page_title: Griqualand East
section_title: Arrival and settlement
hierarchical_section_title: Griqualand East / History / Arrival and settlement
caption_attribution_description: English: Adam Kok III, the last independant Griqua (1861-1875) Français&#160;: Adam Kok III, le dernier Kapteyn Griqua indépendant (1861-1875)
context_page_description: Griqualand East, officially known as New Griqualand, was one of four short-lived Griqua states in Southern Africa from the early 1860s until the late 1870s and was located between the Umzimkulu and Kinira Rivers, south of the Sotho Kingdom.
  Griqualand East's capital, Kokstad, was the final place of settlement for a people who had migrated several times on their journey from the Cape of Good Hope and over the mountains of present-day Lesotho.
  The territory was occupied by the British Empire and became a colony in 1874, shortly before the death of its founder and only leader, Adam Kok III. A short while later, the small territory was incorporated into the neighbouring Cape Colony. Though for a long time overshadowed in history by the story of the Voortrekkers, the trek of the Griquas has been described as "one of the great epics of the 19th century."
context_section_description: According to the account of John Robinson, first Premier of Natal, the inhabitants of Philippolis were invited by Sir George Grey, administrator of the area on behalf of the United Kingdom, to settle in the aforementioned Nomansland, south of what had by then become the British Colony of Natal. Their settlement there was to avoid a potential conflict with the Free State and simultaneously serve as a buffer against Bushmen and "their predatory raids upon the farmers and natives of Natal" After their leader Adam Kok III had sent an advance party to survey the area, the entire group agreed to the arrangement and arrived there in 1862.
  More recently recovered official documents, however, tell the story of a deal that was struck between the British Empire and the Free State in 1854, long before the Griquas had any knowledge of their fate. The British agreed to expel the entire population in exchange for a settlement of a border conflict between the Afrikaners and the Cape colonists. According to the sources, Adam Kok III and his followers only learned about the plans six years after the official document had been secretly signed. Realising that they could not muster a fighting-force that could match the colonial army, and after having voiced their opposition to becoming either subjects to the Crown in the Cape Colony or servants in the Free State, they were forcibly removed into exile in 1863.
  Ultimately, all sources agree that the last great Griqua leader's followers ended up in the area around Mount Currie and set up a Laager, a simple settlement site made up of small huts, where they remained for over half a decade. In 1869, Reverend Dower of the London Mission Society visited the place and agreed to establish a church if the people were to move once more. Kok consulted with the populace, and they chose an area farther south of the mountain. The Griquas moved there in 1872, and founded the town of Kokstad, named in honour of their leader.
  The state that was established around Kokstad, while Griqua ruled, was populated overwhelmingly by the pre-existing Xhosa speaking peoples, with the Griqua forming only a very small, politically-dominant minority.
caption: Adam Kok III
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