Isandlwana, Battle of

The Battle of Isandlwana on January 22, 1879, is the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom.

Eleven days after the British commence their invasion of Zululand in South Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attack a portion of the British main column, consisting of about 1,800 British, colonial and native troops and perhaps 400 civilians.

The Zulus are equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cowhide shields, but also have a number of muskets and old rifles, though they have not been formally trained in their use.

The British and colonial troops are armed with the state-of-the-art Martini-Henry breech-loading rifle and two 7 pounder artillery pieces as well as a rocket battery.

Despite a vast disadvantage in weapons technology, the numerically superior Zulus ultimately overwhelm the poorly led and badly deployed British, killing over 1,300 troops, including all those out on the forward firing line.

The Zulu army suffers around a thousand killed.The battle is a crushing victory for the Zulus and causes the defeat of the first British invasion of Zululand.

The British Army has suffered its worst defeat against a technologically inferior indigenous force.

However, Isandlwana results in the British taking a much more aggressive approach in the Anglo-Zulu War, leading to a heavily reinforced second invasion and the destruction of King Cetshwayo's hopes of a negotiated peace.

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