Grade 10 Topic 4: Transformations in Southern Africa After 1750 - Tswana Case Study PDF

Grade 10 Topic 4 Transformations in southern Africa after 1750 Case Study: The Tswana  What have we learned so far? There is a VERY ‘Long Past’ of human culture in southern Africa. Many thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans People, used land an...

Grade 10 Topic 4 Transformations in southern Africa after 1750 Case Study: The Tswana  What have we learned so far? There is a VERY ‘Long Past’ of human culture in southern Africa. Many thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans People, used land and resources in different ways, but coexisted during the long past – some hunted using stone or iron weapons and gathered plants to eat. Some people kept animals of which cattle were most prized. Some people farmed crops such as millet and sorghum. Gold, copper and iron was mined, smelted and crafted. Water was often scarce and so highly valued. People lived in complex societies with clear gender division of labour and, among some groups, hierarchical power relations. Over time large centralised states (such as Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe) rose and fell. People had traded within Africa and had been connected to global trading networks since the 1st millennium. (African trade goods included ivory, gold, iron and people)  What was Southern Africa Like in 1750? In the heartland, south of the Limpopo river, power over people had been connected with ownership of cattle for over a thousand years. Uncertainties of the environment (eg: drought, cattle disease) made leaders vulnerable Alliances could be built through strategic marriages (but this could also lead to succession challenges between children) Archaeological evidence shows there was interaction and movement between communities at coast and on Highveld. Archaeological evidence shows frequent shifts of geographical locations (people between homesteads and villages) – societies were fluid (chiefdoms split and joined).  FOCUS of this section: Political changes, 1750-1820 From around 1750, Southern African societies went through a period of transformation Larger chiefdoms developed between 1750-1820 , but power depended on whether or not a chief could provide enough fertile land for his people This period became known as the ‘mfecane’ or ‘the time of trouble’ which acknowledges that there were many political and social upheavals Previously these changes were blamed on Shaka and the rise of the Zulu kingdom, however new information has shown that this is not true – Some chiefdoms grew more powerful and began to rule over one another, increasing tensions and competition and need for land – The frontiers of the European colony as well as trade from the Cape and Delagoa Bay in the east extended economic opportunities. This increased competition for control over trade routes as well as land and resources  KEY QUESTIONS: What led to the transformation of the Tswana state in the period of 1750-1820? What led to centralisation of the Tswana state?  CASE STUDY: Transformation among the Tswana chiefdoms in the interior c.1750-1820 By 1820 Tswana towns were the largest settlements in southern Africa at the time. This was a result of numerous changes experienced by the Tswana. Note that Johannesburg and Pretoria didn’t exist at all and there were no national borders. WHERE?  Who were the Tswana? Tswana refers to ‘speakers of Setswana’, a southern African Bantu language There are many different lineages of Tswana people. Some you may hear about in this topic are the Hurutshe (the most senior lineage from which others descended), the Rolong, and the Tlhaping etc. The Tswana were farmers of sorghum, millet and cattle and followed rainfall patterns in order to grow crops and feed and water their cattle. Thus they settled initially in the Bushveld region of southern Africa before moving into the Highveld along the Orange and Vaal Rivers as this area offered better land and rainfall for crops In this area they came into contact with the San and Khoi, some of whom were incorporated into the Tswana communities Where were the Tswana located? Geographically the Tswana were located in what is today central South Africa and Botswana. It is a bushveld region on the western border of the highveld along the Orange River. The ancestors of the Tswana farmed sorghum and millet and cattle from, the end of the 15th century Larger, more centralised towns emerged among the Tswana chiefdoms after c.1750. What does this centralisation of the Tswana chiefdoms indicate? Why would this have happened?  