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History of the Basotho
The emergence of Basotho as a nation occurred around 1818
when King Moshoeshoe (1786-1870) formed alliances with an
amalgam of clans and chiefdoms of southern Sotho people who
occupied the area which is presently the Northern and
Eastern Free State and Western Lesotho from about 1400 AD.
Moshoeshoe was born at Menkhoaneng in the Northern part of
present-day Lesotho in 1786. He was the first son of
Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bakoteli, a branch of the
Koena clan. While still under the tutelage of his father
Lepoqo, as he was called at the time, played an important
role in augmenting the power of the Bakoteli subclan by
bringing the senior Sekake group and a number of Bafokeng
clans, including the Makara and Ratsiu groups, under his
father's control.
In 1820, at the age of 34, Moshoeshoe moved to Butha-Buthe
Mountain with his followers and became chief in his own
right, albeit a very minor chief. This coincided with the
advent of a highly turbulent period that engulfed the whole
of southern Africa and affected the economic and political
lives of virtually all the people of the region.
Several unrelated factors were responsible for this, but it
was the conflict among the Nguni people in Natal and the
arrival of white settlers across the Orange River which had
the most far reaching impact on the history of the Basotho
and Lesotho.
An important development at this time was the rising
military dictatorship of the Zulu King, Shaka, whose attacks
on neighbouring clans in northern Natal caused ripple
effects which were felt as far afield as Lesotho. This was
part of a process of nation building among the Nguni in
Natal in the early 1820s which was characterised by the
creation of larger political units and centralised
structures,of authority.
To compound an already difficult situation, a severe draught
hit the region in the early 1800 and sparked off
unprecedented competition between these kingdoms for control
of prime pasture land and fertile cropping areas. Weaker
chiefdoms were either swept aside or absorbed by the
centralised structures.
Independent clans such as the Amangwane, under Chief
Matiwane, were forced to flee Zululand. In the process they
displaced sections of the Zizi and Hlubi people who fled
across the Drakensburg in 1818 from the Upper Tugela river
basin, followed a short while later by the Amangwane
themselves who were being further harassed by Shaka's
armies.
The Hlubi people under Chief Mpagazitha, created a new
stream of refugees as they in turn fell upon the Batlokoa
people who were at that time living in the area of the
present-day Harrismith. The Tlokoa, Hlubi and Ngwane became
three separate marauding bands who,seized grain and cattle
from each other and from any smaller groups of people they
encountered.
These plundering raids, compounded by the drought situation,
brought about famine so severe that groups of people in
several parts of Lesotho turned to cannibalism. This
difficult time, known as Lifaqane, was one of the darkest
periods in the history of Lesotho.
Faced with all this widespread devastation of the Lifaqane
period, the Basotho were forced to adapt or perish. They
soon realised that the most efficient defence strategy
against marauding armies was the mountain fortress. Each of
the principal chiefs selected a suitable sandstone plateau
surrounded by cliffs as their stronghold -the Tlokoa near
Ficksburg, the Hlubi near Clocolan and the Ngwane not far
from the Berea district of Lesotho.
King Moshoeshoe I (1786-1870), founder of the Basotho Nation
Meanwhile, Moshoeshoe was attacked by the Tlokoa at his
Butha Buthe fortress in 1824. Although Moshoeshoe and his
people were not defeated, the clash had exposed the weakness
of Butha Buthe as a stronghold. So Moshoeshoe decided to
move to the Qiloane plateau, later to be called Thaba Bosiu,
as the new site of refuge and defence.
Thaba Bosiu proved to be an impregnable fortress. In was
successfully defended against an Amangwane army in 1828;
against the Batlokoa during Moshoeshoe's absence on a cattle
raid in 1829; and against the Ndebele of Mzilikaziin 1831.
Meanwhile, Moshoeshoes's power and influence grew as he
offered a friendly hand to his defeated enemies, giving them
land and assistance to cultivate crops. Even former
cannibals were converted into useful citizens in this way.
The Basotho nation was thus largely created from refugees
who were shattered remnants of clans scattered by the
Lifaqane. It was further strengthened by alliances as
Moshoeshoe chose wives from other clans including daughters
of the long-established Bafokeng chiefs.
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