Inevitably the defenders were at a disadvantage as they emerged into the open, and a few might be fatally speared. The Aztec Jaguar sets his Maquahuital by a rock, and then climbs to the top of the hill. Take your favorite fandoms with you and never miss a beat. This is just for fun, so if you're interested, play along! He pulls out his Bow and poison-tipped arrows and climbs down the hill to run towards the Aztec Jaguar. Once he was in range and out of spears, he could easily access them and throw them. This, he says, was interpreted to mean that ‘whoever touched an ear of maize or laid his grasp upon a single fowl would assuredly be the victim of the arrow’. They crouched in this clearing with about six yards between man and man. Phoenix: And the Zande the African warriors devoted to tribal warfare. Schweinfurth witnessed a formal declaration of a war of this kind in the form of an ear of maize, a chicken feather and an arrow hung from a branch above a path. The handle was made of wood and bound with animal hides. Gerona: And finally the Rajput warrior the Indian martial artists. The Maharlika senses a threat from him, assuming he's come to raid for loot and slaves, picking up his shield he readys for any assault from the Zande. The Kpinga was a multi-bladed throwing knife used by the Azande. in victory. men have demonstrated to me with old shields or ones I had made for me, how they moved in fighting, and it was a most impressive display in the art of self-defence, in the movements of the body to give the fullest protection of the shield, and in the manipulation of the shield to take the spear or throwing-knife obliquely. Schweinfurth calls these throwing weapons ‘trumbashes’, and explains that ‘the trumbash of the Niam-niam consists ordinarily of several limbs of iron, with pointed prongs and sharp edges’. The word Azande literally means "the people who possess much land", a reference to their history as conquering warriors. The remaining warriors entered the target village quietly, under cover of darkness, and took up positions outside the doors of the huts. The Sangoans were the first distinct culture and society within central Africa in circa 70,000 BC. The retreating raiders arrived at a trot at the point where the leader of the first ambush stood on the path and they passed under his raised arms, the last of them maybe running hard with the enemy in close pursuit. This was the standard infantry weapon of the Egyptian army, and was supplied by the Egyptians to friendly princes such as Zemio. He tries again, and succeeds in hitting the Zande's shield. The Zande Warrior pulls out his Makraka and knocks the Maquahuitl out of the Aztec's hands. They were no doubt happy to foster their reputation as a psychological weapon against their enemies, especially the Arabs, who for religious reasons attached great importance to the burial of their dead intact. The Kpinga was a multi-bladed throwing knife of Central Africa. Non-combatants were never killed deliberately, although there might be casualties if the raiders set fire to the huts and grain stores to cover their retreat. The Zande Warrior pulls out his Kpinga and throws it at the Aztec Jaguar. Nero: I am Nero and they're Gerona and Phoenix and we analyze the fighters, skills, weapons, armor, sources, feats, and … The whole subject remains controversial in anthropological circles, but there is a great deal of evidence that cannibalism did occur among the rainforest tribes further south. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Before any campaign was undertaken it was first necessary to consult the poison oracle or ‘benge’, in which, says Burrows, the Azande had ‘absolute and unshaken faith’. The others go and hide for fear of becoming the prey of their enemies, should they be victorious . Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The Aztec Jaguar sees the Zande Warrior rush towards him and pulls out the arrow from his cotton armor. It appears that the poison was highly variable in its effects, so the outcome was unpredictable enough to be taken as an indication of the views of the supernatural powers. He swings the Makraka at him, but it gets logded in the Aztec's helmet. Coming upon seven or eight men armed with rifles, they will throw away their own arms and rush their opponents, though they may lose twenty or thirty men in the attempt, knowing that ultimately the rifles will be theirs. The Destruction of Army Group Center, 1944. Deadliest Warrior (2009- ) is a television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode. He did not, however, believe that it would have been a particularly effective weapon against a warrior armed with a shield, as the multiple blades would dissipate the impact on the shield and the spinning motion cause it to bounce off. The skirmishing fights typical of internal Azande wars were always accompanied by the shouting of challenges and the names of the kings and princes commanding the various contingents. Piaggia was a witness to one of these wars, from which comes their reputation for being cannibals.’ Whether the Azande were really habitual cannibals is uncertain. He swings the Makraka at him, but it gets logded in the Aztec's helmet. Evans-Pritchard was told that before a man hurled a throwing knife he would shout a warning that he was going to do so, because men did not want to risk being accused of throwing them away in panic. Most of what is known about traditional fighting methods comes from the work of Evans-Pritchard, who in the 1920s was able to interview several surviving veterans of the great wars of the nineteenth century. Weapons and Warriors: The Guan Dao of the Shaolin Art by TL Jeffcoat This crazy looking pole weapon is related to the Samurai ’s Naginata , but is not exactly the same. Hence Petherick, writing in 1858, refers to ‘singularly-formed iron projectiles, resembling a boomerang of rather a circular form, bearing on their peripheries several sharp projections’ (Petherick, Egypt, 1861). A few years later Schweinfurth heard the A-Banga, who were relatives and allies of the Azande, taunting Sudanese invaders with ‘the repeated shout, “To the cauldron with the Turks!” rising to the eager climax, “Meat! They still exist today, still using the ancient weapons of their ancient tribes. By contrast the early twentieth-century anthropologist Emil Torday speculated, in his account of the Kuba or Bushongo kingdom of southern Congo (which he believed had been founded by an offshoot of the Azande), that throwing knives might have given the newcomers a decisive advantage in battle: ‘all of a sudden, some objects, glistening in the sun as if they were thunderbolts, come whirling with a weird hum through the air. Alongside these were ‘orumoturu’, also muzzle-loaders, but using percussion caps rather than flints for ignition. Each kingdom was therefore demarcated and protected by a ring of these villages, outside which was an uninhabited buffer zone separating it from neighbouring kingdoms. "We Zandes kill. The Aztec falls back and off the hill, dropping into the field below. He estimated that a large Azande kingdom might deploy up to 20,000 warriors. A battle always began late in the afternoon, so that the losing side could take advantage of darkness to slip away. It was the long-range weapon of the Zande Warrior. As dawn broke they would call out, challenging the men inside to come out and fight. This weapon was made like an axe and because of its handle it was also a very effective weapon in melee situations. It could be thrown overhead or sideways, depending on whether the warrior was hoping to kill or injure. They also developed many unique weapons to dispatch their foes.Zande:The Zande warriors were raiders in North Central Africa. For short-range weapons, the Zande Warrior's makraka took the edge over the Aztec Jaguar's tecpatl sacrificial knife. The larger ones at least consisted of a central ‘royal domain’ under the direct control of a king, plus a variable number of peripheral ‘provinces’ or clusters of villages, each ruled by a governor appointed by the sovereign. In the words of one of Evans-Pritchard’s informants: The warriors in ambush trod down the grasses a few yards back from the path, parallel to, and at one side of it, so that they might have concealment and also room for movement. The reasons for this remarkable record of success against invaders armed with firearms are complex. He struggles to free his weapon, but the Aztec Jaguar quickly reacts by slashing across the Zande's hip with his Tecpatl knife. The Makrigga was a multi-barbed 7 foot spear. The Zande Warrior removes the arrow from the shield and puts his Makrigga Spear on the floor. ( Log Out / . As the Zande Warrior catches up to him, the Aztec Jaguar swings the Maquahuitl, cutting through the Zande's shield like butter. The Zande Warrior falls to the ground and begins rolling down the hill. ( Log Out / The thick grass made it very difficult to manoeuvre off the established paths, and in any case it was a point of honour to come briefly to blows with at least the first ambush, so that their own ruler could not accuse them of cowardice. He hurls the Tlacochtli, which sails across the air and barely misses the Zande Warrior. . Our purpose is to take you out. The defending warriors then went in pursuit, and – being unencumbered by booty and captives – would catch up with the fleeing raiders fairly quickly. The Zande Warrior, ferocious barbarian of Central Africa; vs. the Aztec Jaguar, swift moving slayer of the ancient Mexican empire. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. In the mid-1870s the Remington breechloader or ‘sipapoi’ began to make an appearance. Azande warfare was strongly influenced by the topography and vegetation of the country, which impeded the movement of large bodies of troops but provided ideal cover for ambushes. Meat!”’ Perhaps the closest we can get to the truth is to say that the Azande may have eaten human flesh occasionally as an act of revenge, but that cannibalism was not an established part of their culture. They will stand a fire that is dropping them by dozens, charging time after time until absolutely compelled to retire. Internal Azande conflict was not always so innocuous, however, and chiefs were often deliberately murdered by political rivals during these affrays, or captured and later put to death. He expressed his astonishment that ‘After having encountered so many naked people with heads dressed with plumes, bodies covered with tattoos and rigged out with bizarre or grotesque accoutrements, I was able to see people clothed, armed, disciplined, and manoeuvring with military correctness in the sunshine – and in the very heart of Africa.’ Unfortunately no detailed description of the appearance of such units seems to have survived, but it is likely from the description that the men seen by de Ryhove had been outfitted in surplus Egyptian army equipment. By this time their victims were rallying and were beginning to beat drums to summon help from friendly villages. In fact the intention of the invading force was to provoke a pitched battle, which was fought according to traditional rules designed to minimize casualties. In the mid-1870s the Remington breechloader or ‘sipapoi’ began to make an appearance. The show was characterized by its use of data compiled in creating a dramatization of the warriors' battle to the death. The Zande were against slave trade and are known for their efforts against slave traders. In fact Burrows, writing of the 1890s, refers exclusively to spears and shields as ‘the national Azande weapons’. This would often form the nucleus of a fortified village inhabited by the headman’s retainers and relatives. These warriors trained to throw and use these weapons with a shield. ( Log Out / The Zande people are decendents of Ethiopians, mostly in present day Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ethiopia is believed to be the origin of homo sapiens, existing before 200,000 BC. These outlying habitations served as sentry posts, and it was the responsibility of their occupiers to prevent the main village being taken by surprise. After the battle, the experts agreed that the leading factors in the Zande Warrior's victory were his Iron-Age weapons which were better designed to kill than the Aztec's, and that the Zande were more experienced warriors due to the constant warfare from them conquering other tribes. The Zande pulls out the spear, yanking out a chunk of the Aztec's organs. They were renowned for their military prowess, using deadly Iron Age weapons and psychological warfare to great effect on raids to gain new resources. For psychological warfare, the Zande sharpened their teeth to appear to be cannibals to the enemy, even thou they did not truley eat other humans. They continued through the second and third ambushes to where the prince was waiting. The Azande kept no livestock apart from chickens, so the booty consisted mostly of portable goods and the women and children, who were carried off as slaves or for ransom. Each side deployed with a centre and two wings, and the aim was to push back the enemy wings and threaten to envelop his centre. The Zande shield, however, protected two-thirds of the body, and when a man crouched behind it, as he did if a spear or knife was aimed high, his body was fully covered. . The Zande Warrior rushes back to the top of his hill and runs back to the Makrigga Spear he put down earlier. ( Log Out / https://deadliestwarrior.fandom.com/wiki/Zande_Warrior?oldid=47530, Mid Range: Light Makrigga, Heavy Makrigga, Armor: Zande Battle Wear, Ceremonial Headdress. Their bow and arrow are the less effective D-shape but packs more penetrating power than the Zande’s bow. . The psychological impact of the ‘weird hum’, magnified several hundred times as an Azande regiment threw its weapons in unison, may also have been a significant factor. The Zande Warrior pumps his fists into the air, yelling in victory. In one such test, staged for the Ancient Discoveries television series, the missile did indeed bounce off the top edge of a shield attached to a dummy, but its momentum carried it forward to strike the target in the middle of the forehead with enough force to embed it several inches deep. They had their own nightmarish version of a short sword they called the Makraka. Burrows refers to a crescent formation like that of the Zulus. I will also list specific, individual warriors as well, rather than just a warrior culture or group of warriors. Because of their desire for glory, Rajput warriors were masters of one-on-one fighting. Several commentators describe their desperate courage and their willingness to accept heavy casualties. The professional core of such an army consisted of permanently embodied companies known as ‘aparanga’, recruited from unmarried youths, and ‘abakumba’, or married men. In the test, both weapons were demonstrated as execution weapons. Rajput warriors believed that death in battle was their right. Brutal Finisher: The Zande slashes 2 times at his opponent, then his opponent tries to run away, but the Zande throw his Makraka at his opponent's leg left as the Zande ready for his Makrigga as his opponent begs for mercy and stab his opponent brutally in the stomach and yanks out some organs as his opponent falls dead, then the Zande yells "Naim, Naim!" Curiously the zande approaches the comanche. On top of that, it's ability to bludgeon & stab gives the warrior more options in the battlefield. The Jaguar sets up another Tlacochtli and throws it, missing the Zande Warrior again. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. The Zande people are decendents of Ethiopians, mostly in present day Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Ethiopia is believed to be the origin of homo sapiens, existing before 200,000 BC. Among the Azande this passage is the nearest we have to a first-hand report. The only eyewitness account of internal Azande combat by a European observer is given by the Italian explorer Carlo Piaggia, who confirms the impression of ritualized conflict involving little real bloodshed: Only the men go to war, with a few women – the most daring, who do not wish to abandon their husbands and lovers. Still wondering what the cause of all this extra pain is? Against Arabs and Europeans the Azande went to war with the same ruthless attitude as Piaggia describes in their conflicts with other outsiders, in combination with the skirmishing skills learned in their internal conflicts. The show is characterized by its use of data compiled in creating a dramatization of the warriors' battle to the death. The Cental African Zande warrior (who defeated the Aztec Jaguar warrior on the TV