page_title: Sarili kaHintsa
section_title: The Fengu-Gcaleka War (1877-1879)
hierarchical_section_title: Sarili kaHintsa / Reign (1835-1892) / The Fengu-Gcaleka War (1877-1879)
caption_attribution_description: Mfengu (Fingo) gunmen on the Cape frontier. Image of a painting from the mid 1800s.
context_page_description: Sarili ka Hintsa was the 5th chief of the Gcaleka sub-group of the Xhosa nation, and paramount chief of all the Xhosa, from 1835 until his death in 1892 at Sholora, Bomvanaland. He was also known as "Kreli", and led the Gcaleka armies in a series of frontier wars.
context_section_description: Subsequently, the policies of the Cape Colony and those of the British Empire differed, with regards to Sarili. The Cape achieved responsible government in 1872 and, with little further interest in annexing Xhosa land, signed treaties with both Sarili and his enemies such as the Thembu, recognising Gcalekaland's territorial integrity. The British on the other hand, sought to offer "protection" to increasing numbers of Transkeian chiefdoms, isolating Sarili diplomatically and constricting his power in the region. 
  Both parties appear to have deliberately favoured Sarili's enemies in trade and other dealings with the Transkei territories, and when fighting broke out between Sarili and the neighbouring Thembu, the British intervened once again and brought yet another of his opponents under British "protection".
  From the mid-1870s, a series of severe droughts across the Transkei began to place growing strain on the relative peace which had prevailed for the previous few decades. The droughts had begun as early as 1875 in Sarhili's territory, and had spread to other parts of the Transkei and Basutoland, and even into the Cape Colony controlled Ciskei. Their severity increased up until 1877 and ethnic tensions began to break out, particularly between the Mfengu, the Thembu and the Gcaleka Xhosa.
  In 1877, fighting between Mfengu and Gcaleka tribesmen broke out at a festival, rapidly escalating into a shoot-out and finally into a full-blown inter-tribal war that spread along the frontier. Sarili sought to avoid any further escalation of this conflict, as he fully understood that the Mfengu, as allies of the Cape Colony, would draw in both the Cape and the British Imperial forces. However he was nonetheless forced into involvement by several of his councillors and chiefs. Decades of provocation from his enemies, overpopulation, and pressure from his councillors drove Sarili into a corner, and he mobilised his armies. 
  Initially the situation seemed unlikely to escalate further, as the Cape Colony government insisted on only deploying its local mounted commandos to police the frontier, but the involvement of the British Empire, via Sir Bartle Frere, desiring to finally annex Gcalekaland for his planned British Confederation, sealed the fate of the last independent Xhosa kingdom.
  Sarili tried to unite the Xhosa tribes into a unified force for resistance, but after two devastating pitched battles, he declared an end to the struggle and went into exile, first in Pondoland and afterwards to Bomvanaland.
  He died in exile in 1892, at Sholora, Bomvanaland.
caption: The Fengu ("Fingoes"), renowned sharpshooters and traditional enemies of the Gcaleka, were confronted by Sarili in the final frontier war.
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