] In 1994, UNITA signed a new peace accord, but Savimbi declined the vice-presidency that was offered to him and again renewed fighting in 1998. Savimbi also purportedly purged some of those within UNITA who he may have seen as threats to his leadership or questioned his strategic course. Savimbi's foreign secretary, Tito Chingunji and his family were murdered in 1991 after Savimbi suspected that Chingunji had been in secret, unapproved negotiations with the Angolan government during Chingunji's various diplomatic assignments in Europe and the United States. Savimbi denied his involvement in the Chingunji killing and blamed it on UNITA dissidents.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Savimbi

^^^Even though I don't with what Savimbi was fighting for and who he was fighting for. I can not deny that the guy was a complete bad*ss who fought with his men. He was even bad*ss in Call of Duty.

onila: shaka zulu

takes the crown

he killed his pple like chickens

He didn't kill more than Ojukwu.

Did your father fight the civil war?

Charles Taylor.


Paul kagame

Mobutu sese seko

Alassane ouattara

CAMEROONPRIDE:

He didn't kill more than Ojukwu.

Did your father fight the civil war?

that was a war

I am talking abt killing pple unnecessarily

shaka zulu once killed a new born baby for crying 2 much

he asked his soldiers to remove an unborn baby from a womans stomach out of curosity. .just to see how a child looks in a lady's body

onila: that was a war

I am talking abt killing pple unnecessarily

shaka zulu once killed a new born baby for crying 2 much

he asked his soldiers to remove an unborn baby from a womans stomach out of curosity. .just to see how a child looks in a lady's body

Answer my question now

CAMEROONPRIDE:
Answer my question now

nop

the greatest movie of all the time


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN7pc-ZgWBk


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=revBnIFMYWc

onila: nop

why?

Shaka Zulu(Zulu)

Shaka was a great Zulu king and conqueror. He lived in an area of south-east Africa between the Drakensberg and the Indian Ocean, a region populated by many independent Nguni chiefdoms. During his brief reign more than a hundred chiefdoms were brought together in a Zulu kingdom which survived not only the death of its founder but later military defeat and calculated attempts to break it up.

Shaka was a son of Senzangakhona, ruler of an insignificant small chiefdom, the Zulu. His mother was Nandi, the daughter of a Langeni chief. Information about Shaka's early years is gleaned entirely from oral sources. It is claimed that Shaka was born into Senzangakhona's household but that the couple were not yet married according to traditional custom. A more credible account is that the relationship between Nandi and Senzangakhona was illicit, and that Shaka was born in Langeni territory at the Nguga homestead of Nandi's uncle. Shaka's name is said to stem from Senzangakhona's claim that Nandi was not pregnant but was suffering from an intestinal condition caused by the iShaka beetle. Despite his attempts to deny paternity, Senzangakhona eventually installed Nandi as his third wife. Shaka thus spent his earliest years at his father's esiKlebeni homestead near present Babanango, in the hallowed locality known as the EmaKhosini or Burial-place of the Kings, where Senzangakhona's forebears, the descendants of Zulu (Nkosinkulu), had been chiefs for generations. The relationship of Senzangakhona and Nandi seems to have been unhappy and ended in the chieftain driving Nandi from his court.

Nandi and her son sought sanctuary in the Mhlathuze Valley of the Langeni people. Here, growing up as a fatherless child, Shaka seems to have been the victim of humiliation and cruel treatment by the Langeni boys. At that time there were two strong rival Nguni groups, the Mthethwa led by the paramount chief Dingiswayo, and the Ndwandwe under the ferocious Zwide. Later, probably at the time of the Great Famine, known as the Madlantule (c.1802), Shaka was taken to the Mthethwa people, where shelter was found in the home of Nandi's aunt. He thus grew up in the court of Dingiswayo, who welcomed them with friendliness. Shaka, however, suffered much from the bullying and teasing of the Mthethwa boys, too, who resented his claims to chiefly descent.

