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69-482: The Tswana ( Tswana : Batswana , singular Motswana ) are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa . Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the population of Botswana in 2011. Batswana are the native people of south and eastern Botswana and the Gauteng , North West , Northern Cape , Free State , and other provinces of South Africa , where the majority of Batswana are located. The Batswana are

138-532: A Bantu-speaking mega-ethnicity of many kingdoms, who are native to Southern Africa (Parts of modern day Namibia, Botswana and South Africa) alongside the Khwe speaking kingdoms of the same region. The Toutswe were in the eastern region of what is now Botswana, relying on Tswana cattle breeds held in kraals as their source of wealth. The arrival of the ancestors of the Tswana-speaking people who came to control

207-637: A Motswana playwright and poet. Tswana language Tswana , also known by its native name Setswana , and previously spelled Sechuana in English, is a Bantu language spoken in and indigenous to Southern Africa by about 8.2 million people. It is closely related to the Northern Sotho and Southern Sotho languages, as well as the Kgalagadi language and the Lozi language . Setswana

276-726: A peace agreement in Potchefstroom in 1860. From that point on, the modern-day border between South Africa and Botswana was agreed upon, and the Afrikaners and Batswana traded and worked together peacefully. The Batawana's fight against the invading Ndebele of 1884 when the AmaNdebele arrived at Toteng, they found the village abandoned. But, as they settled down to enjoy their bloodless conquest, about seventy mounted Batawana under Kgosi Moremi's personal command appeared, all armed with breech-loading rifles. In classic commando style,

345-407: A secondary stress in the first part of the word. The syllable on which the stress falls is lengthened. Thus, mosadi (woman) is realised as [mʊ̀ˈsáːdì] . Tswana has two tones , high and low, but the latter has a much wider distribution in words than the former. Tones are not marked orthographically , which may lead to ambiguity. An important feature of the tones is the so-called spreading of

414-588: A short note regarding the common characteristics of most nouns within their respective classes. Some nouns may be found in several classes. For instance, many class 1 nouns are also found in class 1a, class 3, class 4, and class 5. First Matabele War The British South Africa Company had no more than 750 troops in the British South Africa Company's Police , with an undetermined number of possible colonial volunteers and an additional 700 Tswana (Bechuana) allies. Cecil Rhodes , who

483-606: A staunch ally of the British. The Matabele army mobilised to prevent Forbes from reaching the city, and twice engaged the column as it approached: on 25 October, 3,500 warriors assaulted the column near the Shangani River . Lobengula's troops were well-drilled and formidable by pre-colonial African standards, but the pioneers' Maxim guns, which had never before been used in battle, far exceeded expectations, according to an eyewitness "mow[ing] them down literally like grass". By

552-400: A whistle used mostly during celebrations, which comes in a variety of forms). Botswana cultural musical instruments are not confined only to the strings or drums. the hands are used as musical instruments too, by either clapping them together or against phathisi (goat skin turned inside out wrapped around the calf area; it is only used by men) to create music and rhythm. For the last few decades,

621-577: Is a Motswana and the plural is Batswana. The three main branches of the Tswana tribe formed during the 17th century. Three brothers, Kwena , Ngwaketse and Ngwato , broke away from their father, Chief Malope, to establish their own tribes in Molepolole , Kanye and Serowe , probably in response to drought and expanding populations in search of pasture and arable land. The principal Tswana tribes are the: The largest number of ethnic Tswana people

690-432: Is a pounded or shredded meat and often served with Bogobe (Porridge). Madila is a sour cultured milk prepared from cow and goat milk over a period of time until fully matured for consumption. Traditionally madila were prepared using Lekuka a leather sack or bag used in processing and storing madila. Madila is also traditionally used as relish, eaten with pap. It can also be used in popular Tswana breakfast meal, motogo, to give

759-541: Is an official language of Botswana , South Africa , and Zimbabwe . It is a lingua franca in Botswana and parts of South Africa, particularly North West Province . Tswana speaking ethnic groups are found in more than two provinces of South Africa, primarily in the North West , where about four million people speak the language. An urbanised variety is known as Pretoria Sotho , and is the principal unique language of

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828-643: Is located in modern-day South Africa. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in the country, and the Tswana language is one of eleven official languages in South Africa . There were over 4 million Tswana speakers in the country in 2012, with North West Province having a majority of 2,200,000 Tswana speakers. From 1948 to 1994, South African Tswana people were defined by the Apartheid regime to be citizens of Bophuthatswana , one of ten bantustans set up for