show) is one of the berserker-class warriors in the game. He swings again and knocks off the Zande Warrior's headdress. The more advanced weapons of the Zande warrior, as well as their higher capacity for inflicting damage, contributed to his victory over the Zulu. This was a variant of the Snider breech-loader used by the Belgian King Leopold’s Congo Free State forces from the late 1880s, and was captured in large numbers as well as being supplied by the Belgians to friendly princes. Evans-Pritchard’s informants described four different types of gun. These are the Weapons used on Deadliest Warrior Season 2, feel free to comment about your favorites I will post the specific warrior and their primary weapons and armor. He swings a third time, and slashes the chest. However, the victors were careful not to encircle their enemies completely, but always left a gap in their rear so that they could escape. The amount of metal as well as the skilled craftsmanship required to make a kpinga made it a valuable piece of equipment, and these weapons were usually the property of the ruler, stored in royal arsenals and issued only to regular troops for specific campaigns. The two warriors eye each other, waiting for the other to strike. Finally there was the ‘abeni’ or Albini. By the 1890s some Azande chiefs even maintained regular units of riflemen, dressed, armed and drilled in European style. The first were muzzle-loading smoothbore flintlocks or ‘biada’, in widespread use among the Arabs in the 1860s and usually acquired from them by trade or capture. We don't have time to take you back to camp. What if Eisenhower Had Driven On to Berlin? The Zande Warrior yells out a battle cry which echos throughout the area. But they quickly recovered from the shock, and by the time Schweinfurth arrived in 1870 most of the important rulers had at least a small bodyguard of musketeers. Write the text of your article here! Spears seem to have been far more common, and receive far more mentions in battle accounts than throwing knives. The region of Central Africa was inhabited in circa 190,000 BC. Deadliest Warrior is a television program in which information on historical or modern warriors and their weapons are used to determine which of them is the "deadliest" based upon tests performed during each episode. In 1858 John Petherick had found that the Azande were completely unfamiliar with firearms, and reacted with terror when he demonstrated his gun by shooting a vulture: ‘before the bird touched the ground, the crowd was prostrate and grovelling in the dust, as if every man of them had been shot’. Warrior Close Range Weapons (Evans-Pritchard). He stood in the middle of the path to observe the approach of the enemy and give the signal for attack, but on a curve in the path and at the tail of the ambush, so that the pursuers might be well into the ambush before they saw him . He pulls out his Botto and Pima and climbs down the hill to run towards the Aztec Jaguar. The Belgian Lieutenant de Ryhove described Rafai’s small standing army as wearing ‘startling’ white uniforms, and carrying brightly polished rifles (Levering Lewis). Here they were stopped by a man holding a spear across the path and shouting to them to halt as the prince was present. Because of their desire for glory, Rajput warriors were masters of one-on-one fighting. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. Nineteenth-century explorers were unfamiliar with this type of artefact, and often had difficulty in describing it for a European readership. The attackers then fled as rapidly as they could along the trail leading to their own villages, which usually led through the tall, dense grass typical of the country in the rainy season. The Aztec stops in his tracks and begins spitting blood from his mouth. The zande throws his kpinga but the … He fires a poison-tipped arrow in retaliation and hits the Aztec Jaguar. The Zande wore no armor, relying solely on the wicker kube shield for defense. Most escaped with minor wounds and were not pursued, as the real aim of the raid was not to kill but to plunder. He swings it around and hurls a rock at the Zande Warrior, but misses him yet again. A full-scale war between rival Azande kingdoms was conducted very differently. In 1870, for example, a slaving party accompanied by Georg Schweinfurth was saved from almost certain annihilation when a prince called Wando declined to support his allies in attacking it because the oracle was unfavourable. The Aztec Jaguar picks up his Maquahuitl and begins chasing the Zande Warrior, who is now back on his feet. If the ambushers inflicted enough casualties in the ensuing exchange of missiles, their opponents would turn back and the fighting would end there. Stingray Spear vs Makrigga Spear: The Makrigga Spear gets the edge. The Zande are the most independent Ancient Warrior on Deadliest Warrior. atlatl: The atlatl is somewhat like an older version of a bow and arrow.Its made so that the holder can fling an arrow with more power than with a normal bow. It was the Close-Range weapon of the Zande Warrior. The governors allocated day-to-day responsibility for each section of their frontiers to a local headman, who established his headquarters in a spot along the border chosen for its strategic position. But meanwhile the first of the attackers’ ambushes was being prepared. The Aztec Warrior catches up and prepares to swing his Maquahuitl, but the Zande Warrior quickly turns around and thrusts the spear into the Jaguar's stomach. The Makraka is a long, sickle-shaped knife of Central Africa.