Old Palapye: bad omen or bright future

*PHILLIP SEGADIKA | Friday July 22, 2011 00:00

More recently the proposed Palapye University appears to be destined to devolve into a technical college.  Such occurrences lead one to wonder what it is about Palapye that causes these disappointments.  Historians would say the same thing happened 109 years ago when Khama III decided against Palapye continuing as the Bangwato capital. By the King's decree, all Bangwato were told to pack what they could and dismantled a capital city after 13 years of occupation.   'In the 20th century they denied it capital status based on receding water resources. A hundred and nine years later they deny this place a university crown because of the financial recession', quips another critic.  

In fact, the name 'Palapye' is a fake, being as it is, a colonial rendition from Phalatswe, 'the place full of impalas'. Indeed it was the capital of Khama III and his Bangwato empire between 1889 and 1902, after the Bangwato left Shoshong due to a water shortage and the need for strategic re-positioning for trade control. The capital of Phalatswe was named after the prominent hills north of the present day village of Malaka, on the north-west rim of the Tswapong Hills.  The current prefix 'Old' in the name refers to the ancient nature of the locale as a heritage site and simultaneously distinguishes it from the current town of Palapye, 35 kilometres to the west, which was a railway and trade station that served Khama III's capital.  

In its 1896 incarnation Palapye was destined to become a world renowned city. With several trading stores, a sober community, two churches - one capable of seating 1,000 Bangwato - a strong European community presence, an elementary school and a prison, Palapye had all the indications of buzz and looming prosperity. It inspired the local missionary, Reverend Hepburn, to report:

'We often speak of Kimberly and Johannesburg, as the Americans speak of Chicago, as wonderful cities for their age. In my opinion King Khama's Bechuana city is...a city not less wonderful than either...20 miles of ground, holding some 30,000 inhabitants; yet less than fifteen months ago there was no such place as Palapye in existence...'

There have been conflicting estimates on the actual size and population of Old Palapye. For instance, James Johnson, a traveller visiting the town in 1892, estimated it to be 16 square miles with a population of 15,000, while in 1895, James Bryce stated the capital was two square miles in extent. The extreme differences in the size and population of Old Palapye could be attributed to seasonal land use patterns. However, one must also allow for the fact that early writers frequently had ulterior motives, such as impressing their audiences and sponsors. Bryce might have only been referring to the inner capital, while Hepburn's '20 miles of ground', which coincides with Johnson's estimate, could have also included the agricultural lands used by the Bangwato people at the time.

However, recent archaeological surveys indicate that the city limits may have been much less than projected by the early writers.

At both Shoshong and Old Palapye, Khama III upheld his stringent rule of 'no alcohol consumption' for his people. However, archaeological excavations of the site by the Landscape History in Botswana Project have unearthed hundreds of wine bottle fragments within the African settlement area. This appears to suggest there was a lot of 'behind the scenes' alcohol smuggling in Khama III's capital...or perhaps the sober Bangwato were simply re-using wine bottles, the contents of which had been solely consumed by European traders and travellers?

A recent archaeological excavation, undertaken by the National Museum team, during preparations for the conservation programme of the church walls uncovered yet another complete wine bottle in the old church environs. This suggests that another look is needed on how church ordinances may have contributed to the wide distribution of wine bottles in these supposed 'non-drinking' sections of the society.  Who owned Old Palapye before Khama? We know the place where Khama settled was a contested landscape, both spiritually and politically. There are indications of occasional subtle resistance especially by the Batswapong community, who had lived there alone until the advent of Khama and his Bangwato.  Yet Khama was head of such an impressive state that if you asked early missionaries and travellers who owned the land, they would have unfurled a map produced by colonial catographers and stated with certainty that this was 'Khama's Country'. Khama III was an empire builder, establishing hegemony over numerous ethnic groups, who paid allegiance to him through the sehuba system.

However, oral traditions indicate that when Khama III arrived to establish his capital at Palapye, he encountered a small group of 'Batswapong', at Dikgopheng and demanded they move to Motlhabaneng, on the southern edges of the present day village of Malaka. The relics of this particular Batswapong group's settlements and migrations (1880s to 1918) from Dikgopheng, Motlhabaneng and to present day Malaka, have been confirmed by archaeological surveys.  

Early accounts by Stanley Shippard and others reveal that the presence of Bangwato in Batswapong territory heralded further encapsulation of the Batswapong into servant-hood. This indicated a caste system broken only by the newly found religion of the Bangwato:

'Although we have added no Bamangwato, however we have began an important era in our church's future history; for we have taken a distinct step in advance, by receiving Bachwapong servants into the membership of the church.' (Hepburn 1889:327).

Khama III had a vision of BIUSTKhama III should rest comfortably in his grave now that his rejected early 1900s vision of having a college at Palapye will be achieved with the development of the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). Historical documents testify to Khama's considerable efforts to convince the London Missionary Society to build an Industrial college at Palapye. Unfortunately, his refusal to sell land to the church earned him the vengeance of the missionaries, who then chose to build the school at Tiger Kloof.

On second thoughts, the future of Old Palapye may actually be brighter than it first appears: Archaeologists, architects and historians have joined forces with the local community to revitalise the Old Palapye site. The first focal point has been the 120 year old church walls that have become an icon for this site. After several months of research and conservation work, sponsored by the US Embassy Cultural Preservation Fund, the church will have an extended lifetime of at least another 100 years.  

Located five kilometres from the present village, this church will be the centre of their Community Trust and the place they welcome you to hear more than the just the story of Khama III and the Bangwato. Malaka residents have a great deal more for you: their own fascinating versions of the power of their ancestral spirits of how the ancestors worked in their favour, drying the rivers and the Phothophotho waterfalls, until the Bangwato left for Serowe.   If you are in doubt, you will be shown the relics of Regent Tshekedi's road or of Dimomo's cave, where human presence is forbidden, and told the associated stories of disobedient folks, who learned the hard way.

Visitors to the site will view the former Bangwato settlement, European burials from the 1890s and that church where, in 1896, Khama III married the young Sefhakwanein a stylish ceremony that included their riding in a chariot.

A people's desolate ruin and a signature of migrations and rejection, may now be well its way to change livelihoods though tourism. That sounds bright... maropeng go a boelwa !

*Phillip Segadika is a Landscape Archaeologist and Head of the Archaeology and Monuments Division at the Botswana National Museum.