Shaka's Zulu Empire

Shaka begin his life as the bastard son of some chief. He and his mother Nandi were outcasts within their own tribe. When his young adult life, he became a warrior under some chief. When his father died, Shaka took over the thrown of his father's tribe with the assassination of his half brother. His rise to military power was ruthless, his armies killed thousands. The reasons for his military success is that he introduced more powerful weapons among his armies, disciplined his armies mercilessly for war, and organized Zulu society. He ruled the Zulu kingdom with an iron fist, especially after the death of his mother. When his mother Nandi died, he had every pregnant women, along with people that engaged in sexual intercourse killed. His purges got more violent. He had 7,000 people killed on the spot. Shaka also banned crops growing. Shaka's half brothers got tired of him and they murdered him a year after his mother died. Dispute Shaka's violent rule, he turned the Zulu people into a powerful nation that even temporarily give the British Empire hell on earth (the Zulus wiped out a British army of about 2,000 men in the Battle of Isandlwana). So because of turning the Zulus into a mighty nation, he is still admired by them to this day.