Centralisation of states Centralisation - development of larger groupings coming together to live in one area. This was due to various agents of change and lead to large towns rather than homesteads. The chiefdom of the Bangwaketse was an example of how these chiefdoms grew more powerful. It was situated in the north-west of the region, near the desert. Under the leadership of Makaba (c. 1790-1824), the chiefdom began to grow and took control of the trade in the region. Another chiefdom which grew more powerful, as a result of trade, was the Batlhaping chiefdom in the south-west, which began to control the trade routes to the Cape. The most powerful Tswana chiefdom in the east of the region was the Bahurutshe chiefdom, situated near where Pretoria/Tshwane is today. The centre of this chiefdom was the town of Kaditshwene, which had about 15 000 inhabitants in 1820 and so was about the same size as Cape Town at that time. It was one of a number of large fortified towns that were built at that time to protect the people and control trade. An aerial photograph showing the stone foundations of 18th C. homesteads Tswana towns by the mid 18th century were among the largest settlements in southern Africa at the time. According to travellers’ writings and estimates made by archaeologists, by 1820 CE the number of people living in towns such as Marothodi, Molokwane or Kaditshwene, ranged from about 4 000 to as many as 20 000 people. Only Cape Town was of a similar size.  Dry stone walling By 1600, cattle kraals and homestead boundaries were built with dry stone walling. What does this indicate about the Tswana settlements? Archeologists have deduced that populations were growing as the size as well as the amount of of settlements were increasing This occurrence of dry stone walling in the Highveld was due to the lack of trees However the fact that it also occured in the Bushveld region leads archaeologists to believe that this was due to increasing populations and the need to conserve wood resources  A picture of a Tswana Town was painted by a European traveller, William Burchell in the early 19th century, Travels , p.364  Interesting websites Archaeologists uncover South Africa’s lost city of Kweneng Wits archaeologists have found an ancient lost city in Johannesburg Documentary Trailer for Forgotten World - The documentary tells the story of the Bokoni chiefdom through historical and archaeological evidence (a further example of stone walling used in southern African societies) An Article about the Forgotten World: A 52 minute documentary film about extraordinary hidden heritage POWER Lunch host Ntokozo Mazibuko speaks to Peter Delius, professor emeritus at Wits University about the making of the Forgotten World documentaries Google Earth Coordinates [25°41'14.36"S 27° 3'58.53"E ] SAHO: Political changes from 1750 to 1835  Agents of Change: What factors influenced the changes that took place among the Tswana chiefdom in the 18th and 19th century?  Agents of Change and their impact on the Tswana chiefdom Draw up this table in to your workbook. As we discuss the different AoC’s add the information to your summaries Agents of change How did they Impact the Tswana? Population growth Rainfall patterns Trade Raiders Guns Missionaries  Using the Agents of Change you discover in this topic, answer the following essay question: "The Tswana of southern Africa experienced a period of significant transformation between 1750-1820. This led to large centralised states." Explain why the above statement is accurate by examining the impact of the various agents of change experienced by the Tswana polity.  Population growth An extract is taken from a book by archaeologist Mark Anderson who has researched the growth of Tswana towns in the 18th century By 1750, the political climate had become so volatile (unstable) that some of the most powerful Tswana chiefs on the southern edge of the Highveld started to gather all members of their chiefdoms around themselves, quickly forming large, concentrated centres of population. All accounts describe a landscape in which inter-chiefdom skirmishes (fights) and ongoing wars intensified from the early 18th century. What was behind the growing hostility? Up until this point, Tswana communities had been living in small, geographically dispersed family units. Among these largely autonomous (independent) homesteads, competition over resources was generally avoided by virtue of their relatively mobile nature: wherever conflict threatened, a group would simply up sticks and move their homestead away to an unoccupied part of the landscape. This process of continuous dispersal seemed to work quite well — until people started to run out of land. Anderson, M.S. (2013) Maratodi: The Historical Archaeology of an African Capital. Accessed http://akkadium.com/tswana-towns-archaelogy-maratodi From the mid-18th century, Tswana chiefdoms started trading with the east coast and the Cape Colony, supplying goods such as ivory, furs, metals, cattle and feathers. Demand on local resources to obtain such commodities led to ever greater demands for land. But this was curtailed (stopped) by the economically unworkable southern Kalahari desert to the west and the tsetse fly belt to the north-east (tsetse fly carry a deadly cattle disease). Anderson, M.S. (2013) Maratodi: The Historical Archaeology of an African Capital. Accessed http://akkadium.com/tswana-towns-archaelogy-maratodi  Rainfall patterns Higher rainfall meant that more land could be used for farming, and more livestock could be kept. During the 1700's Portuguese traders had brought maize to Africa, which replaced other grains as the staple for most people. These changes meant that more food was produced and so more people could live in one area. As a result, larger chiefdoms began to develop. Maize farming needed more water and when the drought struck in 1800 thousands of people starved. This also caused conflict over cattle, grain and water, which eventually led to war. As a result, there was conflict between the southern Tswana chiefdoms and some chiefdoms began to expand at the expense of others.  