897-456: Is mostly vocal and performed, sometimes without drums depending on the occasion; it also makes heavy use of string instruments. Tswana folk music has instruments such as Setinkane (a Botswana version of miniature piano), Segankure/Segaba (a Botswana version of the Chinese instrument Erhu), Moropa (Meropa -plural) (a Botswana version of the many varieties of drums), and phala (a Botswana version of

966-477: Is realised as either /x/ or /h/ by many speakers; /f/ is realised as /h/ in most dialects; and /tɬ/ and /tɬʰ/ are realised as /t/ and /tʰ/ in northern dialects. The consonant /ŋ/ can exist at the end of a word without being followed by a vowel (as in Jwaneng and Barolong Seboni ). Stress is fixed in Tswana and thus always falls on the penult of a word, although some compounds may receive

1035-455: Is said to represent a woman; it brings forth light but not as scorching as the Sun (Letsatsi) and its light is associated with happiness. Venus is called Mphatlalatsana (the brilliant and blinding one) by Batswana & Kopadilalelo (seeker of evening meals). Raditladi Basin , a large peak ring impact crater on Mercury with a diameter of 263 km is named after Leetile Disang Raditladi ,

1104-471: 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 neighbors. Other chiefdoms in the area, by this time, had capitals of 10,000 or so and were fairly prosperous. One of these famous capitals was Kaditshwene which was the cultural capital of

1173-886: The British South Africa Company would administer the territory stretching from the Limpopo to the Zambezi under royal charter . Queen Victoria signed the charter in 1889. Cecil Rhodes used this document in 1890 to justify sending the Pioneer Column , a group of settlers protected by well-armed British South Africa Company's Police (BSAP) and guided by the big game hunter Frederick Selous , through Matabeleland and into Shona territory to establish Fort Salisbury (now Harare ). Throughout 1891 and 1892, Lobengula ensured that his raiding parties were directed away from their main target areas of Mashonaland and so precluded possible clashes between his zealous young commanders and

1242-612: The close-mid vowels /e/ and /o/ . The circumflex on e and o in general Setswana writing is only encouraged at elementary levels of education and not at upper primary or higher; usually these are written without the circumflex. The consonant inventory of Tswana can be seen below. The consonant /d/ is merely an allophone of /l/ , when the latter is followed by the vowels /i/ or /u/ . Two more sounds, v /v/ and z /z/ , exist only in loanwords. Tswana also has three click consonants , but these are only used in interjections or ideophones , and tend only to be used by

1311-519: 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,

1380-786: The Bahurutshe people, one of the principal Tswana tribes, and a center of manufacturing and trading. it had been founded in the late 1400s on the site of iron and copper ore deposits. The remains of another major Tswana settlement, Kweneng' Ruins , are found in Suikerbosrand Nature Reserve in South Africa. It was occupied from the 15th to the 19th century AD and was the largest of several sizeable settlements inhabited by Tswana speakers before European arrival. Several circular stone-walled family compounds are spread out over an area of 10km long and 2km wide. During

1449-879: The Bakalanga, the Bakgalagadi, the Batswapong 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, which culminated in the pivotal showdown of the Battle of Dimawe fought with artillery and long range rifles as well as musket fire. Although it

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1518-539: The Batawana and Wayeyi were able to employ additional tricks to lure the invaders towards their ultimate doom. At one point, a calf and its mother were tied to separate trees to make Lotshe's men think that they were finally catching up to their main prize, the elusive Batawana cattle. As they pressed forward, the AmaNdebele were further unnerved by additional hit-and-run attacks and sniping by small bands of Batawana marksmen. Certainly, they could not have been comfortable in

1587-500: The British South Africa Company's Police, with an undetermined number of possible colonial volunteers and an additional 700 Tswana (Bechuana) allies who marched on Bulawayo from the south commandeered by Khama III , the most influential of the Batswana chiefs, and a staunch ally of the British. The Salisbury and Fort Victoria columns marched into Bulawayo on 4 November 1893. The Imperial column from Bechuanaland

1656-596: The North West, Free State, Northern Cape, and Gauteng provinces. The republic of Botswana (formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) is named for the Tswana people. The country's eight major tribes speak Tswana , which is also called Setswana. All have a traditional Paramount Chief, styled Kgosikgolo , who is entitled to a seat in the Ntlo ya Dikgosi (an advisory body to the country's Parliament ). The Tswana dynasties are all related. A person who lives in Botswana

