Sebetwane and the MaKololo

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Abstract
Sebetwane, one of the most notable figures in southern Bantu history, was chief of the Patsa branch of the BaFokeng, one of the Sotho tribes. Uprooted in the Difaqane, they migrated under his leadership from the Orange Free State to Northern Rhodesia in search of a tranquil home. Repulsed from Dithakong in June 1823, the BaFokeng (now known as MaKololo) fought their way through the BaHurutshe, the BaKgatla and the BaTlokwa. They attacked the BaNgwaketse after subduing the BaKwena; and then, defeated by the BaNgwaketse (aided by white men), they invaded the BaNgwato and went on to Lake Ngami where they overcame the BaTawana. Thereafter in about 1840 they crossed the Zambesi and Sebettvane mastered the BaRotse and other tribes. He repelled invasions by MaTebele and AmaZulu. In 1851, during the visit of Livingstone and Oswell he died. As a tribe the MaKololo did not long outlive their great chief: they came to an end in 1864. This article attempts to reconstruct the story from often divergent native tradition; it amends and supplements the account given by D. F. Ellenberger. The chronology is largely conjectural or inferential.

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