How did shaka Zulu impact the Zulu war?

Answer 1

Shaka initiated many military, social, cultural and political reforms, forming a well-organized and centralised Zulu state.

The most important reforms involved the transformation of the army, thanks to innovative tactics and weapons he conceived;

and a showdown with the spiritual leadership, witchdoctors, effectively ensuring the subservience of the "Zulu church" to the state.

Another important reform integrated defeated clans into the Zulu, on a basis of full equality, with promotions in the army

and civil service becoming a matter of merit rather than due to circumstances of birth.

The alliance under his leadership survived Zwide's first assault at the Battle of Gqokli Hill (1818).

Within two years, Shaka had defeated Zwide at the Battle of Mhlatuze River (1820) and broken up the Ndwandwe alliance,

some of whom in turn began a murderous campaign against other Nguni tribes and clans, setting in motion what became known

as Defecane or Mfecane, a mass-migration of tribes fleeing the remnants of the Ndwandwe fleeing the Zulu.

By 1825, Shaka had conquered a huge empire covering an area of around 11,500 square miles (30,000 km2)

from the sea in the east to the Ginsberg mountains in the west, and from the Pongola River in the north to the Banshee River

in the south, not far from the modern-day city of East London.

An offshoot of the Zulu, the amaNdebele, better known to history as the Matabele created an even larger empire

under their king Mzilikazi, including large parts of the highveld and modern-day Zimbabwe.