Knobkerries are still commonly carried by protesters. Knobkerries commonly feature on national and other symbols in Southern Africa. In South Africa they feature on the South African Coat of Arms, though lying down symbolising peace. They are also depicted on the Order of Mendi for Bravery.
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Inkosi ya Makosi (chief of chiefs) Gomani II was born Zitonga (child of knobkerries) at Chipiri in present-day Mozambique. His mother was naNgondo, junior wife to Gomani I, also known as Chatamthumba.
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Outside Africa, the British called their trench clubs knobkerries during World War I, though their form was often not traditional. The weapon was used in No Man's Land by the poet Siegfried Sassoon as relayed in the Sherston trilogy, his pseudonymous autobiography. During the Apartheid era in South Africa, they were often carried and used by protesters and sometimes by the police opposing them. Knobkerries are still widely carried, especially in rural areas, while in times of peace it serves as a walking-stick, sometimes ornamental.
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A Zulu iwisa with a spherical head. Knobkerries were an indispensable weapon of war both in Africa and abroad. In Africa, the weapon found particular use among Nguni peoples. Among the Zulu people they are known as iwisa.
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Zulu knobkerries (foreground) A knobkerrie, also spelled knobkerry, knobkierie, and knopkierie (Afrikaans), is a form of club used mainly in Southern and Eastern Africa. Typically they have a large knob at one end and can be used for throwing at animals in hunting or for clubbing an enemy's head.
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The four became suspicious of their knobkerries, and started to open fire. The donkey kart was hastily turned around, with one Pascoe and Faull scrambled in front, and a Fairbairn and Stobbart following behind. After travelling a hundred yards, the Hwata shot at Faull, and his body slumped to the ground. Fairbairn returned fire and killed a Hwata youth.
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The Vow is inscribed on the courtyard wall and surrounded by knobkerries and assegais in the Zulu horn formation. The skylight shining through the roof wall and the sharp spire symbolize the divine source from which the Voortrekkers believed their power came. The lampposts alongside the building represent the wagon lanterns at Blood River. The walls symbolize protective arms.
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As the sun rose, colonial soldiers opened fire with machine guns and cannon, on rebels mostly armed only with traditional assegais (spears), knobkerries (fighting sticks) and cowhide shields. It was reported that Bambatha had been killed and beheaded by Natal government forces, but this claim was disputed by his supporters, who believed that he fled to Mozambique. The war cost the Natal government £883,576 ().
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The Matabele headed into the countryside armed with a variety of weapons, including: Martini-Henry rifles, Winchester repeaters, Lee-Metfords, assegais, knobkerries and battle-axes. As news of the massive rebellion spread, the Shona joined in the fighting, and the settlers headed towards Bulawayo. Within a week, 141 settlers were slain in Matabeleland, another 103 killed in Mashonaland, and hundreds of homes, ranches and mines were burned. A particularly tragic case occurred at the Insiza River where Mrs.
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53(2): 429–434. They are fan palms, with the leaves mostly circular in outline, sometimes undivided but more usually divided into wedge-shaped segments. Licuala acutifida is the source of cane for the walking stick nicknamed the Penang- lawyer by colonials, probably from the Malay phrase for a wild areca, although the term may also refer to the use of these canes as deadly knobkerries to assassinate litigious enemies.Germplasm Resources Information Network: Licuala Several species of Licuala have been transferred into a new genus Lanonia.
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There were also serious tensions between the Transvaal Republic and the Zulus led by King Cetshwayo. The Zulus occupied a kingdom located to the southeast, bordered on the one side by the Transvaal Republic and on the other by British Natal. Upon taking the throne, King Cetshwayo had expanded his army and reintroduced many of the paramilitary practices of the famous Shaka, king of the Zulus. He had also started equipping his impis with firearms, although this was a gradual process and the majority had only shields, knobkerries (clubs), throwing spears and the famous stabbing spear, the Iklwa.
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There were about 60 men sleeping in the surrounding yard – it had been anticipated for some time that Banda might be arrested – who immediately fled, leaving behind an armory of two bows and arrows, four catapults (slingshots, in American parlance), one spear, twelve batons and knobkerries, three axes and some iron bars. Although the Banda supporters had apparently planned to beat a drum to alert the general populace – who would relay the news with more drums – in the event of his arrest, the drum was never beaten. The assault group tried to force the front door with an axe, to no effect. As it happened, the door was not locked.
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The Ntabelanga Massacre commonly known as the Bulhoek massacre occurred on 24 May 1921, in the Union of South Africa in the village of Ntabelanga in the Cape Province (today part of Eastern Cape). After a dispute over land in Ntabelanga, dating back to 1920, an 800-strong police force from the Union of South Africa and led by Colonel Johan Davey and General Koos van der Venter gathered at Ingxingwa Ye Nkunzini, in the Bulhoek valley, and Ingxingwa ka Stivini, Steven's Valley. At the same time 500 men known as the "Israelites", armed with spears and knobkerries, and led by Enoch Mgijima, gathered in an open field, ready to defend their families and community. After failed final negotiations between the two parties, a battle ensued.
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