DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49271#0307
232
W. S. Ferguson
tions of pre-existent customs — in the one case Doric, and in the other Bantu. The
indebtedness of Dingiswayo, “the Wanderer”, to the whites may be paralleled with the
alleged borrowings of Lycurgus, the traveller, from abroad.
5. The segregation of the boys for military training began among the Spartans at
the age of seven, that is to say, at about the same age as among the Zulus. The pens
(iXat) and herds (dye'Xat) must have corresponded pretty closely to the companies
of boys formed at the ekandas. There was “fagging” in both systems; in both, the
feeding of the boys was more or less hit or miss. Puberty was taken notice of in Sparta
in that thereafter the youths had to sleep on reeds in the open air. The graduation of
the soldiers into Mellirenes (18 to 20), Irenes (20 to 30), and “men” (30 to 60), had its Zulu
equivalent. The group under the mess-officers in Zululand coincided in size and object
with the syssitia; and between the Zulu beef stew and the Spartan black broth (ai/iarla,')
the likeness is almost uncanny. The Zulu warriors were forbidden to marry altogether
though they might have mistresses in the civil villages; the Spartans were permitted to
marry at 20, but had to live in the barracks and visit their wives only at stolen moments.
In both societies the conception of adultery was not that commonly held: in fact a
form of polyandry characterized both. Men in Sparta as well as in Zululand were
compelled to marry, but whereas “Lycurgus” made dowries illegal, Chaka made them
nominal.
The Spartans admitted to their “pens” and “herds” only the sons of Spartans, a
much less intensive military training being used for the males of subjected populations.
The Zulus, as we have seen, opened their ekandas both to sons of Zulus and children
of conquered enemies. The Ottomans in their great days reserved their standing army
to boys taken in war or as tribute from the Giaours. There are indeed striking resem-
blances between the impis of Chaka and the Turkish Janissaries in training and mode
of life as well as in recruitment — a few of which may be pointed out in a remark inter-
polated at this point.176 The future Janissaries were picked and enrolled as boys of 8,
10, 12, 14, or 20 years. They were first put out in the service of the Anatolian feudal
lords till they had learned the language, faith, laws and customs of their masters. Then,
on their return to the capital, they were organized in “messes” of ten and put into
a variety of employments calculated to develop strength of body and proficiency in
some trade useful in war. Their next step was to be assigned as apprentices to the messes
of the Janissaries, of which there were 165 each 100 strong. On becoming masters of
their craft they were enrolled as full-fledged Janissaries. They were not allowed to marry
or to have any form of family life; but, as among the Zulus, this was the point at which
176 A. H. Lybyer, The government of the Ottoman Empire in the time of Suleiman the Magnificent. Harvard
Historical Studies, vol. 18, Cambridge, 1913.
W. S. Ferguson
tions of pre-existent customs — in the one case Doric, and in the other Bantu. The
indebtedness of Dingiswayo, “the Wanderer”, to the whites may be paralleled with the
alleged borrowings of Lycurgus, the traveller, from abroad.
5. The segregation of the boys for military training began among the Spartans at
the age of seven, that is to say, at about the same age as among the Zulus. The pens
(iXat) and herds (dye'Xat) must have corresponded pretty closely to the companies
of boys formed at the ekandas. There was “fagging” in both systems; in both, the
feeding of the boys was more or less hit or miss. Puberty was taken notice of in Sparta
in that thereafter the youths had to sleep on reeds in the open air. The graduation of
the soldiers into Mellirenes (18 to 20), Irenes (20 to 30), and “men” (30 to 60), had its Zulu
equivalent. The group under the mess-officers in Zululand coincided in size and object
with the syssitia; and between the Zulu beef stew and the Spartan black broth (ai/iarla,')
the likeness is almost uncanny. The Zulu warriors were forbidden to marry altogether
though they might have mistresses in the civil villages; the Spartans were permitted to
marry at 20, but had to live in the barracks and visit their wives only at stolen moments.
In both societies the conception of adultery was not that commonly held: in fact a
form of polyandry characterized both. Men in Sparta as well as in Zululand were
compelled to marry, but whereas “Lycurgus” made dowries illegal, Chaka made them
nominal.
The Spartans admitted to their “pens” and “herds” only the sons of Spartans, a
much less intensive military training being used for the males of subjected populations.
The Zulus, as we have seen, opened their ekandas both to sons of Zulus and children
of conquered enemies. The Ottomans in their great days reserved their standing army
to boys taken in war or as tribute from the Giaours. There are indeed striking resem-
blances between the impis of Chaka and the Turkish Janissaries in training and mode
of life as well as in recruitment — a few of which may be pointed out in a remark inter-
polated at this point.176 The future Janissaries were picked and enrolled as boys of 8,
10, 12, 14, or 20 years. They were first put out in the service of the Anatolian feudal
lords till they had learned the language, faith, laws and customs of their masters. Then,
on their return to the capital, they were organized in “messes” of ten and put into
a variety of employments calculated to develop strength of body and proficiency in
some trade useful in war. Their next step was to be assigned as apprentices to the messes
of the Janissaries, of which there were 165 each 100 strong. On becoming masters of
their craft they were enrolled as full-fledged Janissaries. They were not allowed to marry
or to have any form of family life; but, as among the Zulus, this was the point at which
176 A. H. Lybyer, The government of the Ottoman Empire in the time of Suleiman the Magnificent. Harvard
Historical Studies, vol. 18, Cambridge, 1913.