Linchwe I and the Kgatla Campaign in the South African War, 1899-1902
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8977787 |
|---|---|
| Authors | R F Morton (University of Botswana, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1985 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 2-3 |
| Pages | 169-191 |
| Publication date | 1985-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021853700036926 |
| OpenAlex | W2102505184 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 8 |
| References cited | 2 |
Although the importance of the African role in the South African War (1889-1902) is now recognized, this study of the Bakgatala ba ga Kgafela is the first to demonstrate an African perception of events and argue that the Kgatla initiated military action and pursued goals independent of a simple British vs. Boer formula. The war created major economic and political opportunities for the Kgatla, a people physically separated and colonially partitioned. Half the Kgatla lived in the Kgatla Reserve of the British-ruled Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the other half lived in the Saulspoort area of the western Transvaal under Boer rule. Their leader, Linchwe I (1874–1924), maintained his capital at Mochudi in the Protectorate and received only partial allegiance from the Saulspoort Kgatia. Soon after the war began, Linchwe involved his regiments actively in fighting alongside the British in the Protectorate and raiding on their own in the Transvaal in an effort to eliminate Boer settlement and political control in Saulspoort and other areas of the western Transvaal. Kgatia regiments also emptied Boer farms of cattle which, in addition to restoring the national herd decimated by the 1897 rinderpest, Linchwe used in establishing his political hold over the Saulspoort Kgatia. Protectorate officials were grateful for Kgatia support, but Linchwe disguised the extent and nature of Kgatia operations and concealed from the British his political objectives. Linchwe's campaign made possible in the years following the war the reunification of the Kgatia under his authority, the distribution of wealth among all his people and the reduction of colonial interference in the political lives of his people
Allegiance · Ancient history · Archaeology · Caliphate · Economic history · Ethnology · Geography · Political science · Politics · Protectorate · Settlement (finance · Spanish Civil War · African history and culture studies · History · Law · South African History and Culture
Not Quite All Quiet on the North West Frontier
The Challenges of Financial Responsibility in the Tribal Administration of Bechuanaland Protectorate, 1919–1966
Agrarian class struggle and the South African War
Land, Cattle and Ethnicity
Cattleholders, Evangelists and Socioeconomic Transformation among the BaKgatla of Rustenburg District, 1863–1898
Making Sense of 'Senseless Violence
Forced labour in the Pilanesberg
The Transvaal Agrarian class struggle in the South African war, 1899-1902
| Unique citing works | 8 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 1986 - 2021 (36) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 8 |