# Canonical recap data for Battle of Isandlwana (1879)
# Source: https://recap.at/1879/isandlwana
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: isandlwana
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1879/isandlwana"
title: Battle of Isandlwana
subtitle: British forces suffered a catastrophic defeat to Zulu warriors, demonstrating that European military technology did not guarantee victory and reshaping imperial strategy in southern Africa.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1879-01-22
datePrecision: day
year: 1879
decade: 1870
country:
name: South Africa
slug: south-africa
summaryShort: The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the second major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom – the Battle of Nyezane having been fought and won earlier on the same day by Colonel Pearson's Coastal Column. Eleven days after the British invaded the Zulu Kingdom in South
summaryLong: The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the second major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom – the Battle of Nyezane having been fought and won earlier on the same day by Colonel Pearson's Coastal Column. Eleven days after the British invaded the Zulu Kingdom in Southern Africa, a Zulu force of some 20,000 warriors attacked a portion of the British main column consisting of approximately 1,800 British, colonial and native troops with approximately 350 civilians. The Zulus were equipped mainly with the traditional assegai iron spears and cow-hide shields, but also had a number of muskets and antiquated rifles.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Isandhlwana.jpg/1280px-Isandhlwana.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Battle of Isandlwana"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Isandlwana"
  title: Battle of Isandlwana
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- war
metaDescription: The Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879 was the second major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom – the Battle of
wikidataQid: Q747589
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260621134254/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Isandlwana"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-21
  label: Battle of Isandlwana
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Isandlwana"
