BECHUANALAND (BOTSWANA)
See also ANGLICAN CHURCH IN BECHUANALAND
ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY IN BECHUANALAND 1848 - 1945
BRITISH PROTECTORATE OF BECHUANALAND
White presence in the Tswana lands had long been limited to some missionaries and
to an occasional trader.
Things changed ca 1880, when Boers from Transvaal started moving into the area and
started intervening in Tswana affairs. (1)
The Tswana leaders - especially Kgama III Boikanyo a Sekgoma of the Bamangwato (s.b.)
- then called for British protection and in 1884 a British representative was sent
to the area. This was followed in 1885 by the formal proclamation of a Protectorate
of Bechuanaland, which was nearly immediateley divided into :
- British Bechuanaland - under direct British rule - south of the Molopo river,
- the actual Protectorate of Bechuanaland, north of the Molopo river. (2)
In 1911 Tati Concessions Land - until then only administrativeley attached to the
Protectorate - was formally annexed to it.
(1) Resulting in the creation of two Boer Republics : Goosen and Stellaland.
(2) The Protectorate survived the attempts to have it included in the area
ruled by the British South Africa Company (BSAC) or to have it annexed
to South Africa.
It was however opened to some white settlement in lands ceded by the
tribes. These were regrouped into 8 reserves, which were later organized
as "Native Authorities" :
1899 : Bakwena, Bamangawato, Bangwaketse and Batawana reserves created
1909 : Bamalete reserve created
1933 : Batlokwa reserve created
1935 : Barolong reserve created
Minor Tswana or non-Tswana tribes were attached to one of these reserves,
while the San in the Kalahari - virtually independent until 1910 - were
not relocated into a reserve.
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BRITISH CHIEF REPRESENTATIVES
Subordinated to the High Commissioner for South Africa
(Bechuanaland Protectorate was under the Colonial Office until 1925, when it was
transferred to the Dominions Office)
Deputy Commissioners
1884 John Mackenzie 1835 - 1899
1884 - 1885 Cecil John Rhodes* 1853 - 1902
Special Commissioners
1885 Sir Charles Warren 1840 - 1927
1885 Capt. Frederick Carrington*, Commanding
Officer Bechuana Field Force 1844 - 1913
Deputy Commissioners
1885 - 1892 Sir (1887) Sidney Godolphin Alexander
Shippard 1837 - 1901
1892 Francis James Newton* 1857 - 1948
Resident Commissioners
1892 - 1895 Sir Sidney Godolphin Alexander Shippard s.a.
1895 - 1897 Francis James Newton (3) s.a.
1897 - 1901 Maj. Hamilton John Goold-Adams 1858 - 1920
1901 - 1906 Sir Ralph Champneys Williams 1848 - 1927
1906 - 1916 Col. Francis William "Pan" Panzera 1851 - 1917
1916 - 1917 Edward Charles Frederick Garraway 1865 - 1932
1917 - 1920 James Comyn MacGregor 1861 - 1935
1920 Jules E. Ellenberger* 1871 - 1973
1920 - 1923 James Comyn MacGregor (2x)
1923 - 1926 Jules E. Ellenberger (2x)
1926 Rowland Mortimer Daniel* 1873 - 1957
1926 - 1927 Jules E. Ellenberger (3x)
1927 - 1930 Rowland Mortimer Daniel* (2x)
1930 - 1937 Sir (1932) Charles Fernand Rey 1877 - 1968
1937 - 1942 Charles Noble Arden-Clarke 1898 - 1962
1942 - 1946 Aubrey Denzil Forsyth Thomson 1897 - 1982
Assistant Commissioners for the Northern (part of the) Protectorate
1892 - 1895 John Smith Moffat 1835 - 1918
1895 - 1901 John Anchitel Ashburnham
1902 - 1906 Col. Francis William "Pan"
Panzera s.a.
1907 - 1923 Rowland Mortimer Daniel s.a.
Assistant Commissioners for the Southern (part of the) Protectorate
1892 - 1900 William H. Surmon
1900 - 1923 Jules E. Ellenberger s.a.
Posts abolished in 1923
(3) In 1895 - 1896 Leander Starr Jameson (1853 – 1917) briefly was separate
Resident Commissioner of that part of the Easten frontier area that served
as a base for the British forces trying to seize power in Transvaal (the
so-called Jameson-Raid)
TSWANA NATIVE AUTHORITIES
At first there was little government interference in the internal affairs of the
tribes, which continued to be ruled according their own traditional laws.
