Lesotho: Early British protectorate (1868-1913)

Updated February 2007

The proclamation of the Kingdom as a British Protectorate on March 12, 1868 secured the Basotho from further Boer aggression, but did not bring an end to its troubles, for conflict within the Kingdom and between the Basotho and the British was to resurface. On 18 January 1970 King Moshoeshoe, styled 'Paramount Chief' by the British (as were his successors), died and was succeeded by Letsie I who reigned until his death on 20 Nov 1891 (World Statesmen.org Undated).

In November 1871 responsibility for the territory was transferred to the Cape Colony which gained self-governing status in 1872 (Wikipedia 2006). This move was of little significance, for Basotholand (as it was known) remained a High Commission territory and though administrators were quickly dispatched they preferred to govern indirectly through the structures already in place (Institute of Security Studies 2003, Lesotho Government Undated). British government in the Protectorate amount to little more than neglect, as Lye and Murray (1980, 82) remark: "They made a wilderness and called it peace… the primary policy of the British... seemed to be to maintain peace, minimise expenses, and avoid antagonising their white neighbour". The focus of the Resident Commissioner was on taxation, Basotholand's foreign affairs, the settling of disputes overland between chiefs and high level justice administration; no investments in infrastructure or education were made (Lesotho Government Undated; Eldredge 1980, 167). The King governed in consultation with an annual national popular gathering (pitso while regional chiefs governed in consultation with local popular assembles (lipitso) and a gathering of village elders (lekhotla) settled minor disputes on a local level (Lesotho Government Undated).

Conflict among the Basotho and between the Basotho and the colonial government followed shortly on Moshoeshoe's death. In 1879 there was a revolt against British rule in the south led by Chief Moirosi which was put down with difficulty but which led to further difficulties as conflicts erupted between neighbouring chiefdoms over the division of his lands between them (Wikipedia 2006). The Cape government attempted to quell further unrest in Basotholand by disarming the Basotho, through extending the Peace Preservation Act of 1878 to the Protectorate in 1880, while effectively fomenting it by doubling the Hut Tax and announcing the confiscation of the Quthing district for white settlement, all of which provoked the wider spread revolt termed the Gun War (Eldredge 1980, 168-1969). The war was expensive in terms of casualties, resources and administrative disruption and the Cape returned the territory to Crown rule in 1884 (Lesotho Government Undated; Institute of Security Studies 2003).

Despite the loss of the Caledon Valley Basotholand continued to export grain to the Cape and the Free State and was able to respond to the demand for grain from the newly established diamond fields around Kimberley in the 1870s and 1880s; in addition the export of cattle had already been expanding from the 1850s and was to a lesser extent supplemented by low grade wool exports from the 1860s (Eldredge 1993, 3; 151-152). The Hut Tax imposed by the Colonial government stimulated the entry of Basotho into the money economy and by 1872 this was paid almost entirely in cash (Eldredge 1993, 3; 153). Obtaining cash to purchase guns, knives, modern farming implements, utensils, clothing and other commodities formed a further incentive, especially as local craft production declined. Those who did not have access to the resources to engage in agricultural activities could sell their labour to the farmers or on the diamond mines to acquire livestock, pay taxes and buy commodities (Eldredge 1993, 154-155).

The progress of Christianity was slow. In 1843 the French missionaries counted 393 members which expanded to 13 733 by 1894, while the 1904 census reported 13 733 church members of all denominations or 5.5% of the population (Eldredge 1993, 94-95). A measure of the success of the French missionaries was that by 1863 they had appointed Basotho evangelists, so that the work of Christianization continued after they were expelled in 1866 at the insistence of the Boers, and when they returned after the war, "their evangelists delivered to them a thriving church, including several hundred candidates for baptism" (Lye & Murray 1980, 67). Thereafter they set up a seminary and by 1891 had ordained their first native minister and by 1898 had established a locally controlled church government (Lye & Murray 1980, 67). Missionary opposition to many traditional cultural practices subverted the power of the chiefs and "weakened the cohesiveness of Sotho culture" and so aroused the ire and opposition of traditional leaders (Lye & Murray 1980, 67).

Their work in literacy and interest in Basotho culture and history stimulated the development of the press and as early as 1866 works by Sotho authors on these subjects were being published, followed later by fictional, poetic and devotional writings (Lye & Murray 1980, 67). They also stimulated the settlement of traders and encouraged their followers to accept wage labour, drawing the Basotho into the cash economy and so undermined traditional self-sufficiency (Lye & Murray 1980, 69). Religious rivalry was introduced with the establishment of Catholic missions from 1862 onwards and, though progress was slow initially, under the patronage of the monarchy the Catholic Church made rapid progress amongst the chiefs in the early 20th century; the result was that social and political conflicts between the traditional chiefs and the mission educated elites were increasingly underscored by religious divisions (Lodge et al 2002, 89).

References

ELDREDGE, EA 1993, A South African Kingdom: The pursuit of security in nineteenth-century Lesotho, Cambridge University Press.

INSTITUTE OF SECURITY STUDIES 2003, "Lesotho: History and Politics", [www] http://www.iss.co.za/af/profiles/Lesotho/Politics.html [opens new window] (accessed 23 Oct 2007).

LESOTHO GOVERNMENT UNDATED, "History of the Basotho", [www] http://www.lesothoemb-usa.gov.ls/profile.htm [opens new window] (accessed 23 Oct 2007).

LODGE, T, KADIMA, D & POTTIE, D (eds) 2002 Compendium of Elections in Southern Africa, EISA.

LYE WF &338; MURRAY, C 2000 Transformations on the Highveld: The Tswana and Southern Sotho, David Philip.

WIKIPEDIA 2006, "Basotholand", [www] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basutoland [opens new window] (accessed 23 Oct 2007).

WORLD STATESMEN.ORG UNDATED "Lesotho", [www] http://www.worldstatesmen.org/Lesotho.htm [opens new window] (accessed 23 Oct 2007).