Mephato

The Rise of the Tswana Militia in the Pre-colonial Period

Bibliographic Data

ID4779501
AuthorsF Morton (0000-0003-3035-0207, University of Botswana, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume38
Issue2
Pages385-397
Publication date2012-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057070.2012.683600
OpenAlexW2146554725
LanguageEN
Citations received6

After their modern polities (merafhe) took shape in the eighteenth century, Tswana leaders used male age-sets (mephato, sing. mophato) to play an increasingly active role in public affairs. Led by senior members of the political hierarchy, mephato were committed for life to carry out military and other duties. In c.1750 the Makabe Tlokwa and Kgafela Kgatla of the Pilanesberg area shared initiation and formed joint mephato, an alliance that proved the efficacy of mephato in securing their territories. In time, other Tswana created militia-style mephato. Whereas initiation was a fixed ritual that preserved societal and civic norms, mephato were deployed by the political hierarchy, in particular their dikgosi (kings, chiefs, sing. kgosi) in ways that rewarded innovation and adaptability. Mephato activities reflected, in other words, the interests and talent (or lack thereof) of Tswana leaders. Under a kgosi, the combined mephato represented his army, just as an aspiring kgosi might regard his own mophato as the instrument with which to assert himself

Aesthetics · Alliance · Archaeology · Art · Colonial period · Colonialism · Hierarchy · Institutionalisation · Period (music · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Tswana · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · South African History and Culture

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