1725-561: The Tswana culture (Bakgatla, Barolong, Bakwena, Batlhaping, Bahurutshe, Bafokeng, Batlokwa, Bataung, and Batswapong, among others); the written language remains the same. A small number of speakers are also found in Zimbabwe (unknown number) and Namibia (about 10,000 people). The first European to describe the language was the German traveller Hinrich Lichtenstein , who lived among the Tswana people Batlhaping in 1806 although his work

1794-416: The amaNdebele to where the main body of defenders were already well entrenched. As they approached the swamp area south of Khutiyabasadi, Lotshe struggled to reunite his men, perhaps sensing that they were approaching a showdown. But, instead, Moremi's Batawana, now joined by Qhunkunyane's Wayeyi, drew the amaNdebele still deeper into the swamps. In this area of poor visibility, due to the thick, tall reeds,

1863-509: The auspices of Col. Frank Rhodes , brother of Cecil, with the ultimate purpose of connecting the Cape with Cairo . The railway from Cape Town passed Mafeking , and approached the Rhodesian frontier, reaching Bulawayo in 1897. The east coast line to connect Salisbury (now Harare ) with Beira, Mozambique (then Portuguese East Africa Colony ) was completed in 1899. The First Matabele War

1932-422: The battle were also killed while being mercilessly pursued by the Batawana cavalry. Moremi was clearly determined to send a strong message to Lobengula that his regiments were no match. Still others died of exhaustion and hunger while trying to make their way home across the dry plains south of Chobe; the somewhat more hospitable route through Gammangwato having been blocked by Khama. While the battle at Khutiyabasadi

2001-400: The bridge over what he presumably thought was no more than a small stream. As planned, the bridge collapsed when full of AmaNdebele, who were thus unexpectedly thrown into a deep water channel. Few, if any, would have known how to swim. Additional waves of AmaNdebele found themselves pinned down by their charging compatriots along the river bank, which was too deep for them to easily ford. With

2070-451: The cavalry began to harass the much larger enemy force with lethal hit-and-run volleys. Meanwhile, another group of traditionally armed subjects of the Kgosi also made their presence known. At this point, the AmaNdebele commander, Lotshe, took the bait, dividing his army into two groups. One party pursued Moremi's small force, while the other fruitlessly tried to catch up to what they believed

2139-530: The centre point of the country, on 16 October 1893. Together the force totalled about 700 men, commanded by Major Patrick Forbes and equipped with five Maxim machine guns . Forbes' combined column moved on the Matabele king's capital at Bulawayo , to the south-west. An additional force of 700 Bechuanas marched on Bulawayo from the south under Khama III , the most influential of the Bamangwato chiefs, and

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2208-484: The city of Pretoria . The three South African provinces with the most speakers are Gauteng (circa 11%), Northern Cape , and North West (over 70%). Until 1994, South African Tswana people were notionally citizens of Bophuthatswana , one of the bantustans of the apartheid regime. The Setswana language in the Northwest Province has variations in which it is spoken according to the ethnic groups found in

2277-473: The column before it reached the river. They were to tell the white people that the king admitted defeat, and offered this money in tribute if the BSAP would turn back. "Gold is the only thing that will stop the white men," Lobengula reportedly said. Petchan and Sehuloholu reportedly reached the column on 2 December 1893, and gave the money and the message to two men in the rear guard. No man who had been attached to

2346-508: The column confirmed this, but company authorities thought it unlikely that the Matabele would simply invent such a story. Two officers' batmen were accused of accepting the gold, then keeping it for themselves and not passing on the message. The evidence against them was inconclusive, but they were found guilty and sentenced to 14 years' hard labour by the Resident Magistrate. They were released after two years, however, because

2415-715: The company flag and the Union Jack to a tree. The reconstruction of Bulawayo began almost as soon as the fires were out, with a new Company-run city rising atop the ruins of Lobengula's former residence. The column of Khama's men from the south had reached the Tati River , and won a victory on the Singuesi river on 2 November. Advanced scouts for the colonial forces, including Burnham and Selous , reached Bulawayo that same day, only to watch as Lobengula blew up his arsenal of ammunition rather than allow it to be captured by