As he grew to manhood, Shaka began to discover new talents and faculties. Outwardly, he was tall and powerfully built, and his skill and daring gave him a natural mastery over the youths in his age group; inwardly, he was developing a thirst for power. Probably when he was about twenty-three years old, he was drafted into one of the Mthethwa regiments where he found a satisfaction he had never known before. With the impi in the iziCwe regiment, he had the companionship he had previously lacked, while the battlefield provided a stadium in which he could demonstrate his talents and courage. His outstanding deeds of courage attracted the attention of his overlord and, rising rapidly in Dingiswayo's army, he became one of his foremost commanders. At this time, Shaka was given the name Nodumehlezi (the one who when seated causes the earth to rumble). While in the Mthethwa army Shaka became engrossed in problems of strategy and battle tactics, and Dingiswayo contributed much toward Shaka's later accomplishments in war. Militarism was thereafter to be a way of life for him, and one that he was to inflict on thousands of others.

Shaka usurps the Zulu Chiefdom

On the death of Shaka's father (c. 1816), Dingiswayo lent his young protégé the military support necessary to oust and assassinate his senior brother Sigujana, and make himself chieftain of the Zulu, although he remained a vassal of Dingiswayo. But, as Dingiswayo's favourite, he seems to have been granted an unusual amount of freedom to carve out a bigger principality for himself by conquering and assimilating his neighbours, including the Buthelezi clan and the Langeni of his boyhood days.

Dingiswayo's death

According to the diary of Henry Francis Fynn, Dingiswayo's death (c.1818) was the result of Shaka's treachery, though firm testimony of this is lacking. However, it is known that when Dingiswayo fought his last battle, Shaka did not arrive at the scene until after his overlord's capture. He thus retained his forces intact. Zwide later murdered Dingiswayo, and, when the leaderless Mthethwa state collapsed, Shaka immediately assumed leadership and began conquering surrounding chiefdoms himself, adding their forces to his own and building up a new kingdom.

The defeat of the Ndwandwe

Zwide decided to smash his new rival. After a first expedition had been defeated by the superior control and strategies of the Zulu at Gqokoli Hill, Zwide, in April 1818, sent all his army into Zululand. This time Shaka wore out the invaders by pretending he was retreating and drawing Zwide's forces deep into his own territory; then, when he had successfully exhausted the invaders, he flung his own regiments on them and defeated them conclusively at the Mhlathuze river. This defeat shattered the Ndwandwe state. Part of the main Ndwandwe force under Shoshangane, together with the Jere under Zwangendaba, the Maseko under Ngwane, and the Msene led by Nxaba, fled northwards. The survivors of the main Ndwandwe force settled for a time on the upper Pongola River. In 1826, under Zwide's successor, Sikhunyane, they again fought the Zulu, but were totally routed. The majority then submitted to Shaka. He was able to recruit additional warriors from these sources and proceeded to train them in his own methods of close combat.

Shaka's supremacy

By then, Shaka had no major rival in the area of present day KwaZulu/Natal. During his brief reign, which lasted only ten years after his final defeat of the Ndwandwe, his regiments continuously went on campaign, steadily extending their assaults further afield as the areas near at hand were stripped of their cattle. If a chiefdom resisted, it was conquered and either destroyed or, like the Thembu and Chunu, driven off as landless refugees. When chiefdom submitted, he left local administration in the hands of the reigning chief or another member of the traditional ruling family appointed by himself.

The Zulu Military System

Once in power Shaka began reorganizing the forces of his people in accordance with ideas he had developed as a warrior in Dingiswayo's army.

The assegai. He had seen that the traditional type of spear, a long-handled assegai thrown from a distance, was no good for the regulated fighting in close formation he had in mind. A group of warriors who held on to their assegais instead of hurling them, and who moved right up to the enemy behind the shelter of a barrier of shields would have its opponents at its mercy and would be able to accomplish complete victory. Having proved the advantages of the new tactics, Shaka armed his warriors with short-handled stabbing spears and trained them to move up to their opponents in close formation with their body-length cowhide shields forming an almost impenetrable barrier to anything thrown at them.

The formation most generally used was crescent-shaped. A number of regiments extending several ranks deep formed a dense body known as the chest (isifuba), while on each side a regiment moved forward forming the horns. As the horns curved inward around the enemy, the main body would advance killing all those who could not break through the encompassing lines.

Discipline. By means of much drilling and discipline, Shaka built up his forces, which soon became the terror of the land. Shaka prohibited the wearing of sandals, toughened his warriors' feet by making them run barefoot over rough thorny ground and in so doing secured their greater mobility. His war cry was `Victory or death!' and he kept his impi on continuous military campaigns until he thought they had earned the right to wear the headring ( isicoco) of manhood. Then they were formally dissolved and allowed to marry.

