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Originally Posted by mross
Now I'm a bit confused. I thought the assegai was a stabbing spear, ala Shaka, not a throwing spear?
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Hi mross,
Thank you for your comment, an interesting point. It is quite difficult to find a consensus on the exact terminology used regarding these Zulu weapons. I admit I had only used a quick reference to Wikipedia in order to name this spear. This content is from Hugh Chisholm (ed) (1911)
Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Chisholm suggests that:"An assegai or assagai (Arabic az-zaġāyah, originally from Berber zaġāya "spear", Old French azagaie Spanish azagaya) is a pole weapon used for throwing or hurling, usually a light spear or javelin made of wood and pointed with iron. The use of various types of the assegai was spread all over Africa and it was the most common weapon there. The Zulu and other Nguni tribes of South Africa were renowned for their use of the assegai."
Quite a common suggestion in many sources is that it was indeed "Shaka of the Zulu" who invented a "shorter-style assegai with a two foot shaft and which had a larger, broader blade of one foot length" (although I would argue that this is certainly debatable). Chisholm states that "this weapon was known as the iklwa or ixwa – for the sound that was heard as it was withdrawn from the victim's wound – and was used as a stabbing weapon during mêlée attacks. The traditional assegai was not discarded but was used for a softening range attack on enemy formations before closing in for close quarters battle with the iklwa. This tactical combination originated during Shaka's military reforms."
However, a few increasingly modern books clearly state that the assegai was indeed a stabbing spear. Manfred F. r. kets De Vries (2004) in
Lessons on Leadership by Terror:
Finding Shaka Zulu in the Attic Edward Elgar Publishing; suggests that the two names iklwa and assegai are practically synonymous. De Vries suggests that the assegai was previously used as throwing spear, but by the era of Shaka it had evolved into a short, stout, heavy bladed stabbing spear with a long blade that was about 18 inches, and a short thick haft that probally existed before Shaka although he is generally given the credit for introducing the stabbing spear as the main weapon of the Zulu army. De Vries suggests that Shaka then named the assegai spear the
iklwa for the same reasons stated above by Chisholm.
Perhaps De Vries analysis is correct. This would explain the paradoxical usage regarding the designation of assegai and iklwa in naming these weapons.
Kind regards
Chris