Increase in Trade Written records and archaeological evidence show that trade increased during the 1700’s. At Tswana sites, archaeologists have found cowrie shells and beads, which came from Muslim and Portuguese traders on the Indian Ocean coast. The Tswana also got firearms and horses from the Cape Colony to the south, which they bought from Khoi traders. They also had trade links with the Portuguese on the west coast in Angola. In return for the goods they bought, the Tswana areas provided ivory, copper and animal skins. Some chiefs became very wealthy as a result of their control of the trading routes This meant that their chiefdoms began to grow large as more people joined them. TSETSE FLY REGION The Ivory Trade Hunting in this way was widespread among the Tswana. The method of pitfall hunting provided meat, ivory and skins for trade. The chief controlled who got what from the hunt. He also claimed a tusk from every elephant hunted for himself. Below: A coordinated pitfall hunt, in which people drive animals (especially elephants) towards an extensive field of pitfall traps  Raiding Tswana chiefdoms were affected by raids from the south. As the Cape Colony expanded northwards, this affected the Khoi and San communities living there. As a result, some of them began to raid the Tswana chiefdoms in search of food. Sometimes Khoi and San were joined by runaway slaves and deserters from the Cape, some of whom had guns and horses. There were also raids by the Kora and Griqua, who lived to the south and west. Some settlers from the Cape also raided the region, looking for San women and children to work on their farms. The whole area became very unstable because of all these raids. Some Tswana chiefdoms grew larger and more powerful as people joined them to get protection from the attacks.  The raiders: The Kora and Griqua On the southern border of the Tswana state, people like the Kora and Griqua were moving inland from the Cape Colony They were descendants of Dutch settlers and people from Southern Africa such as the Khoisan, or were the descendants of slaves who had escaped the Colony  The raiders: The Kora and Griqua They had guns and horses (so could move quickly over distances in search of trade, and raiding opportunities). Performed a key role in trade between the Southern Tswana and Europeans  The story of Luka Jantjies Luka Jantjie was an independent African ruler and resistance hero born in about 1812 in a Tswana town. During his life he experienced many changes and fought to protect his land from British colonial occupation. The first two chapters of this biography cover the period in late 18th, early 19th century. They tell a story of raiding and trading, a visit from a European traveller named William Burchell who sells a gun to Luka’s grandfather, Mothibi, (the first gun in the chiefdom), Mothibi’s conversion to christianity in Robert Moffat’s mission school and the tensions that Christianity created within the polity. What causes (Agents of Change) and consequences did you identify from reading the story of Luka Jantjies?  Source-based questions 1.1 Using the source on Slide 20 1.1.1 According to the source, how was conflict over land avoided before 1750? (1x1)(1) 1.1.2 Explain what is meant by a politically volatile climate. (1x2)(2) 1.1.3 Why do you think the Tswana began to run out of land and have to compete for resources more than before in the 18th and 19th centuries. (1x2)(2) 1.1.4 Why would centralising/ gathering members of a chiefdom be useful to the Tswana in 1750? (2x2)(4) 1.1.5 Why would this source be useful to historians studying the transformation on the Tswana society in 1750? (1x2)(2) 1.2 Using the Source on Slide 21 1.2.1. Explain why the Tswana have avoided the Kalahari region. (1x2)(2) 1.2.2. Using the source, provide a way in which trade impacted the Tswana.resources. (1x1)(1) 1.3 Using the information on Slide 22 1.3.1 Explain how an increase in rainfall would have benefitted the Tswana. (1x2)(2) 1.3.2 Explain how drought negatively impacted the Tswana. (1x2)(2) 1.3.3 Why would drought have led to conflict amongst the Tswana chiefdoms? (2x2)(4) 1.4 Using the information on Slide 23 1.4.1 Explain why trade was important to chiefdoms like the Tswana. (2x2)(4) 1.4.2 Why would the Tswana want guns? (2x2)(4) 1.4.3 Why would an increase in trade lead to chiefdoms growing? (2x2)(4) 1.5 Using the source on Slide 24 1.5.1 What goods were being traded out of Delagoa Bay? (3x1)(3) 1.6 Using the sources on Slide 25 - 27 1.6.1 Why would the chief have claimed a tusk for himself? (1x2)(2) 1.6.2 Explain what these pitfall hunts show us about the roles of the Tswana society. (1x2)(2) 1.6.3 How would the demand for ivory in Europe have impacted the Tswana? (1x2)(2) 1.7 Using the sources and information on slides 28 - 30 1.7.1 How did the expansion of the Cape Colony impact the Tswana? (1x2)(2) 1.7.2 Why would women and children be sought after by settlers? (1x2)(2) 1.7.3 How did raiding lead to the Tswana becoming more centralised? (1x2)(2) 1.7.4 Who were the Kora and the Griqua? (1x2)(2) 1.7.5. What did the Kora and Griqua have to offer the Tswana? (2x1)(2) 1.7.6. Why would these commodities have been of use to the Tswana? (1x2)(2)