The male amabutho. The young men were taken away to be enrolled alongside others from all sections of the kingdom in an appropriate amabutho, or age-regiment. This produced a sense of common identity amongst them. Each of these amabutho had its own name and was lodged at one of the royal households, which became military communities as well as retaining their traditional functions. Each military settlement had a herd of royal cattle assigned to it, from which the young men were supplied with meat. The hides of the cattle were used to provide the shields of the warriors and an attempt was made to select cattle with distinctive skin colouring for each amabutho.

The female amabutho. Numbers of the young women of the kingdom were assembled at the military settlements. Officially, they were wards of the king. They were organized in female equivalents of the male amabutho and took part in ceremonial dancing and displays. When one of the male amabutho was given permission to marry, a female amabutho would be broken up and the women given out as brides to the warriors. Until such time, however, sexual intercourse between members of the male and female age regiments was forbidden. Transgressions were punished by death.

The royal women. Each settlement contained a section of royal women headed by a formidable woman, usually one of Shaka's aunts. Shaka, however, dreaded producing a legitimate heir. He never married and women found pregnant by him were put to death. His households were thus not dominated by wives but by stern senior women of the royal family. In the king's absence, administrative authority was wielded jointly by the female ruler of the settlement and by an induna who was usually a favourite of the king. The military system thus helped develop a strong sense of identity in the kingdom as a whole.

The traditional leaders of the subject chiefdoms still held local administrative authority, and on the dissolution of the amabutho the young men would return to live in their community of origin. Thus, the sense of identity of these subject chiefdoms was not entirely lost, but remained an important element in the later politics of the Zulu kingdom.

The military indunas or captains, as trusted favourites of the king, received many cattle from him and were able to build up large personal followings. These developments resulted in the evolution of powerful figures in later reigns with strong local power bases that they had been able to build up because of royal appointments and favours.

KwaBulawayo. Shaka's first capital was on the banks of the Mhodi, a small tributary of the Mkhumbane River in the Babanango district. He named his great place KwaBulawayo (`at the place of the murder'). As his kingdom grew, he built a far bigger KwaBulawayo, a royal household of about 1,400 huts, in the Mhlathuze valley, some 27 km from the present town of Eshowe.

Economic and social changes. The development of the military system caused major economic and social changes. That so much youth was concentrated at the royal barracks resulted in a massive transfer of economic potential to a centralized state. However, the cattle wealth of the whole community throughout the kingdom was greatly improved; even though most of the herds were owned by the king and his chiefs and indunas, all shared in the pride roused by the magnificence of the royal herds as well as the pride of belonging to the unequalled military power of Zulu.

Effects of Shaka's wars. His wars were accompanied by great slaughter and caused many migrations. Their effects were felt even far north of the Zambezi River. Because they feared Shaka, leaders like Zwangendaba, Mzilikazi, and Shoshangane moved northwards far into the central African interior and in their turn sowed war and destruction before developing their own kingdoms. Some estimate that during his reign Shaka caused the death of more than a million people. Shaka's wars between 1818 and 1828 contributed to a series of forced migrations known in various parts of southern Africa as the Mfecane, Difaqane, Lifaqane, or Fetcani. Groups of refugees from Shaka's assaults, first Hlubi and Ngwane clans, later followed by the Mantatees and the Matabele of Mzilikazi, crossed the Drakensberg to the west, smashing chiefdoms in their path. Famine and chaos followed the wholesale extermination of populations and the destruction of herds and crops between the Limpopo and the Gariep River. Old chiefdoms vanished and new ones were created.

The white traders of Port Natal

By the time the first white traders arrived at Port Natal in 1824, Shaka was in control of a centralized monarchy, which spanned the entire eastern coastal belt from the Pongola River in the north to the lands beyond the Tugela in the south. That year, Henry Francis Fynn and Francis Farewell visited Shaka. In 1825, when Lieutenant James King paid him a visit, Shaka sent a goodwill delegation to Major J Cloete, Cape government representative at Port Elizabeth. Shaka accorded the white traders most favoured treatment, ceded them land, and permitted them to build a settlement at Port Natal. He was curious about their technological developments, was anxious to learn much more about warfare, and he was especially interested in the culture they represented. Moreover, he was alert to the advantages that their trade might bring to him.

