The Bakgatla branch of Batswana are generally divided into five subgroups. Among these the principle dikgosi and greater numbers of the Bakgatla-ba-Mmakau, Bakgatla-ba-Mo...
As we begin a new year still in the shadow of the SARS-CoV-2 or “Covid-19” virus we can hope and pray that emerging vaccines will ultimately deliver better ti...
This week we take a break from our “Blackman’s War” series to share an English translation of Ratshosa aMostswetla account, published in the February 18...
We left off on October 24, 1899, with the British officials and police under Deputy Commissioner William Surmon abandoning Gaborone Camp and Station in the face of the ad...
We left off on October 18, 1899 with the British Lieutenant Colonel Hubert Plumer having arrived from Fort Tuli with reinforcements to join Kgosi Khama’s already vi...
Last week we observed that by October of 1899 the Dikgosi of the Bechuanaland Protectorate had been directly instructed by the then British High Commissioner Sir (later L...
Last week we observed that as the ecology of the Bechuanaland Protectorate slowly recovered from the 1890s devastation of rinderpest, drought and locust infestation, as w...
We left off in 1897-98 when, in the aftermath of the rinderpest epidemic that had destroyed over 90% of the Bechuanaland Protectorate’s livestock, along with much o...
We left off last week by observing that by the time of Kgosi Sechele’s death in 1892 there were already environmental indicators of a coming crisis with drought and...
COVID-19 is certainly not the first virus to shake Botswana society. In addition to HIV/AIDS, our country has been rocked by other invasive pathogens, both viral and bact...
From 1923, Frederick Maharero (1875-1950) established himself in Mahalapye as the exiled Ovaherero paramount whose influence over the next quarter century extended into N...
We left off c.1827-28 with the Banyayi Mambo Chilisamhulu’s son Ntinima failing in his efforts to convince either his father or the Basenete She Tombale to offer a ...
We last left off in 1826 with Banyayi Kingdom enjoying a sustained period of peace and prosperity when Mwali oracles warned the Mambo (King) Chilisamhulu Nichasike of the...
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Banyayi Kingdom under the rule of the Nichasike dynasty remained the largest and probably wealthiest indigenous state in souther...
Previously we have observed that many of Bakalanga communities in Botswana identify themselves as belonging to either the Balilima or Banyayi sub-groups.
We left off in the late 17th century with the Banyayi ruler Chilisamhulu Nichasike Dombolakonachingwango, otherwise known to the Portuguese as Changamire Dombo, having at...
We left off c. 1685 with the Banyayi ruler Chilisamhulu having usurped the throne of the last Mambo of the Chibundule dynasty; thus establishing himself as the new suprem...
We left off observing that excavations at Khami and other Chibundule era sites further confirm that from 16th century the Bakalanga and their neighbours continued to be c...
We left off observing that some early Ikalanga traditions trace the formation of the first Bakalanga kingdom to the south west migration of people from the Mutapa state d...
