The Zambezi by Newitt Malyn;

Author:Newitt, Malyn;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hurst Publishers
Published: 2022-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

8

BAROTSELAND IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Barotseland becomes a protectorate

In the 1880s and 1890s, as the European chancelleries haggled over their respective spheres of influence in central Africa, the major African states were excluded from any but the most nominal role in deciding the region’s future. The Ndebele king, Lobengula, had been lured into making mineral concessions which had opened the way to a European takeover of Mashonaland. He could only watch anxiously as white settlers, gold prospectors and gunmen poured north into regions that up to that time had paid tribute to him. Higher up the Zambezi, the Barotse king also felt the near approach of European adventurers and empire builders.

The civil conflict that had torn the whole Barotse kingdom apart in 1884 was only resolved with the return of Lewanika in 1885. Even then, the purging continued, with the supporters of the rebels being rounded up and murdered along with any members of their families not able to flee in time. The purges continued throughout 1886, and the Lozi were indeed fortunate that, as events unfolded, they did not have to pay the price for their internal dissensions.

The Lozi ruling elite were split over the course of action that should be taken in the face of threats from Europeans, and many wanted their king to refuse to deal with any of them. In 1888, Lewanika’s principal European adviser, George Westbeech, had died. The king had allowed François Coillard and his companions to establish a mission in the country in 1886, but it seems that he wanted to find a replacement to fill the vital economic role Westbeech had played in the kingdom. In June 1889, Lewanika was approached by a trader and hunter, Henry Ware, who brought a large number of gifts, including modern rifles, and claimed to be a representative of the British government.

Apparently on François Coillard’s advice, Lewanika granted a mineral concession to Ware covering the Batoka country north of the Falls as far as the Kafue, a region that had paid tribute to the Lozi king but had never been formally incorporated into his kingdom. The concession also included extensive rights over water, timber and railway track. The king was to be paid £2000 a year and was to be given 4 per cent on all minerals extracted. Lewanika was strongly opposed by many of the indunas in his kingdom, who said that he was selling his whole kingdom. The agreement with Ware seemed to promise advantages that would secure Lewanika’s protection against threats from both internal and external enemies and help the king to consolidate his position in the country. However, Ware was not a representative of the British government, as soon became apparent when he sold his concession to Cecil Rhodes.

As early as 1886, Lewanika had considered seeking British protection, and the idea of a protectorate was still very much in his mind when Rhodes’s agent Frank Lochner reached Barotseland in April 1890. Lochner arrived amid political tensions he did not entirely understand. Lewanika was not secure on his throne and faced a rival focus of authority in the town of Sesheke.

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