The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...
established on 31 March 1885, by the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...
(later the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) in
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost subregion of the African continent, south of the Congo and Tanzania. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number o ...
. It became the
Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966.
History
Scottish missionary
John Mackenzie (1835–1899), a Congregationalist of the London Missionary Society (LMS), who lived at
Shoshong
Shoshong is a town in Botswana, formerly the chief settlement of the eastern Bamangwato.
Physical location
Shoshong is located just north of the Tropic of Capricorn at , in the Central District of Botswana, about west of Mahalapye. The town is ...
from 1862–1876, "believed that the BamaNgwato and other African peoples with whom he worked were threatened by
Boer
Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled this are ...
freebooter Freebooter may refer to:
* Marine freebooters, or pirates
* Filibuster (military), an individual who engages in unauthorized warfare against foreign countries
* Rapparee, the Irish usage
* Meadowbrook Freebooters, American polo team
* Freebooter (c ...
s encroaching on their territory from the south". He campaigned for the establishment of what became the Bechuanaland Protectorate, to be ruled directly from Britain.
''Austral Africa: Losing It or Ruling It'' is Mackenzie's account of events leading to the establishment of the protectorate. Influenced by Mackenzie, in January 1885 the
British cabinet
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the senior decision-making body of His Majesty's Government. A committee of the Privy Council, it is chaired by the prime minister and its members include secretaries of state and other senior ministers. ...
decided to send a
military expedition to South Africa to assert British
sovereignty
Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...
over the contested territory. Sir
Charles Warren
General Sir Charles Warren, (7 February 1840 – 21 January 1927) was an officer in the British Royal Engineers. He was one of the earliest European archaeologists of the Biblical Holy Land, and particularly of the Temple Mount. Much of his mi ...
(1840–1927) led a force of 4,000 imperial troops north from
Cape Town
Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...
. After making treaties with several African chiefs, Warren announced the establishment of the protectorate in March 1885. In September that year the Tswana country south of the Molopo River was proclaimed the Crown colony of
British Bechuanaland. Mackenzie accompanied Warren, and ''Austral Africa'' contains a detailed account of the expedition.
Bechuanaland meant the "country of the
Tswana
Tswana may refer to:
* Tswana people, the Bantu speaking people in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and other Southern Africa regions
* Tswana language, the language spoken by the (Ba)Tswana people
* Bophuthatswana, the former ba ...
" (from an archaic form of ''
Batswana
The Tswana ( tn, Batswana, singular ''Motswana'') are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group native to Southern Africa. The Tswana language is a principal member of the Sotho-Tswana language group. Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the pop ...
'' plus ''-land'') and for administrative purposes was divided into two political entities. The northern part was administered as the Bechuanaland Protectorate and the southern part was administered as the
crown colony of
British Bechuanaland. British Bechuanaland was incorporated into the
Cape Colony in 1895 and now forms part of South Africa.
The northern part, the Bechuanaland Protectorate, had an area of , and a population of 120,776. It comprised an area occupied by the three main Tswana peoples: the
Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...
, the
Bakwena and the
Bangwaketse, together with a number of minor tribes like the
Bamalete and the Bakhatla. Also living in the Protectorate were the descendants of the original inhabitants of the area, such as
Bushmen and
Makalaka
Makalaka is a general designation used by the Bechuana, Matabele and kindred peoples, for conquered or slave tribes. Thus, many of the tribes subjugated by the Makololo chief, Sebetwane (or Sebituane, or Setitwane) in about 1830 were called M ...
, who had been dispossessed by the Tswana peoples in the course of their migration south.
The British government originally expected to turn over the administration of the protectorate to
Rhodesia or South Africa, but Tswana opposition left the protectorate under British rule until its independence in 1966.
The Bechuanaland Protectorate was technically a
protectorate
A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over most of its int ...
rather than a colony. Originally the local Tswana rulers were left in power, and British administration was limited to the police force to protect Bechuanaland's borders against other European colonial ventures. But on 9 May 1891 the British Government gave the administration of the protectorate to the
High Commissioner for South Africa, who started to appoint officials in Bechuanaland, and the ''de facto'' independence of Bechuanaland ended.
The protectorate was administered from
Mafeking, creating an unusual situation, the capital of the territory being located outside of the territory. The area of Mafeking (from 1980 with the incorporation into
Bophuthatswana Mafikeng, since 2010
Mahikeng
Mafikeng, officially known as Mahikeng and previously Mafeking (, ), is the capital city of the North West Province (South Africa), North West province of South Africa.
Close to South Africa's border with Botswana, Mafikeng is northeast of Cape ...