Later things changed and in 1934 they formally became "Native Authorities" enjoying
administrative, judicial and - since 1938 - financial selfgovernment. (1)
(1) This idea of "indirect rule" was based on the model introduced in the Indian
States in the 19th century.
Major restrictions were the fact that the jurisdiction of the authorities
wasn't extended to non-natives nor to judicial affairs resulting in a
capital punishment.
Except for the San - which were hardly seen as humans and therefore not
entitled to an administrative structure of their own and always under
direct "care" of the British - the minor Tswana or non-Tswana tribes were
attached to one of the eight Native Authorities as "Subordinate Native
Authorities" [so the Kalanga villages (of Shona origin) in the Northeast
were subject to the Bamangwato Native Authority]
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Tribes in order of preseance
BARÔLÔNG
Paramount Chiefs
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
1815 - 1848 Tawana a Tlhutlwa 1775 - 1849
1848 - 1849 Makgêtla a Tshidi*
1849 - 1896 Montshiwa a Tau (2) 1815 - 1896
1896 - 1903 Bêsêlê I a Montshiwa (Wessels)*, son 18.. - 1903
1903 - 1911 Badirile a Montshiwa*, half-brother 18.. - 1911
1911 - 1915 Lekôkô a Marumolwa*, grandson of Tawana
a Tlhutlwa (s.a.)
1915 - 1917 Joshua a Molêma*, grandson of Tawana a
Tlhutlwa (s.a.)
1917 - 1919 Bakolopang a Montshiwa, half-brother of
Badirile a Montshiwa 1... - 1919
1919 - 1954 Lotlamoreng I a Kebalepile, grandson of
Montshiwa a Tau (s.a.)
(2) Formally he was styled son of Tau a Tlhutlwa, brother of Tawana a Tlhutwa.
But in fact he was Tawana's eldest son by Letshane Dingoko, a woman Tawana
had married in Tau's name.
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BAKWENA
In 1827 the tribe split into three factions, of which only two survived in 1848.
Paramount Chief of the Tshosa faction
Kgôsi Kgolo
1845 - 1853 Kgakge a Tshosa
Paramount Chiefs of the Motswasele faction
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
(reunited the tribe in 1853)
1831 - 1892 Setshele I a Motswasele 1815 - 1892
1892 - 1911 Sebele I a Setshele, son 184. - 1911
1911 - 1918 Setshele II Kealeboga a Sebele, son 1875 - 1918
1918 - 1931 Sebele II Kelebantse a Setshele, son,
deposed by the British authority 1892 - 1939
1931 - 1962 Kgari I a Setshele, brother 1904 - 1962
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BANGWAKETSE
In 1817 the tribe split into two factions
Paramount Chief of the Sebêgô faction
Kgôsi Kgolo
1844 - 1857 Senthufe a Sebêgô, defeated by
Gaseitsiwe a Tshosa 18.. - 1885
Paramount Chiefs of the Mongala faction
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
(reunited the tribe in 1857)
1845 - 1889 Gaseitsiwe a Tshosa (successor of his
grandfather Makaba a Moleta) 181. - 1889
1889 - 1910 Bathoen I a Gaseitsiwe, son 1845 - 1910
1910 - 1916 Seêpapitsô III a Bathoen, son 1884 - 1916
1916 - 1918 Kgosimotse a Gaseitsiwe*, son of
Gaseitsiwe a Tshosa (s.a.) 18.. - 1918
1918 - 1919 Malope a Makaba*, great-grandson of
Makaba a Moleta (s.a.) 18.. - 1919
1919 - 1923 Tshosa Sebêgô a Keemanao*, great-grandson
of Makaba a Moleta (s.a.)
1923 - 1924 Gagoangwe a Setshele°, spouse of Bathoen I
a Gaseitsiwe (s.a.) 1848 - 1924
1924 - 1928 Ntebogang a Bathoen°, daughter of Bathoen I
a Gaseitsiwe (s.a.) 1882 - 1979
1928 - 1969 Bathoen II a Seêpapitsô, son of Seêpapitsô
III a Bathoen (s.a.) 1908 -
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BAMANGWATO
Paramount Chiefs
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
1835 - 1857 Sekgoma I a Kgari "Mmaphiri", expelled 1815 - 1883
1857 - 1859 Matsheng a Kgari (3), expelled by 1830 - 1873
1859 - 1866 Sekgoma I a Kgari "Mnaphiri" (2x),
expelled by
1866 - 1872 Matsheng a Kgari (2x) expelled by
1872 - 1873 Kgama III Boikanyo a Sekgoma, son of
Sekgoma I a Kgari (s.a.), renounced in
favour of his father 1835 - 1923
1873 - 1875 Sekgoma I a Kgari "Mnaphiri" (3x),
expelled by his son
1875 - 1923 Kgama III Boikanyo a Sekgoma (2x)
1923 - 1925 Sekgoma II a Kgama "Leraraetsa", son 1869 - 1925
1925 - 1926 Gorewang a Kgamane*, nephew of Kgama
III Boikanyo a Sekgoma (s.a.)
