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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Land, Cattle and Ethnicity: Creating Linchwe's BaKgatla
Author:Morton, FredISNI
Year:1995
Periodical:South African Historical Journal
Issue:33
Period:November
Pages:131-154
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:Kgatla
pastoralists
traditional rulers
History and Exploration
Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups)
colonialism
Economics and Trade
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582479508671851
Abstract:Chiefs in southern Africa have been understood as agents who, in the late 19th century, steadily lost control of local production and labour to the rising demands of mining and industrial capital. This article shows how, through the politics of ethnicity, the cattle-owning Kgatla, under 'kgosi' Linchwe I (1875-1920), strengthened their economic and political base during the mineral revolution and the establishment of colonial regimes throughout the region. By adopting Christian and Western norms, accepting colonial laws, and making persistent territorial claims Linchwe, the royal lineage head, gained British recognition as the hereditary chief of the Kgatla in Transvaal and the Bechuanaland Protectorate. Along with other Kgatla cattle owners, he was thereby able to gain access to land and water resources for his stock. As head of a single tribal administration situated in Transvaal and the Bechuanaland Protectorate, Linchwe could oppose segregation and other forms of racial discrimination inside South Africa. The rapprochement between Boer and Briton that led to the Union in 1910 put an end to this situation. Notes, ref.
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