In 1879, British ambitions to create an imperial federation in southern Africa resulted in a series of armed conflicts with Cetshwayo, King of the Zulu. Cetshwayo refused to submit to British demands or disband his army, mounting a sustained campaign of fierce resistance. The Battle of Kambula took place on 29 March 1879 when a British force, led by Colonel Evelyn Wood, repelled and then pursued some 20,000 Zulu who attacked in a formation known as the 'horn of the beast'. Although assegai of this kind were formidable weapons in the hands of trained warriors, they were overwhelmed in this instance by British firepower. These five assegai were taken by the 13th Light Infantry at the battle. One has a painted inscription claiming it was seized from ‘the chief’.

On 2 January 1880, Queen Victoria and her daughter Princess Beatrice walked to the Swiss Cottage at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, ‘where we placed, in the museum, some of the assegais & shields, given to me from Zululand'. Each spear has been cut along its wooden shaft to reduce its length for display.