Batswana & Firearms � Part 1 :: Mmegi Online

“The foundation of all states, new as well as old or composite, are good laws and good arms.” – Niccolo Machiavelli (1513) As was reflected in the Batswana-Boer War of 1852-53 series, the pre-colonial emergence of an indigenous gun culture amongst communities within modern Botswana was a determining factor in the territory’s separate colonial, and thus postcolonial destiny.

Possession of firearms, accompanied by a rapid adoption of new military as well as hunting tactics for their use, played a key role in the reformation of local polities during the mid-19th century.

By 1870, most of modern Botswana had as a result come under the authority of four kingdoms; led by the Dikgosi of Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bangwato and Batawana. The political authority of each of these kingdoms, along with the then also emerging states of the Barolong booRatshidi, Bakgatla bagaKgafela and Balete, was supported by the protective as well as coercive capacity of their arsenals.

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