), was called 'The Imperial Reserve'. In 1885, when the protectorate was declared, Bechuanaland was bounded to the north by the latitude of
22° south. The northern boundary of the protectorate was formally extended northward by the British to include
Ngamiland, which was then dominated by the
Tawana state, on 30 June 1890. This claim was formally recognised by Germany the following day by Article III of the
Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty, which confirmed the western boundary of the British protectorate of Bechuanaland and the German protectorate of
South-West Africa and also created the
Caprivi strip
The Caprivi Strip, also known simply as Caprivi, is a geographic salient protruding from the northeastern corner of Namibia. It is surrounded by Botswana to the south and Angola and Zambia to the north. Namibia, Botswana and Zambia meet at a s ...
inherited by modern
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
:
In Southwest Africa, Germany's sphere of influence is demarcated thus:
# To the south by the line that commences at the mouth of the Orange River and continues up its northern bank to its intersection point with the 20° east longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lette ...
.
# To the east by the line that commences at the aforementioned point and follows the 20th degree of east longitude to its intersection point with the 22° south latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...
. The line then traces this degree of latitude eastward to its intersection with the 21° east longitude, follows this degree of longitude northward to its intersection with the 18° south latitude, runs along this degree of latitude eastward to its intersection with the Chobe River. Here it descends the thalweg
In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse.
Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the boun ...
of the main channel until it meets the Zambezi, where it ends. It is understood that under this arrangement Germany shall be granted free access from its protectorate to the Zambezi by means of a strip of land not less than twenty English miles wide at any point. Great Britain's sphere of influence is bounded to the west and northwest by the previously described line and includes Lake Ngami.
British officials did not arrive in the Ngamiland region until 1894.
The
Tati Concessions Land Act of 21 January 1911 transferred the new eastern territory to the protectorate:
From the place where the Shashe River rises to its junction with the Tati and Ramokgwebana Rivers, thence along the Ramokgwebana River to where it rises and thence along the watershed of those rivers,
This territory was originally claimed by
Matabeleland. In 1887 Samuel Edwards, working for
Cecil Rhodes, obtained a mining concession, and in 1895 the
British South Africa Company attempted to acquire the area, but the Tswana chiefs
Bathoen I,
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 visited London to protest and were successful in fending off the BSAC. This territory forms the modern
North-East District of Botswana.
Politics
The proclamation of a protectorate flanked by a new Crown colony to the south (British Bechuanaland) were primarily intended as safeguards against further expansion by Germany, Portugal, or Boers.
Contrary to what was reported at the time by Warren and others, not all chiefs affected by the protectorate were in favour of it. The most powerful ruler was King
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 ...
, who had strong support from the British government, and was especially popular among evangelicals in Britain. He collaborated closely with the British military, and kept his vast, but underpopulated lands independent from intruders from South Africa.
Khama's eldest son,
Sekgoma II
Sekgoma (or Sekhome) II (1869 – November 17, 1925) was the king of the Bamangwato people of Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana.
He was the son of King Khama III by his first wife, Mma-Besi. In 1923, Sekgoma II ascended the throne at the ag ...
, became chief of the Bamangwato upon Khama's death in 1923. Sekgoma II's eldest son was named
Seretse. Throughout his life Khama was widowed and remarried several times. One wife,
Semane, birthed a son named
Tshekedi.
Sekgoma II
Sekgoma (or Sekhome) II (1869 – November 17, 1925) was the king of the Bamangwato people of Bechuanaland in modern-day Botswana.
He was the son of King Khama III by his first wife, Mma-Besi. In 1923, Sekgoma II ascended the throne at the ag ...
's reign lasted only a year or so, leaving his son Seretse, who at the time was an infant, as the rightful heir to the chieftainship (Tshekedi was not in line to be chief since he did not descend from Khama's oldest son Sekgoma II). So in keeping with tradition, Tshekedi acted as regent of the tribe until Seretse was old enough to assume the chieftainship. The transfer of responsibility from Tshekedi to Seretse was planned to occur after Seretse had returned from his law studies overseas in Britain.
Tshekedi's regency as acting chief of the
Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...
is best remembered for his expansion of the ''mephato'' (regiments) to build primary schools, grain silos, and
water reticulation systems, for his frequent confrontations with the British colonial authorities over the administration of justice in
Ngwato country, and for his efforts to deal with a major split in the tribe after Seretse married a white woman,
Ruth Williams, while studying law in Britain.
