Ngwato (a Tswana group) bone ornaments as drawn by Andrew Smith.
The Sotho-Tswana chiefdoms of the inland plateau were the products of a complex interaction between intrusive lineages and resident local groups. Oral tradition mentions both negroid and Khoisan stone age people as the earliest residents of the highveld before the arrival of the first Sotho-Tswana lineages dispersing from the greater Magaliesberg area. The Fokeng, who are today Sotho-speaking, were long believed to be the first Sotho speakers on the highveld and have always been respected by oral historians as the most ancient of the Sotho peoples. Recent archaeological research has suggested, however, that the Fokeng were originally Nguni in culture and dispersed from Ntsuanatsatsi near Frankfort in the present Free State.
Of the Sotho-Tswana lineages originating around the Magaliesberg, the Hurutshe, based in what is today the Rustenburg-Marico district, were apparently the first to become pre-eminent. By 1750, they had become accepted as the ‘senior tribe of the Bechuana’, and given ritual respect in ceremonies. A rift among the Hurutshe had given rise to the Kwena lineage, which subdivided later to form the Ngwaketse and Ngwato lineages and the Kgatla. A third lineage cluster, the Rolong, emerged. They settled in the Madikwe River region, but were displaced by the Hurutshe in about 1600, and moved south of the Molopo River. Their near relations and occasional subordinates, the Tlhaping, settled slightly to the south, in the region of modern-day Kudumane (Kuruman).
After 1750, attempts were made by a range of subordinate chiefdoms to unshackle themselves from Hurutshe hegemony. Oral records point to increasing conflict among nearly all the chiefdoms in the central/western highveld towards the end of the century, nearly all led by ‘warrior’ chiefs. The Fokeng under Sekete and Thethe fought first with the Tlokwa and later with the Kgatla ba Kgafela. The Kwena ba Magopa under More were also locked in conflict with the Kgatla. Meanwhile, from their stronghold in the Leolu mountains, the Pedi under Thulare intervened decisively in the affairs of the central highveld, establishing a stronghold. This conflict was the consequence – or possibly the cause – of an increasing frequency of cattle raids, the seizure of women and captives and competition over trade. The extent of this trade is well documented in the archaeological and historical record. The main trade routes were from Maputo in the east, northwest into the Okavango and central Namibia, and south along the Orange River.
A number of features particular to the Sotho-Tswana stand out. They lived in large towns built largely of stone, some containing up to 15 000 people. The towns were divided into ‘wards’ with ward heads who exercised autonomous control over local affairs. Cattle were kept at outposts, where they were tended by young men. Women and girls supplied the inhabitants with agricultural products. They were tied into a relentless cycle of labour and were likened by the first missionaries to ‘beasts of burden’.
Compared with the Nguni speakers, there was a greater degree of dependence by the Sotho-Tswana chiefs on the ward heads, who acted as a kind of intermediary between chief and subjects. This may account for the important role played by the Pitso, or public meeting of household heads, which ratified major decisions.
Abundant evidence shows that trade spanned southern Africa in precolonial times. One of the earliest trade items was dagga, being smoked here in a group.
