Crossword Genius

One leading 1000 very good warriors (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

impi

'warriors' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'one leading 1000 very good' is the wordplay.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'leading' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'p000' becomes 'M' (synonyms).
'very good' becomes 'pi' (I've seen this in other clues).
'i'+'m'+'pi'='IMPI'

(Other definitions for impi that I've seen before include "warrior band" , "Old warriors" , "armed warriors" , "Group of Bantu warriors" , "Body of Zulu warriors" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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