Lesotho is a small enclave kingdom within the borders of
South Africa with a population of 2.142 million people (2020).
The area was formerly inhabited by the San until around
1600 when Bantu speaking tribesmen began to settle in the area.
Speaking seSotho (South Sotho) they began to be called Basotho,
from which Lesotho was later to take its name as Lesotho means
"the land of the people who speak Sesotho". The area, then known as Basutoland, and its peoples was
unified by the tribal leader Moshoeshoe I as part of the
struggle against against the wars of conquest associated with
the reign of the first Zulu emperor king, Shaka. Moshoeshoe
became king of the area becoming known as Morena e Moholo,
(Great King.)
In 1822, Moshoeshoe set his capital city high in
the northern Drakensberg mountains at Buthe-Buthe, which was
well placed to defend the eventual Kingdom of Lesotho. The capital was later moved to Thaba Bosiu. Despite the proclamation of the state, the the Basotho people were involved in a series of wars (1856-68) with the Boers who
had taken control of traditional Basotho lands leading to
Moshoeshoe (below) appealing to Queen Victoria to make Basotuland a
British protectorate ~ a request her government acquiesced to. This
arrangement made Britain responsible for the protection of Basotuland, whilst allowing local chieftains to maintain control
over internal affairs. This protectorate status was to
successfully prevent the Orange Free State and later, the
Republic of South Africa from annexing the territory.
Despite this, the year after the death of Moshoeshoe in 1870
and his burial in the graveyard on the summit of Thaba-Bosiu,
the protectorate was annexed to Cape Colony despite protests
from both Basotho and Boer leaders. Rule from Cape Colony saw
Cape magistrates interfering with the traditional laws of the
Sotho people and even saw part of Basutoland demarcated for
white use only. Rumbling discontentment saw a law introduced in 1879, the
Disarmament Act, that was designed to ensure that all fire arms
were surrendered to prevent such conflict, however this law
merely provoked open rebellion and the Gun War of 1880-1881
which saw 8000 Basuto dead and 2000 British casualties.
Although peace was eventually established, Cape Colony was
unable to establish any effective control over Basutoland and it
requested that London re-establish direct control over the
territory which it did in 1884. In 1910 the Basutoland Council was established (partly from
internal pressure not to cede the protectorate to the newly
emerging Union of South Africa) comprising the
paramount chief, ninety nine Basotho Members and headed by the
resident British Commissioner. This effectively gave the area
self government for the next fifty years until 1960 when the
Basutoland National Council, an indirectly elected legislative
body, was created largely in response to increasing pressure for
constitutional change and self determination pursued most
aggressively by
the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP) headed by Ntsu Mokhehle. This
year also saw Prince Bereng Seeiso installed as
Moshoeshoe II.
Parties opposed to the BCP had also begun to emerge, the Marerna Tiou
Party (MTP) led by S S Matete and the Basutoland National Party
(BNP) headed by Chief Leabua Jonathan (left). A Constitutional
Review Commission was appointed by Moshoeshoe II in 1961
reporting two years later with a proposal for an independent
nation state with a constitution acceptable to the British.
Elections were duly held in 1965 and the BNP, led by Leabua
Jonathan, took the country into independence as the Kingdom of
Lesotho on 4th October 1966 with a constitutional monarchy,
senate and national assembly forming the governmental structure. Since then, Lesotho has suffered from internal politicking
which has left an already disadvantaged country even weaker,
where a third of the population has AIDS, alongside high
unemployment, near economic collapse and a weak currency.
Lesotho History: Life in Lesotho
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Lesotho History: Sponsor a Child in Lesotho
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