page_title: Botswana
section_title: Effects of the Mfecane and Batswana-Boer Wars
hierarchical_section_title: Botswana / History / Effects of the Mfecane and Batswana-Boer Wars
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Sechèli, Häuptling der Ba-kuéna Ntsweng, Botswana (Bechuanaland). English: Sechele, chief of the Kwena tribe of Botswana and early Christian missionary. According to Keith Dietrich and Andrew Bank in An eloquent picture gallery&#160;: the South African portrait photographs of Gustav Theodor Fritsch, 1863 - 1865 (2008): "Sechele was happy to be photographed and dressed himself for the occasion in a black ‘dress’ with a colourful silk cravat, ‘fez’, ‘mackintosh’ and riding boots, which, Fritsch noted, he wore on Sundays when he preached. Fritsch gave Sechele an albumen print of his portrait that included the fez, though the photograph used for his book excluded this. Fritsch also recalled that Sechele was very disappointed that the photograph did not include his boots". Español: Sechele, jefe de la tribu Kwena de Botsuana y uno de los primeros misioneros protestantes en África.
context_page_description: Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966. Since then, it has been a representative republic, with a consistent record of uninterrupted democratic elections and the lowest perceived corruption ranking in Africa since at least 1998. It is currently Africa's oldest continuous democracy. Botswana is topographically flat, with up to 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. Its border with Zambia to the north near Kazungula is poorly defined but is, at most, a few hundred metres long.
  A mid-sized country of just over 2.3 million people, Botswana is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Around 10 percent of the population lives in the capital and largest city, Gaborone.
context_section_description: The first written records relating to modern-day Botswana appear in 1824. What these records show is that the Bangwaketse had become the predominant power in the region. Under the rule of Makaba II, the Bangwaketse kept vast herds of cattle in well-protected desert areas, and used their military prowess to raid their neighbours. Other chiefdoms in the area, by this time, had capitals of 10,000 or so and were fairly prosperous. This equilibrium came to end during the Mfecane period, 1823–1843, when a succession of invading peoples from South Africa entered the country. Although the Bangwaketse were able to defeat the invading Bakololo in 1826, over time all the major chiefdoms in Botswana were attacked, weakened, and impoverished. The Bakololo and Amandebele raided repeatedly and took large numbers of cattle, women, and children from the Batswana—most of whom were driven into the desert or sanctuary areas such as hilltops and caves. Only after 1843, when the Amandebele moved into western Zimbabwe, did this threat subside.
  During the 1840s and 1850s trade with Cape Colony-based merchants opened up and enabled the Batswana chiefdoms to rebuild. The Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Bangwato and Batawana cooperated to control the lucrative ivory trade and then used the proceeds to import horses and guns, which in turn enabled them to establish control over what is now Botswana. This process was largely complete by 1880, and thus the Bushmen, the Kalanga, the Bakgalagadi, and other current minorities were subjugated by the Batswana.
  Following the Great Trek, Afrikaners from the Cape Colony established themselves on the borders of Botswana in the Transvaal. In 1852 a coalition of Tswana chiefdoms led by Sechele I resisted Afrikaner incursions during Battle of Dimawe, and after about eight years of intermittent tensions and hostilities, eventually came to a peace agreement in Potchefstroom in 1860. From that point on, the modern-day border between South Africa and Botswana was agreed on, and the Afrikaners and Batswana traded and worked together comparatively peacefully.
  In 1884 Batawana, a northern based Tswana clan's Cavalry under the command of Kgosi Moremi fought & defeated the Ndebele's invasion of northern Botswana at the Battle of Khutiyabasadi, this blow to the larger invading Ndebele force signaled the start of the collapse of the Ndebele Kingdom in Zimbabwe & this helped galvanize Tswana speaking authority of the area now making part of northern Botswana. .
  Due to newly peaceful conditions, trade thrived between 1860 and 1880. Taking advantage of this were Christian missionaries. The Lutherans and the London Missionary Society both became established in the country by 1856. By 1880 every major village had a resident missionary, and their influence slowly became felt. Khama III (reigned 1875–1923) was the first of the Tswana chiefs to make Christianity a state religion and changed a great deal of Tswana customary law as a result. Christianity became the de facto official religion in all the chiefdoms by World War I.
caption: Sechele I who led a Batswana Merafe Coalition against Boers in 1852
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