| Battle of Dimawe | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Various Batswana (Bakwena, Batlokwa, Balete, and Bahurutshe) tribal warriors |  Voortrekkers | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Kgosi Setshele I | Andries Pretorius | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 3,000+ | 1,000+ men [1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 60 dead [2] | 38 dead [2] | ||||||
  Location within Botswana | |||||||
The Battle of Dimawe was fought between several Batswana tribes and the Boers in August 1852. Under the command of Kgosi Setshele I of the Bakwena tribe, the Batswana were victorious at Dimawe Hill. [3] [4] [5]
Friend of my heart's love, and of all the confidence of my heart, I am Sechele. I am undone by the Boers, who attacked me, though I had no guilt with them. They demanded that I should be in their kingdom, and I refused. They demanded that I should prevent the English and Griquas from passing. I replied, These are my friends, and I can prevent no one.
Excerpt of a letter from Kgosi Sechele I to Robert Moffat
According to Paul Kruger, a chief called Mosielele the chief of Bakgatla-ba-ga Mmanana had committed several murders in the South African Republic and then fled to Sechele I, who refused to hand him over to the Boers, saying "Who wants Mosielele can come and fetch him out of my stomach". He meant to convey that Mosielele was as safely hidden with him as the food which he had eaten. [3]
When the Boers arrived Sechele I sent a messenger to Commandant Scholtz to say that he would do nothing to him on the morrow, as that was a Sunday, but that he would duly settle the account on the Monday. At the same time he demanded coffee and sugar, probably in return for his amiability in "letting the Boers off" for Sunday. [3] Commandant Scholtz send back word that he had coffee and sugar, but none to give away. He promised to give him pepper on Monday. [3]
The Battle began on Monday morning. During the battle Paul Kruger was injured by friendly fire ricochet, [3] and was also stuck in the chest, tearing apart his jacket. [3]
The Bakwena had knowledge of the surrounding hilltops and used them as watchtowers and hiding places. [6] When the Boers were spotted, Kgosi Setshele ordered the women and children to hide; Setshele's own pregnant wife was hidden in Mmasechele Cave several kilometers away. [6] As the Boer troops climbed the hills, Setshele's warriors rolled large stones down the hillside to crush the Boers. [6]
Reportedly using captured Africans as human shields, forcing the Batswana to hold their fire, the Boers captured Dimawe, and they succeeded in forcing Setshele to flee. [7] They also captured about 400 civilians, mainly women and children, which they then used as "inkoboekelinge" to work in farms, [7] which was, according to David Livingstone, slavery. [8]
Afterwards the Boers raided the house of David Livingstone at the Kolobeng Mission. [2] And found a complete workshop for repairing guns, and materials of war, in breach of the Sand River Convention of 1852. [3]
Despite the initial Batswana defeat, Sechele soon returned and conducted several retaliatory raids using European guns against the Boers, [9] which inflicted several casualties on its enemies, forced the Boers to retreat, and enabled the Batswana to recover their lost territory. [10] After pushing the Boers back, the Batswana raided and plundered several Boer farms until a peace treaty was signed. [11]
After the battle, the Tswana tribes split; the Bakwena traveled to Ditlhakane and Dithubaruba while the Bahurutshe finally settled in the Kolobeng River valley around Dimawe Hill. [6]
An agreement was signed between the Boers and the Batswana in January 1853. [9] Setshele attempted to travel to Great Britain to ask for further protection from the Boers, but he only made it to Cape Town before being turned back. [6] The British did not want to make an agreement with the Batswana as that would hurt relations with the Boers. [12] However, this first failed attempt may have inspired a second successful trip to Britain in 1895 during which Kgosi Khama III, Kgosi Sebele I, and Kgosi Bathoen I asked for Botswana's incorporation into the Bechuanaland Protectorate, a separate entity from Cecil Rhodes 's British South Africa Company or the South African Republic. [6] While Kgosi Setshele was en route to Britain, a group of Setshele's army encountered a small group of Boers. The Boers were so frightened that they arranged to have Setshele's children, who were captured and enslaved by a Boer commandant, returned to him. [2]
Mahikeng, formerly known as Mafikeng and alternatively known as Mafeking, is the capital city of the North West province of South Africa.
The Tswana are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa. Ethnic Tswana made up approximately 85% of the population of Botswana in 2011.
The Bakwena or Bakoena are a large Sotho-Tswana clan in Southern Africa of the southern Bantu group. They can be found in different parts of southern Africa such as Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa and Eswatini. "Kwena" is a Sotho/Tswana/Sepedi word meaning "crocodile", the crocodile is also their totem (seboko).
The term Batlôkwa refers to several Kgatla communities that reside in Lesotho and South Africa.