Tshekedi opposed the marriage on the grounds that under Tswana custom a chief could not marry simply as he pleased. He was a servant of the people; the chieftaincy itself was at stake. Seretse would not budge in his desire to marry Ruth, and he did, while exiled in Britain in 1948. Tribal opinion about the marriage basically split evenly along demographic lines – older people went with Tshekedi, the younger with Seretse. In the end, British authorities exiled both men (Tshekedi from the Bamangwato territory, Seretse from the Protectorate altogether). Rioting broke out and a number of people were killed.
Seretse and Ruth were allowed to return to the Protectorate and Seretse and Tshekedi were able to patch things up a bit between themselves. By now though, Seretse saw his destiny not as chief of the
Bamangwato The Bamangwato (more correctly BagammaNgwato, and also referred to as the BaNgwato or Ngwato) is one of the eight "principal" Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. They ruled over a majority Bakalanga population (the largest ethnic group in Central Dis ...
tribe, but rather as leader of the
Botswana Democratic Party
The Botswana Democratic Party (abbr. BDP) is the governing party in Botswana. Its chairman is the Vice-President of Botswana, Slumber Tsogwane, and its symbol is a lift jack. The party has ruled Botswana continuously since gaining independence ...
and as President of the soon-to-be independent nation of Botswana in 1966. He would remain Botswana's President until his death from pancreatic cancer in 1980. The story of Seretse and Ruth forms the basis of the 2016 film ''
A United Kingdom''.
Commissioners
The Bechuanaland Protectorate was one of the "
High Commission Territories", the others being
Basutoland (now
Lesotho) and
Swaziland (now
Eswatini. The
High Commissioner had some of the functions of a governor, but the major tribes were self-governing, and the protectorate was not a British possession, so was not available for white settlement. The office was first held by the
governor of the Cape Colony
This article lists the governors of British South African colonies, including the colonial prime ministers. It encompasses the period from 1797 to 1910, when present-day South Africa was divided into four British colonies namely: Cape Colony (p ...
, then by the
Governor-General of South Africa
The governor-general of the Union of South Africa ( af, Goewerneur-generaal van Unie van Suid-Afrika, nl, Goeverneur-generaal van de Unie van Zuid-Afrika) was the highest state official in the Union of South Africa between 31 May 1910 and 31 ...
, then by the
High Commissioner for Southern Africa
The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland ...
until independence. In each of the three territories, the administration of Britain’s responsibilities was headed by a
Resident Commissioner with some of the functions of a Governor but less authority.
Justice
The Chief Justice was the Chief Justice of the High Commission Territories (Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate and Swaziland).
From 1951 the Chief Justices were:
Postage stamps
Bechuanaland postage stamps were issued from 1888 to 1966.
Overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...
ed stamps were issued until 1932, when the first stamps inscribed "Bechuanaland Protectorate" were issued. On 14 February 1961 the
South African rand
The South African rand, or simply the rand, ( sign: R; code: ZAR) is the official currency of the Southern African Common Monetary Area: South Africa, Namibia (alongside the Namibian dollar), Lesotho (alongside the Lesotho loti) and Eswatin ...
was introduced, necessitating the surcharging of the existing definitive stamps until new ones were issued.
Gallery of postage stamps
1960_6d_Bechuanaland_Protectorate_stamp.jpg
Stamp_Bechuanaland_Protectorate_1897_1p.jpg
Stamp_Bechuanaland_Protectorate_1938_6p.jpg
Cover_Bechuanaland_Protectorate_1947_Royal_Visit.jpg
Revenue stamps for British Bechuanaland
Stamp Bechuanaland 1887 1sh.jpg
See also
*
History of Botswana
The Batswana, a term also used to denote all citizens of Botswana, refers to the country's major ethnic group (called the Tswana in Southern Africa). Prior to European contact, the Batswana lived as herders and farmers under tribal rule.
Be ...
*
British Bechuanaland, the area south of the Molopo River, now part of South Africa.
Notes
Further reading
*
* Harrigan, Walter et al. ''Report of the judicial enquiry Re Seretse Khama of the Bamangwato tribe'' (1 December 1949), reproduced in ''Botswana Notes and Records'', Vol 17 (1985), pp 53–64.
*
*
* Parsons, Neil. ''New History of Southern Africa''
* Thesis presented for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Cape Town
External links
Bechuana Canteen Token Coin*https://www.britannica.com/place/Botswana/British-protectorate
*
{{Coord missing, Botswana
Former British colonies and protectorates in Africa
Former colonies in Africa
History of South Africa
States and territories established in 1885
States and territories disestablished in 1966
*
*
1885 establishments in Africa
1966 disestablishments in Africa
1885 establishments in the British Empire
1966 disestablishments in the British Empire
19th-century establishments in Bechuanaland Protectorate
19th century in South Africa
20th century in South Africa
20th century in Botswana