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Possession of guns, accompanied by the rapid adoption of new military and hunting tactics for their use, played a significant role in the reformation of local polities during the mid-19th century. The military and consequent political significance of...

Possession of guns, accompanied by the rapid adoption of new military and hunting tactics for their use, played a significant role in the reformation of local polities during the mid-19th century. By 1870, much of modern Botswana had as a result come...

He and his team arrived at Swakopmund on May 1, 1909, having left Dar es Salaam on August 10, 1907. While the journey of over 9,500 kilometres had taken nearly twice as long as had been originally anticipated, it was heralded as a major...

There is a tendency in any oral culture for traditions to compress events and personalities over time. What the folk memory does preserve is an enduring appreciation of common roots. In this context, the royal genealogies of many Sotho-Tswana merafe...

There they rendezvoused with Lt. Colonel Goold-Adams combined force of the British South Africa Company’s [BSACO] “Raaf’s Rangers” and Bechuanaland Border Police [BBP].Khama had led his men, who consisted of cavalry and infantry armed with...

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields...” - Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae (1915)Fellow fans of the English Premier League may have noticed the return of red...

Between 1953 and 1968 much of the information he gathered was published in eight paperbacks, known as the Tswana ‘tribes’ series. Unfortunately, all of these volumes are currently out of print.His immense effort resulted in additional...

In addition to being our country’s star diplomat at independence Z.K. was one of 20th century Africa’s intellectual giants. The long-term Vice-Chancellor of Fort Hare College, he acted as the mentor to the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) in the 1940s;...

Among his community's concerns was the fate of the Kgosi's four junior wives, whom he had agreed to put aside in keeping with the Christian injunction of monogamy. There was also a widespread fear that Sechele's conversion would...

They subsequently sold their timber rights to Chobe Concessions Ltd., which was active in the region from 1944 to 1956. Altogether a total of 6.8 million cubic feet of hardwood, notably Rhodesian mahogany and teak, was extracted from the concession...

As a pioneer translator and publisher of both Sesotho and Setswana, he was also the editor of the first Setswana newspaper, “Molekoli ua Bechwana” (Batswana Visitor), and the drafter of the first constitution for what would have been a united...

In our last instalment, we had noted that in 1896 the Chobe area was rocked by the arrival of Rinderpest from East Africa. While this resulted in an immediate decline in hunting and pastoralism, it also had the short-term positive effect of reducing...

In our last instalment, we had noted that the emergence of the Malozi kingdom coincided with the break-up of the Vekuhane monarchy. Toward the end of Sipopo's reign in 1876, Munitenge Liswani II, along with most of his followers, fled from his...

In our last instalment we had noted that, following Sebetwane’s death, the Makololo kingdom declined during the reign of his son Sekeletu, who had succeeded his father following a brief regency by his elder sister Dikuku or MmaMotsisane...

Temporarily abandoned by his BagaMmanaana and Bangwaketse allies the Mokwena's position must have initially appeared desperate. From their later reports it is clear that in the immediate aftermath of the battle both he and Scholtz were painfully...