Bathoen I (1845 – 1 July 1910) was a ''

kgosi A (; ) is the title for a hereditary leader of a Batswana tribe. Usage The word "kgosi" is a Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: adding the prefix ''di-'' creates the plural form ...

'' (

paramount chief A paramount chief is the English-language designation for the highest-level political leader in a regional or local polity or country administered politically with a chief-based system. This term is used occasionally in anthropological and ar ...

) of the Ngwaketse people (1889-1910). Together with

Khama III Khama III (1837?–1923), referred to by missionaries as Khama the Good also called Khama the Great, was the ''Kgosi'' (meaning king) of the Bangwato people. Ancestry and Youth Malope a chief of the Bakwena, led his people from the Transvaal r ...

and

Sebele I Sebele I was a chief (''kgosi'') of the Kwena —a major Tswana tribe (''morafe'') in modern-day Botswana— who ruled from 1892 until his death in 1911. During his lifetime, he resisted the 1885 Bechuanaland Protectorate"Sechele’s tr ...

he is credited with saving the young British

Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a protectorate established on 31 March 1885, by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (later the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in Southern Africa. It became the Republi ...

, a predecessor of

Botswana Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label= Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalaha ...

, from being absorbed by expansionist forces in the 1890s. Bathoen was the son of Gaseitsiwe, and eventually succeeded him as the kgosi. He married

Gagoangwe Gagoangwe (c. 1845 – 1924) was the Acting (Regent) Paramount Chieftess, the Queen Mother or ''Mohumagadi'' of the Mmanaana Kgatla and BaNgwaketse in what is now Botswana. Gagoangwe was a member of the Kwena family and a devout Christian and reg ...

, who eloped with him in 1875, formalized in a Christian ceremony in 1890. Their oldest son, Seepapitso III, succeeded Bathoen. In 1889, the British South Africa Company founded by Cecil Rhodes started to expand north, and the Tswana people became afraid that they would be eventually deposed from their lands. In response, Khama III, Sebele I, and Bathoen I, being mandated by their people, travelled to London, made public speeches in support of their causes, and finally convinced

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

to ring-fence the Bechuanaland Protectorate, which would preserve the self-government institutes of Tswana, and the British would only have limited authority, such as for example a control over the railway to be built. In 1908, he led the protests by the Tswana against planned incorporation of Bechuanaland into

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. Bathoen I, together with Khama III and Sebele I, is depicted on the 100 Botswana pula banknote issued in 2009. The Three Dikgosi Monument in

Gaborone Gaborone ( , , ) is the capital and largest city of Botswana with a population of 246,325 based on the 2022 census, about 10% of the total population of Botswana. Its agglomeration is home to 421,907 inhabitants at the 2011 census. Gaboron ...

also commemorates the mission of the three chiefs to Great Britain.

References

{{Authority control 1845 births 1910 deaths Bechuanaland Protectorate people Botswana chiefs