Shoshong
Encyclopedia
Botswana
Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana , is a landlocked country located in Southern Africa. The citizens are referred to as "Batswana" . Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name after becoming independent within the Commonwealth on 30 September 1966...
, formerly the chief settlement of the eastern Bamangwato
Bamangwato
The Bamangwato can be said to be one of the eight 'principal' Tswana tribes of Botswana, and just like any other Tswana tribe in Botswana, constitutes a small percent in the central district even in their capital serowe. They ruled over majority Bakalangaand other tribes such as the san,bitwa and...
.
Physical location
Shoshong is located at latitude -22.95, longitude +26.48, in the Central DistrictCentral District (Botswana)
Central is the largest of Botswana's districts in terms of area and population. It encompasses the traditional homeland of the Bamangwato people. Some of the most politically connected Batswana have come from the Central District, including former President Sir Seretse Khama, former President...
, about 200 miles (321.9 km) N.N.E. of Mafeking and 30 miles (48.3 km) N. of Shoshong Road Station on the Cape Town-Bulawayo railway. It is 40 km west of Mahalapye on a traveling distance. The town is situated 3000 ft (914.4 m) above sea level in the valley of the Shoshong, an intermittent tributary of the Limpopo
Limpopo
Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. The capital is Polokwane, formerly named Pietersburg. The province was formed from the northern region of Transvaal Province in 1994, and initially named Northern Transvaal...
. The villages that are around Shoshong are Tobela,Ikongwe,Kalamare,Mmutane,and Mosolotshane.
It is described as a very hot and rocky place.It receives heavy rains sometimes in summer and it is windy almost everyday. It is circled around by a lot of hills used for grazing cattle.
History
Shoshong was initially inhabited by Baphaleng (Tlou and Campbell 1997; A.M. Chebanne and K.C. Monaka 2008), who were later joined by BaNgwato under King Sekgoma I in the 1850s. Oral traditions from the village points that Baphaleng chief invited Bangwato from Mosu where they were continuously harassed and vulnerable to Matebele attacks. The site of Shoshong was chosen as being easily defensible against the Matabele.Being the meeting place of trade routes from south and north it was of considerable importance to early explorers (including David Livingstone
David Livingstone
David Livingstone was a Scottish Congregationalist pioneer medical missionary with the London Missionary Society and an explorer in Africa. His meeting with H. M. Stanley gave rise to the popular quotation, "Dr...
) and traders in South-Central Africa. A mission station of the London Missionary Society
London Missionary Society
The London Missionary Society was a non-denominational missionary society formed in England in 1795 by evangelical Anglicans and Nonconformists, largely Congregationalist in outlook, with missions in the islands of the South Pacific and Africa...
(preceded for many years by a station of the Hermannsburg Lutheran Missionary Society) was founded here in 1862. In 1875, King Sekgoma was overthrown here by his Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
son Khama (later Khama III
Khama III
Khama III , also known as Khama the Good, was the kgosi of the Bamangwato people of Bechuanaland , who made his country a protectorate of the United Kingdom to ensure its survival against Boer and Ndebele encroachments.-Ancestry and Youth:During the 18th century, Malope, chief of the Bakwena...
/the Great). In 1885 (at the time of the declaration of the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) Shoshong had 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, including about twenty Europeans.
The move to Phalapye
By the 1880s, Shoshong had existed in the same location for forty years, possibly a record for a Tswana town. But it become a 'Desert City', almost waterless with 'one trickling well' and with 'indescribable filth'. Due to the water shortage, in 1888-89, Khama and most of his followers removed about 1890 to Phalatswe/PalapyePalapye
Palapye is a large town in Botswana, situated about halfway between Francistown and Gaborone . Over the years its position has made it a convenient stopover on one of Southern Africa's principal north–south rail and road routes...
, 5 miles (8 km) N.E. of Shoshong, and later to Serowe
Serowe
Serowe was famed as Botswana's largest village after Molepolole. Serowe has a rich history in Botswana'; it being the capital for the Bamangwato people in the early part of the 20th century and for being the birth place of many of Botswana's Presidents...
to the north-west of Palapye. Like Shoshong, these places were built in valleys of tributaries of the Limpopo. To make up for the loss of the defensible location, Khama had made an alliance with the British who were preparing a forward movement to take over Mashonaland and Matabeleland.
However, by 1898, Phalatswe was also running short of water, and Khama ordered some of his people back to Shoshong. The Baphaleng returned in 1900, and the Bakaa in 1902, while the capital relocated to Serowe
Serowe
Serowe was famed as Botswana's largest village after Molepolole. Serowe has a rich history in Botswana'; it being the capital for the Bamangwato people in the early part of the 20th century and for being the birth place of many of Botswana's Presidents...
. At the publication of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Shoshong had a population of about 800.