2484-547: The company was exonerated from the charge by Lord Ripon , the Colonial Secretary . Following the end of the war, one of Lobengula's izinDuna said that just before Forbes' column had reached the Shangani on 3 December 1893, the king had attempted to buy the pioneers off. According to this story, two Matabele messengers, Petchan and Sehuloholu, had been given a box of gold sovereigns , and instructed to intercept

2553-511: The company. The town, mostly made up of wood-beam huts with mud (dagga) walls, was largely destroyed. On 3 November, Bulawayo was reached by the Victoria column from Mashonaland , accompanied by Jameson and Sir John Willoughby. By this time, Lobengula and his warriors were in full flight towards the Zambezi. An attempt was made to induce Lobengula to surrender, but no replies were received to

2622-510: The enemy thus in disarray, the signal was given for the main body of defenders to emerge from their tunnels and trenches. A barrage of bullets cut through Lotshe's lines from three sides, quickly turning the battle into a one-sided massacre. It is said that after the main firing had ceased, the Wayeyi used their mekoro to further attack the survivors trapped in the river, hitting them on the head with their oars. In this way, many more were drowned. By

2691-547: The following years, he published several other books of the Bible , and in 1857, he was able to publish a complete translation of the Bible. The first grammar of Tswana was published in 1833 by the missionary James Archbell although it was modelled on a Xhosa grammar. The first grammar of Tswana which regarded it as a separate language from Xhosa (but still not as a separate language from the Northern and Southern Sotho languages)

2760-501: The guitar has been celebrated as a versatile music instrument for Tswana music as it offers a variety in string which the Segaba instrument does not have. Other notable modern Tswana music is Tswana Rap known as Motswako . Batswana are noted for their skill at crafting baskets from Mokola Palm and local dyes. The baskets are generally woven into three types: large, lidded baskets used for storage, large, open baskets for carrying objects on

2829-541: The head or for winnowing threshed grain, and smaller plates for winnowing pounded grain. Potters made clay pots for storing water, traditional beer and also for cooking and hardly for commercial use. Craft makers made wooden crafts and they made traditional cooking utensils such as leso and lehetlho, traditional wooden chairs and drums among others. Astronomy is an age old tradition in Africa. As with all other cultures, various ethnic groups developed their own interpretations of

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2898-655: The high tone. If a syllable bears a high tone, the following two syllables will have high tones unless they are at the end of the word. Tswana orthography is based on the Latin alphabet. The letter š was introduced in 1937, but the corresponding sound is still sometimes written as ⟨sh⟩. The letters ⟨ê⟩ and ⟨ô⟩ are used in textbooks and language reference books, but not so much in daily standard writing. Nouns in Tswana are grouped into nine noun classes and one subclass, each having different prefixes . The nine classes and their respective prefixes can be seen below, along with

2967-732: The hostilities that developed the Ndebele sustained about 40 casualties; this led to their withdrawal. King Lobengula had given stern warning to his fighters when they started the raid. "If you shed one drop of the white man's blood on this raid into Mashonaland, I will have every one of you killed when you return". There was a delay of just over two months (August to October) while Jameson corresponded with Rhodes in Cape Town and considered how to amass enough troops to undertake an invasion of Matabeleland. BSAP columns rode from Fort Salisbury and Fort Victoria, and combined at Iron Mine Hill, around

3036-543: The maximum term the Magistrate could give was three months; the convictions were ultimately quashed altogether on a re-assessment of the evidence by the High Commissioner's legal team. The truth of the matter has never been conclusively resolved. In every step taken by the company, the guiding hand was that of Cecil Rhodes , a fact which received recognition when the company's territory officially received

3105-582: The messages. The United Salisbury Column later arrived in Bulawayo, and on 13 November, Major Patrick Forbes organized his column and started in pursuit of Lobengula. The pursuing party was delayed by difficult routes and heavy rains, and did not catch up with Lobengula until December 3. Major Allan Wilson , in command of thirty-four troopers known as the Shangani Patrol , crossed the Shangani river and bivouacked close to Lobengula's quarters. In

3174-545: The name " Rhodesia " on May 3, 1895. During this year there was great activity in exploiting Matabeleland , with "Stands" or plots being sold at extraordinary prices in Bulawayo . Within nine months the rebuilt town of Bulawayo had a population of 1,900 colonials with over 2,000 more prospectors in the various goldfields . A new company, the African Transcontinental Company, was founded under

3243-422: The news from Bembesi; in keeping with traditional custom, he and his subjects torched the royal town as they went. In the resultant conflagration, the city's large store of ivory, gold and other treasure was destroyed, and its ammunition magazine exploded. The flames were still rising when the British marched into the settlement the next day; they set up base in the "White Man's Camp" already present, and nailed

