Lara was also a talented football player in his youth and often played with his close friends Dwight Yorke, Shaka Hislop and Russell Latapy while growing up together in Trinidad.

In 1828, Shaka was assassinated by his half brother Dingane, who lacked the military genius and leadership skills of Shaka.

They were systematized radically by the Zulu king Shaka, who was then only the exiled illegitimate son of king Senzangakona, but already showing much prowess as a general in the army of Mthethwa king Dingiswayo in the Mthethwa-Ndwandwe war in the early 1810s.

Militarily, warfare was mild among the Bantu prior to the rise of Shaka, though it occurred frequently.

It was from these small clans, including among them the eLangeni and the Zulu, that Shaka sprung.

These methods proved effective on a small scale, but Shaka himself was restrained by his overlord.

The iklwa-so named because of the sucking sound it made when withdrawn from a human body-with its long ( c. 25 cm in ) and broad blade was an invention of Shaka that superseded the older thrown ipapa ( so named because of the " pa-pa " sound it made as it flew through the air ).

As noted above, Shaka was neither the originator of the impi, or the age grade structure, nor the concept of a bigger grouping than the small clan system.

Upon his accession to power, Shaka was confronted by two potent threats, the Ndwandwes under Zwide, and the Qwabes.

Shaka waited until the column was almost at the top, then ordered his fresh reserves to make a flanking " horn " attack, sprinting down both sides of the hill to encircle and liquidate the ascending Ndwandwe.

The greatest expansion of the impi outside the Zululand / Zimbabwe area however was to come in East Africa, where bands of Ngoni fighting men, conquered large swathes of territory, using the methods first laid down by Shaka.

In 1817, the region was invaded by Mzilikazi, originally a lieutenant of Zulu King Shaka who was pushed from his own territories to the west by the Zulu armies.

Shaka kaSenzangakhona ( c. 1787 – c. 22 September 1828 ), also known as Shaka Zulu (), was the most influential leader of the Zulu Kingdom.

Shaka was the first son of the chieftain Senzangakhona and Nandi, a daughter of Bhebhe, the past chief of the Elangeni tribe, born near present day Melmoth, KwaZulu-Natal Province.

Shaka observed several demonstrations of European technology and knowledge, but held that the Zulu way was superior to that of the foreigners.

When Dingiswayo was murdered by Zwide, a powerful chief of the Ndwandwe ( Nxumalo ) clan, Shaka sought to avenge his death.

In that encounter Zwide's mother Ntombazi, a Sangoma ( Zulu seer or shaman ), was killed by Shaka.

Shaka was victorious in battle, although his forces sustained heavy casualties, which included his head military commander, Umgobhozi Ovela Entabeni.

Sketch of a Zulu warrior As Shaka became more respected by his people, he was able to spread his ideas with greater ease.

Because of his background as a soldier, Shaka taught the Zulus that the most effective way of becoming powerful quickly was by conquering and controlling other tribes.

Shaka still recognised Dingiswayo and his larger Mthethwa clan as overlord after he returned to the Zulu but, some years later, Dingiswayo was ambushed by Zwide's amaNdwandwe and killed.

Shaka drilled his troops frequently, implementing forced marches covering more than fifty miles a day.

Shaka drilled his troops frequently, forced marches sometimes covering more than a day in a fast trot over hot, rocky terrain.

The Kololo were forced to flee from Shaka Zulu's Mfecane during the 1830s.

Mzilikaki would eventually fall out with Shaka, and in fleeing, would extend the concept of the impi even further across the landscape of southern and eastern Africa.

Oral sources record that in this period of devastation, a singular Zulu, a man named Gala, eventually stood up to Shaka and objected to these measures, pointing out that Nandi was not the first person to die in Zululand.

This area was once the home of King Zwide, a late 18th-century Ndwandwe monarch who was eventually defeated by Shaka at the beginning of the Mfecane wars.

For example, he was to recycle his 1953 music for the ballet Shaka, about how the young Siddhartha Gautama eventually became the Buddha, for Kenji Misumi's 1961 film Buddha.

As Faku eventually realised that his warriors would be unable to defend the eastern part of his kingdom against Shaka, he decided to evacuate the area, leaving behind what became known as Nomansland, often spelled " No-man's land " in contemporary sources.

At this point, Shaka moved southwards across the Thukela River, establishing his capital Bulawayo in Qwabe territory ; he never did move back into the traditional Zulu heartland.

He became a political activist and in 1995 changed his name from Gary Lee Graham to Shaka Sankofa, because the name " Shaka " was chosen in honor of the great South African warrior Shaka Zulu, and " Sankofa " means to go back to the past and bring to the present, according to Rev.

Shaka proved himself to be one of Dingiswayo's most able warriors after the military call up of his age grade to serve in the Mthethwa forces.

Moreover, Shaka felt it discouraged warriors from closing into hand to hand combat.

Shaka discarded sandals to enable his warriors to run faster.

Though Shaka probably did not invent the iklwa, according to Zulu scholar John Laband ( 37 ), the leader did insist that his warriors train with the weapon, which gave them a " terrifying advantage over opponents who clung to the traditional practice of throwing their spears and avoiding hand-to-hand conflict.

As for firearms, Shaka acknowledged their utility as missile weapons after seeing muzzle-loaders demonstrated, but argued that in the time a gunman took to reload, he would be swamped by charging spear-wielding warriors.

At the time of his death, Shaka ruled over 250, 000 people and could muster more than 50, 000 warriors.

Shaka revolutionized traditional ways of fighting by introducing the assegai, a short stabbing spear, as a weapon and by organizing warriors into disciplined units that fought in close formation behind large cowhide shields.

In the late 19th century, Pilanesberg served as a sanctuary to Mzilikazi ’ s rebel Zulu warriors who passed through the area as they fled the wrath of the Zulu king, Shaka.

Mzilikazi immediately did not trust his grandfather, Zwide, and took fifty warriors to join Shaka.

This caused immense jealousy amongst those who had been with Shaka for many years, but as warriors none such as Shaka had realised their equal in Mzilikazi.

At the time, King Shaka ruled the territory with highly-trained warriors.