Looking at Lesotho, they
can see that it is very unique in that it is completely surrounded by South
Africa. Seeing this one probably asks themselves of how this comes about that
this particular area of land has been set apart to be an independent country.
Lesotho had to go through much fighting to gain their own territory back from
the Europeans who tried to colonize. Lesotho was put together by a following of
a man named King Moshoeshoe I in 1822. He formed his own clan and claimed this territory
of Basutoland.[1]
At this time Moshoeshoe
invited French missionaries to his land and this was the first meeting of white
people and Europeans. After this and sometime after, Trekboers (Dutch peoples)
started to come up from the Cape of South Africa and start to claim land that
was in control of the Basotho peoples. As more Boers came, Moshoeshoe wrote the
British governor of the Cape Colony to annex the area that the Basotho had
settled. This resulted in the Boers being very angry and they decided to attack
the Basotho. They were held back in this short skirmish. After this, the
Basotho held off attacks from the British which turned to be embarrassing
defeats for them. In 1854 the British pulled out of the area and a few years
later, Moshoeshoe fought a series of war against the Boers in the Free State-
Basotho War. In these battles, the Basotho lost much land. In a cry for help,
Moshoeshoe called to Queen Victoria to make Lesotho a protectorate in 1868. The
British signed a treaty with the British delegating how much land Lesotho would
have. After Moshoeshoe later died and there were a few wars against the
colonization the Britain tried to have. Lesotho stayed under direct rule by a governor
until 1966 when Lesotho finally gained its independence from Britain.[2]
 |
| King Moshoeshoe https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moshoeshoe.jpg |
These were the first
contacts with the European nations. The invitation of the French had a large
influence on the country’s religion considering that today, 90 percent are
Christian. The fighting in the Boer wars obviously affected the expansion and
loss of territory in this country’s history. Being under British control for so
long also affected the language. Most schools in Lesotho require the learning
of English and generally everyone in the city can speak it.
[1] Welcome to the
Mountain Kingdom. “About Lesotho.” Gov.ls. http://www.gov.ls/about/default.php
(accessed April 18, 2016).
[2] Karen Tranberg Hansen, Reconsidering Informality:
Perspectives from Urban Africa,
(Nordic African Institute: 2004), 180.
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