Petite history of Lesotho By Neo Khethang

Lesotho is a small country with more history

1. `` PETITE LESOTHO HISTORY

2. LESOTHO Lesotho is a small land-locked mountainous country completely surrounded by the republic of south Africa. It has a total area of 30 350 square kilometers . Lesotho is the mountain region covers 18037 square kilometers and characterized by bare rock outcrop of the Maloti range and deep river valley, with elevations of 2000 meters and above Lesotho is the foothills region covers 4529 square kilometers and lies at elevations from 1800 meters to 2000 meters between the lowlands and Maloti mountains. The lowland regions covers 5094 square kilometers and is situated along the western border and consists of a narrow belt of land with elevation of 1800 meters or less and width between 10 and 65 kilometers .

3. FOUNDATION OF LESOTHO The name Lesotho translates roughly into the land of the people who speaks Sotho. A narrative of Lesotho is called a Mosotho and the people are called Basotho . Modern Lesotho emerged in the 1800s under King Moshoeshoe 1of the Mokoteli. He is considered to be the father of the Lesotho’s history. Lesotho was formerly called Basuland, until it reached independence from the Untied Kingdom in 1966.

4. KING MOSHOESHOE 1 Moshoeshoe w as born about 1786 at Mekhoaneng in the Leribe district of northern Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor Mokoena chief. As a young man, he was taught by Mohlomi, a famous chief and the healer. Moshoeshoe’s real name as a young man was Lepoqo. After initiation, he was given the name of Letlama.

5. MOHLOMI Mohlomi was a well respected chief and traditional doctor. Mohlomi taught Moshoeshoe that it was important to respect people and have them respect you. Mohlomi advised Moshoeshoe to ignore the traditional doctors who advised ritual killings and told h im that he should never kill people accused of witchcraft. Mohlomi gave Moshoeshoe an earring to symbolized good governance and chieftainship.

6. MOSHOESHOE MOVED TO BUTHA-BOTHE Moshoeshoe started his own village with his initiation colleagues. Smaller people and less powerful chiefs, such as Makara, the Bafokeng chief , joined Moshoeshoe and supported him because he was powerful , fair and a good warrior. As the number of people under him increased , Moshoeshoe realized that he needed to find a secure place for his people to live. When he was about 34 old , he and his followers moved to mountain fortress of Butha-Buthe.

7. LIFAQANE WARS Soon after Moshoeshoe and his people settled at Butha-Butha, the Lifaqane Wars began in Nguniland, these began to harass and plunder the plunder the peace Sotho-Tswana communities that they came into contract with. One such group, the Batlokoa of Regent Queen ‘Manthatisi, in turn attacked Moshoeshoe at Butha- Buthe . The Batlokoa could not dislodge Moshoeshoe and his people, but the attack made it clear to Moshoeshoe that he and his people were not at Butha-Bosiu and that they needed a stronger fortress. Moshoeshoe decided that his people were not safe at Butha-Bothe The Lifaqane wars had displaced many small group of people, and these groups often attacked the fortress.

8. CANNIBALS ON THE WAY TO THABA-BOSIU There were many cannnibals at this time. Because of drought, war and famine these people were forced to eat other people or starve. Cannibals caught and ate Moshoeshoe’s grandfather, peete , on the way to Thaba- Bosiu . Moshoeshoe did not kill them because he considered them his grandfather’s grave. He therefore gave them fields and animals that many of them stopped being cannibals and joined Basotho nation.

9. MOSHOESHOE MOVED TO THABA-BOSIU Because of drought Moshoeshoe’s people also did not have enough to eat. He sent his brother to explore other places and they decided on Thaba-Bosiu. Thaba-Bosiu was high ,easy to defend and had enough fertile land and grazing to supply food for the people.

10. MOSHOESHOE BUILDS A STRONG NATION A system of mafisa was introduced . Moshoeshoe loaned cattle to people who did not own any. When the cattle had produced male and female offspring, the original cattle were return to Moshoeshoe. The offspring belonged to the new owner. This helped to take care of poor and also attracted other groups to join Moshoeshoe’s people. A system of matsema was introduced. All people would work on a communal field which could produce enough food for everyone in the events of disaster or war. Everyone worked in this field knowing that it was for the good of the nation. After harvest, anyone who was short of food could go to Moshoeshoe and be given food from the stores.

11. THE ENCROACHMENT OF BOERS The first Boers who came to live on Basotho land said that they were not going to stay forever and that they would not build permanent houses. They said they knew that the land belonged to Moshoeshoe. However, as more and more Boers arrived, they started saying that they had bought the land . By 1845, more than 300 Boers families were living on Basotho land. The Boers marked out their farms and put up fences. Some of Basotho farmers were forced to work for the Boers and to pay tribute for living on the farm. Because of this Basotho farmers moved away and settled in the more hilly regions.

12. CONCLUSION This is a small sampling of Lesotho history, there is much more about Lesotho history, in learning more about the history of Lesotho, there are many excellent sources available such as the book of A Way Ahead with Social studies, The Making of the Kingdom of Lesotho by B.R Welensky and History of Basotho by S.C Mokhosi .

13. REFERENCES Silase at el. (2001 ) Way A head with S ocial studies. Maseru. Longman Lesotho. 139 Pages. Aquastat.2005. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations . Country P rofile Lesotho. Page1-12. http/www.fao.org .[22 April 2024]