Molepolole is a large village in Kweneng District, Botswana.
Sechele I a Motswasele "Rra Mokonopi" (1812–1892), also known as Setshele, was the ruler of the Kwêna people of Botswana. He was converted to Christianity by David Livingstone and in his role as ruler served as a missionary among his own and other African peoples. According to Livingstone biographer Stephen Tomkins, Sechele was Livingstone's only African convert to Christianity, even though Livingstone himself came to regard Sechele as a "backslider". Sechele led a coalition of Batswana in the Battle of Dimawe in 1852.
The history of Gaborone began with archaeological evidence in the area around Gaborone dating back to 400 BCE, and the first written accounts of Gaborone are from the earliest European settlers in the 19th century. Since the 1960s, when Botswana gained its independence from Britain and Gaborone became the capital, the city has grown from a small village in the Botswana scrubland to a major center in southern Africa.
Kolobeng Mission, built in 1847, the third and final mission of David Livingstone, a missionary and explorer of Africa. Located in the country of Botswana, 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of Kumakwane and 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Gaborone off the Thamaga-Kanye Road, the mission housed a church and a school and was also the home of David Livingstone, his wife Mary Livingstone, and their children. While here, Livingstone converted Sechele I, kgosi of the Bakwena and taught them irrigation methods using the nearby Kolobeng River. A drought began in 1848, and the Bakwena blamed the natural disaster on Livingstone's presence. In 1852, Boer farmers attacked the tribes in the area, including the Bakwena at Kolobeng in the Battle of Dimawe. This prompted the Livingstones to leave Kolobeng, and the mission was abandoned. A fence was installed around the site in 1935, and the mission is now preserved by the Department of National Museum and Monuments under Botswana's Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism.
The Manyana Rock Paintings are a collection of rock art and caves located at the Kolobeng hills, neighbouring Manyana, Southern District, Botswana. It is believed that the artworks were made by the Khoikhoi or the San people between 1100 AD and 1700 AD. The paintings are found on five cliff areas around the rocky hill. Today, the site is fenced and protected as a National Monument.
The Dithubaruba Cultural Festival is one of the national events celebrated in Botswana and is also marked in the Botswana Calendar of Events. It aims to promote Kweneng cultural heritage and create leisure time for the community.
The History of Botswana includes its pre-state history, its colonial period as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and its modern history as a sovereign state.
Legwale was a kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the late 18th century. He was preceded by his father Seitlhamo and succeeded by his brother Maleke as regent. Gary Okihiro has contested the idea that Legwale is a single individual, saying that there were two consecutive dikgosi named Legwale who were father and son.
Kelebantse Sebele II was kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate. He succeeded his father, Sechele II, in 1918. Sebele quickly came into conflict with other members of his family and with the British colonial administration, which deemed him uncooperative and unstable.
Seitlhamo was a kgosi of the Kwena tribe. He ruled from the death of his father Motswasele I c. 1785 until his own death c. 1795. He was succeeded by his son Legwale.
Tshosa was a regent of the Kwena tribe from 1803 to 1807. He became regent following the death of his brother Maleke, who was also a regent, and he held the position until he passed it to the Kwena heir, his nephew Motswasele II. After Motswasele's death, Tshosa led a group of the fractured Kwena tribe. He was killed in an attack by the Bakololo.
Kgari Kealeboga Sechele II was a kgosi of the Kwena tribe in the Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1931 until his death in 1962. He was appointed to the position by the British colonial administration after it deposed his elder brother Sebele II.
Motswasele I was kgosi of the Kwena tribe from c. 1770 until his death c. 1790. He was preceded by his grandfather Motshodi and succeeded by his son Seitlhamo.
Neale Molaodi Sechele (1915–1985) was kgosi of the Bakwena. He was appointed to the position by the court in 1963 following the death of his brother Kgari Sechele II, and he was forced to abdicate in 1970. As Neale was appointed against the wishes of the people and he often neglected his responsibilities, he was regarded poorly by the Bakwena.
Bonewamang Padi Sechele (1926–1978) was the African Tribal Authority of the Kwena tribe from 1970 until his death in 1978. He was appointed by the government in lieu of a kgosi after the abdication of Neale Sechele.
MacIntyre "Mack" Sechele was the regent of the Kwena tribe from 1978 to 1986. He was born to kgosi Sechele II of the Bakwena and his first wife Lena Rauwe. When a succession dispute occurred between Bonewamang Padi Sechele and Moruakgomo Sechele in 1962, Mack supported Moruakgomo to be kgosi. Though he was the son of a kgosi, Mack did not challenge the seniority of his nephews when they were considered potential heirs.
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