1926 - 1949 Tshêkêdi a Kgama*, half-brother of
Sekgoma II a Kgama (s.a.) 1905 - 1959
(3) Formally he was styled son of Kgari a Kgama (1... - 1835, r. 1833 - 1835) but
he actually was the son of Molosiwa a Kgama, brother of Kgari and of Bobjwale,
widow of Kgari a Kgama.
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BATAWANA
Paramount Chiefs
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
1847 - 1874 Letsholathêbê I a Morêmi 1820 - 1874
1875 - 1876 Mênô a Moremi*, half-brother
1876 Dithapô a Mênô*, son
1876 - 1890 Morêmi II a Letsholathêbê, son 185. - 1890
1890 - 1891 Dithapô a Mênô* (2x)
1891 - 1906 Sekgoma a Letsholathêbê*, halfbrother
of Morêmi II a Letsholathêbê (s.a.),
deposed (sometimes listed as Kgôsi Kgolo) 1870 - 1914
1906 Sekgathôlê a Letsholathêbê*, halfbrother
of Morêmi II a Letsholathêbê and of
Sekgoma a Letsholathêbê
1906 - 1932 Mathiba a Morêmi, son of Morêmi II a
Letsholathêbê (s.a.) 1880 - 1933
1932 - 1934 Monaamaburu a Letsholathêbê*, brother of
Sekgathôlê a Letsholathêbê (s.a.)
1934 - 1936 Dibolayang a Weetshoetsile*, grandson of
Dithapô a Mênô (s.a.)
1936 - 1937 Gaetsalwe a Morêmi*, son of Morêmi II a
Letsholathêbê (s.a.)
1937 - 1946 Morêmi III a Mathiba "Mawelawela", son of
Mathiba a Morêmi (s.a.) 1915 - 1946
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BAKGATLA
Paramount Chiefs
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
1824 - 1853 Pilane a Phetô 1790 - 185.
1853 - 1875 Kgamanyane a Pilane, son 182. - 1875
1875 - 1876 Bogatsu a Pilane*, brother
1876 - 1924 Lentswe I a Kgamanyane, nephew 1857 - 1924
1924 - 1929 Isang a Lentswe*, son 1885 - 1941
1929 - 1936 Molefi a Kgafêla, nephew, deposed by
the British authorities 1909 - 1958
1936 - 1942 Mmusi a Kgafêla*, brother 1915 -
1942 - 1945 -Bakgatla a Letswe*
-Molefi a Segale*
-Amos Kgamanyane a Mogale* 1888 - 1984
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BAMALETE
Paramount Chiefs
Dikgôsi Dikgolo
1830 - 1886 Mokgôsi I a Pôwê 1... - 1886
1886 - 1896 Ikaneng a Mokgôsi, son 1... - 1896
1896 - 1906 Mokgôsi II a Ikanen, son 1... - 1906
1906 - 1917 Baitlotle a Ikaneng*, brother
1917 - 1937 Seboko I a Mokgôsi, nephew 1... - 1937
1937 - 1945 Ketswerebothata a Mokgôsi*, half-brother
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BATLÔKWA
Paramount Chiefs
Dikgosi Dikgolo
1835 - 1880 Matlapeng Ramoswana a Kgosi 1... - 1880
1880 - 1931 Gaborone a Matlapeng, son 1825 - 1931
1931 - 1948 Matlala a Molefê, grandson, acting for
Gaborone a Matlapeng since 1922 1... - 1948
TATI CONCESSIONS LAND
In 1864 gold was discovered in the area of the Tati river, at that moment part of
the Matabele kingdom.
In the course of the following years the Matabele king granted several concessions
to white entrepreneurs, one of the most important being the one granted in 1872 to
Sir John Swinburne (1831 - 1914), who later also acquired (all?) other concessions
and then formed the Tati Concessions Ltd to administer and exploit the mining area.
In 1893 Tati land was detached from Matabele land and placed under the jurisdiction
of the Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate and in 1911 the area
was annexed to Bechuanaland, mining being entrusted to the Tati Concessions Company.
[all additional information on the (exact?) history and administrators of Tati is
wery welcome]
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