In 1826, in order to be closer and more accessible to the settlers at Port Natal, Shaka built a large military barracks at Dukuza, (‘the place where one gets lost'). It was 80 km further south of his previous royal residence kwaBulawayo, on the site of the present day town of Stanger. During his lifetime, there were no conflicts between the whites and the Zulus, as Shaka did not want to precipitate clashes with the military forces of the Cape colonial government. H F Fynn, who knew him well, found him intelligent and often amiable, and mentioned occasions that leave no doubt that Shaka was capable of generosity. Freed from the restrictions that limited most chiefs, Shaka acted as an undisputed, almighty ruler. A cruel tyrant, he had men executed with a nod of his head. The loyalties of his people were severely strained as the frequent cruelties of their great king increased steadily. The climax came with the death of his mother Nandi in October 1827, huge numbers were put to death during the mourning ceremonies because they showed insufficient grief; and his armies were sent out to force the surrounding chiefdoms to grieve.

Source:
http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/king-shaka-zulu

Bussa(Barbadian)

Bussa was born a free man in West Africa, and it is possible that he may have been either Igbo,[1] or of Akan descent[2][not in citation given] and was captured by African slave merchants, sold to the British, and brought to Barbados in the late 18th century as a slave. Not much is known about him and there are no records of him prior to this date. Since slave owners almost never bothered to keep detailed records about the lives of their slaves (who were considered property), virtually no biographical information about Bussa is available. Records show a slave named "Bussa" worked as a ranger on 'Bayley's Plantation' in the parish of St. Philip around the time of the rebellion. This privileged position would have given Bussa much more freedom of movement than the average slave and would have made it easier for him to plan and coordinate the rebellion.

Bussa Rebellion
The rebellion he led is often referred to as the "Bussa Rebellion" which began on Sunday, 14 April 1816. Bussa's Rebellion was the first of three large-scale slave rebellions in the British West Indies that shook public faith in slavery in the years leading up to emancipation. Bussa's Rebellion was followed by a large-scale rebellion in Demerara in Guyana in 1823 and then by an even bigger rebellion in Jamaica in 1831-32. Collectively these are often referred to as "late slave rebellions". Late slave rebellions in the British West Indies were distinct from early slave rebellions in their scale, goals and composition. Early slave rebels had generally been people born in Africa who organized themselves along ethnic or geographical lines. Late slave rebellions, on the other hand, tended to be dominated by creoles (people born in the colonies) and by acculturated Africans. So even though Bussa was apparently born in Africa the majority of his followers and other rebel leaders may have been Creole.
To some extent Bussa's Rebellion seems to have inspired the later rebellions, especially the Guyanese insurrection. "Bussa's Rebellion" was planned by such collaborators as Washington Franklin and Nanny Grigg, a senior domestic slave on Simmons' estate, as well as other slaves, drivers and artisans. The planning was undertaken at a number of sugar estates, including Bayley's plantation where it began. Preparation for the rebellion began soon after the House of Assembly discussed and rejected the Imperial Registry Bill in November 1815. By February 1816, the decision had been taken that the revolt should take place in April, at Easter. Bussa led the slaves into battle at Bayley's on Tuesday, 16 April. He commanded some 400 freedom fighters and was killed in battle. His troops continued the fight until they were defeated by superior firepower. The rebellion failed but its impact was significant to the future of Barbados.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bussa

SOMALI SULTAN


Mohamoud Ali Shire (Somali: Maxamuud Cali Shiire, Arabic: محمود علي شيري‎) was a Somali ruler. He was the 26th Sultan of the Warsangali Sultanate, reigning from 1897 to 1960.
The Warsangali Sultanate was an imperial power centered in northeastern and in some parts of southeastern Somalia. It was one of the largest sultanates ever established in the territory, and, at the height of its power, included the Sanaag region and parts of the northeastern Bari region of the country. The sultanate was founded in northern Somalia by a group of Somalis from the Warsangali branch of the Darod clan, and was ruled by the descendants of the Gerad Dhidhin.[1]

Sayyīd Muhammad `Abd Allāh al-Hasan (Somali: Sayid Maxamed Cabdille Xasan, Arabic: محمّد عبد اللّه حسن‎) (April 7, 1856, in Buuhoodle northern Somalia – December 21, 1920 in Imi, Ogaden) was a Somali religious and patriotic leader. Referred to as the Mad Mullah by the British, he established the Dervish State in Somalia that fought an anti-imperial war for a period of over 20 years against British, Italian and Ethiopian forces.