3312-534: The night the river rose, and early the next morning the Matabele surrounded the Shangani Patrol, overwhelming Wilson and his followers. 34 men of the Shangani Patrol perished in the encounter, while the remaining three (American scouts Frederick Russell Burnham and Pearl "Pete" Ingram, and an Australian named Gooding) crossed the swollen river under orders from Wilson, and returned to Forbes to request reinforcements. However, Forbes' forces were unable to cross

3381-404: The older generation, and are therefore falling out of use. The three click consonants are the dental click /ǀ/ , orthographically ⟨c⟩ ; the lateral click /ǁ/ , orthographically ⟨x⟩ ; and the alveolar click /ǃ/ , orthographically ⟨q⟩ . There are some minor dialectal variations among the consonants between speakers of Tswana. For instance, /χ/

3450-456: The purpose of defending the policy of denying black Africans citizenship in South Africa. Bogobe is a staple food made from sorghum meal which is often eaten alongside meat or vegetables. The most popular sorghum porridge is Ting. Bogobe jwa Logala/Sengana is a traditional Setswana dish prepared from sorghum porridge mixed/cooked with milk. Seswaa is Botswana's national dish and is often served at weddings, funerals, and other celebrations. Seswaa

3519-724: The region (from the Vaal River to Botswana) has yet to be dated precisely. Although CE 600 seems to be a consensus estimate, This massive cattle-raising complex prospered until 1300 CE or so. All these various peoples were connected to trade routes that ran via the Limpopo River to the Indian Ocean, and trade goods from Asia, such as beads, made their way to the Batswana. Most likely in exchange for ivory, gold, and rhinoceros horn. The first written records relating to modern-day Botswana appeared in 1824. What these records show

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3588-514: The river in time. Lobengula died from smallpox on January 22 or 23 1894. Meanwhile, the Ndebele warriors gradually succumbed to the company's superior firepower. Soon after the king's death, the Ndebele izinDuna submitted to the British South Africa Company. Charges were later made in the British House of Commons against the company, accusing them of having provoked the Ndebele in order to secure their territory. However, after enquiry

3657-566: The soft porridge that sour and milky taste. Batswana wear a cotton fabric known in Setswana as Leteisi and Sotho as Shweshwe . This fabric is often used for wedding celebrations and other traditional celebrations. In Setswana tradition mothers wear mogagolwane, a checkered small blanket during traditional baby-showers, and married women during traditional weddings are identified by it, as well as during various initiation ceremonies. Even during funerals Batswana women don mogagolwane. Tswana music

3726-446: The solar system. Using their natural instrument the eye, Batswana have observed, commented on and named celestial objects of interest to them. There are more telling and specific names that relate to unique stellar patterns and their seasonal appearance e.g. Selemela, Naka, Thutlwa, and Dikolojwane. According to Tswana culture, the stars of Orion's sword were "dintsa le Dikolobe", three dogs chasing three pigs of Orion's belt. The Milky Way

3795-424: The spot by the appearance of Batawana cavalry, who crossed the channel to the island in their sight. In addition, cattle were placed on a small islet adjacent to Kuthiyabasadi, while a group of soldiers now made themselves visible by standing up on the wooden platform. Also at the location was a papyrus bridge that had been purposely weakened at crucial spots. Surveying the scene, Lotshe ordered his men to charge across

3864-459: The suitably aged young men and women and killed everyone else.) However, the local British South Africa Company administration felt that they had to intervene to avoid losing the confidence of the local people who complained that they were not being given any support against the raid. As a result, the Company officials demanded from the raiders that they leave immediately. The Ndebele refused and in

3933-455: The time the Matabele withdrew, they had suffered around 1,500 fatalities; the BSAP, on the other hand, had lost only four men. A week later, on 1 November, 2,000 Matabele riflemen and 4,000 warriors attacked Forbes at Bembesi , about 50 kilometres (30 mi) north-east of Bulawayo, but again they were no match for the crushing firepower of the major's Maxims: about 2,500 more Matabele were killed. Lobengula fled Bulawayo as soon as he heard

4002-444: The time the fighting was over, the blood was reported to have turned the water along the course of the river black. While the total number of casualties at Khutiyabasadi cannot be precisely known, observers in Bulawayo at the time confirmed that over 2,500 men had left on Lotshe's expedition and less than 500 had returned. While the bulk of the amaNdebele losses are believed to have occurred in and around Khutiyabasadi itself, survivors of

