Its beginnings lie far back in historic tribal warfare customs, when groups of armed men called impi battled. However, in English impi is often used to refer to a Zulu regiment, which is called an ibutho in Zulu, or the army itself. Impi were formed from multiple regiments (amabutho in Zulu) from amakhanda (large militarised homesteads). Impi is a Zulu word meaning war or combat, and by association any body of men gathered for war, for example impi ya masosha is a term denoting 'an army'. Its highest development took place under Shaka, initiator of several important organizational, weapons and tactical innovations.
The impi was a military formation that transformed the face of southern Africa, on into East and central Africa.
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