Zulu--MLA Style Format

The Zulu society was a group of Bantu-speaking people, living near the Tugela River (Gluckman 820). The Zulu consisted of many tribes, each under the political leadership of an independent chief (Carstens 382). They traditionally lived in beehive-shaped huts grouped in a kraal, with cattle in the center. A kraal is a circular compound (Zulu). The Zulu's lifestyles contributed to their culture, beliefs, and ways of life.

The chief of the Zulu (Gluckman 820), Shaka, formed the Zuluempire (Zulu 940). Before Shaka formed the empire, the Zulu were a number of clans which were a basic unit of social organization. The clans were each comprised of several patrilineal households, each household with rights to its own herds and fields and under the domestic authority of the seniorman. The genealogical senior man of each clan is its chief, and also traditionally its judge in peace and its leader in war. Ind

The Zulu were a highly organized military society (Zulu 941). The king organized all men able to fight into impi, or regiments according to their age, experience, and household (Mann 51-2). The impi were housed in barracks where they were drilled to move in disciplined order. The plan of attack was to encircle the enemy with the different levels of impi unique strategies (Gluckman 820). The Zulus were told their only goal was to raid and conquer, to increase and multiply, and to enlarge their territory. The king brought new tactics for fighting and new weapons, to aid them in their conquests when he discarded the old ways of the Zulu (Mann 52). With the new fighting tactics brought by the king, the spears the Zulu originally used were useless for the kings new idea of hand-to-hand combat. By order of the king, the spears were taken to the iron smiths, who were to fashion new, short blades from the metal of the old spears (Mann 53). With the impi and new fighting tactics, the military was successful and excelled in their efforts. The military's goal allowed the Zulu's empire to grow and further develop into a larger, more knowledgeable society.

The government system of the Zulu consisted of branches. The branches in the government provided a separation of power and checks and balances. The king was the head of the government. He relie

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