4071-494: The unfamiliar Okavango environment. It was at Kuthiyabasadi that the defenders' trap was finally sprung. At the time, the place was an island dominated by high reeds and surrounded to the west by deep water. In the reeds, three well armed Batawana regiments, joined by local Wayeyi, waited patiently. There they had built a small wooden platform, upon which several men could be seen from across the channel, as well as tunnels and entrenchments for concealment. The AmaNdebele were drawn to

4140-463: The white settlers. However, in 1893, a chief in the Victoria district named Gomara refused tribute, asserting that he was now under the protection of the laws of the settlers. In order to save face, Lobengula was impelled to send a raiding party of several thousand warriors to bring his vassal to heel. The raiding party destroyed several villages and murdered many of the inhabitants. (In this they were more restrained than usual as they generally abducted

4209-490: Was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, and Leander Starr Jameson , the Administrator of Mashonaland, also tried to avoid war to prevent loss of confidence in the future of the territory. Matters came to a head when Lobengula approved a raid to forcibly extract tribute from a Mashona chief in the district of the town of Fort Victoria , which inevitably led to a clash with the company. The British government agreed that

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4278-498: Was a great victory for the Batawana and a defeat for the AmaNdebele, for the Wayeyi of the region, the outcome is said to have been a mixed blessing. While they had shared in the victory over the hated Amandebele, one of its consequences was a tightening of Batawana authority in the area over them as Moremi settled for a period at nearby Nokaneng. The First Matabele War was fought between 1893 and 1894 in modern-day Zimbabwe. The British South Africa Company had no more than 750 troops in

4347-527: Was declared a self-governing state. On 6 December 1977 this 'homeland' was granted independence by the South African government. Bophuthatswana's capital city was Mmabatho and 99% of its population was Tswana speaking. In March 1994, Bophuthatswana was placed under the control of two administrators, Tjaart van der Walt and Job Mokgoro. The small, widespread pieces of land were reincorporated into South Africa on 27 April 1994. Bophuthatswana now forms part of

4416-595: Was not published until 1930. He mistakenly regarded Tswana as a dialect of the Xhosa , and the name that he used for the language "Beetjuana" may also have covered the Northern and Southern Sotho languages . The first major work on Tswana was carried out by the British missionary Robert Moffat , who had also lived among the Batlhaping , and published Bechuana Spelling Book and A Bechuana Catechism in 1826. In

4485-560: Was nowhere to be seen. They had set march on 18 October heading north for Bulawayo and had a minor skirmish with the Matabele near Mphoengs on 2 November. They finally reached Bulawayo on 15 November, a delay which probably saved the Chartered Company's then newly occupied territory being annexed to the imperial Bechuanaland Protectorate . The Bophuthatswana Territorial Authority was created in 1961, and in June 1972 Bophuthatswana

4554-504: Was published by the French missionary, E. Casalis in 1841. He changed his mind later, and in a publication from 1882, he noted that the Northern and Southern Sotho languages were distinct from Tswana. Solomon Plaatje , a South African intellectual and linguist , was one of the first writers to extensively write in and about the Tswana language. The vowel inventory of Tswana can be seen below. Some dialects have two additional vowels,

4623-647: Was the Boer Commando led by the Boer Commandant-General Pieter Scholtz and Paul Kruger , as officers leading the Boer advance, who started the offensive, it was they who ended up on the retreat, followed by Batswana's retaliatory attacks into the then Transvaal 's Marique district, in which Boer settlements, villages, and farms were scorched. After about eight years of intermittent tensions and hostilities, they eventually came to

4692-407: Was the main body of Batawana. As the invaders generally lacked guns, as well as horses, Moremi continued to harass his pursuers, inflicting significant casualties while remaining unscathed. The primary mission of Moremi's men was not, however, to inflict losses on the enemy so much as to ensnare them in a well designed trap. His force thus gradually retreated northward towards Khutiyabasadi, drawing

4761-418: Was viewed by the Tswana as Molalatladi, the place where lightning rests. It was further believed that this place of rest also kept the sky from collapsing and showed the movement of time. Some even claimed that it turned the sun to the east, in a way to explaining the rising of the sun. It was also believed that it was a supernatural footpath across the sky along which ancestors' spirits walked. The moon (Ngwedi)

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