Factors that led to the growth and development of the Sotho State in the Nineteenth Century

Factors that led to the growth and development of the Sotho State in the Nineteenth Century

Presence of able leaders like Moshoeshoe.

Strong and good personalities who were foresighted and intelligent

The Sotho had flat-topped hills which increased security in the area.

Well protected fortresses, e.g. Butba- Buthe and Thaba- Bosiu hills.

Strong defensive programme of nation building during and after M’fecane.

Assimilation of various fleeing groups into Sotho culture.

Peace, patience and understanding of chief Moshoeshoe.

Good relationship with neighboring states

Presence of horse mounted soldiers, which strengthened the military movement of the state against opponents.

Military advice provided by the Europeans.

The state was small and easy to control from internal and external aggression.

Marriage alliances were encouraged to build a strong Sotho nationalism and unity.

Local affairs were left in the hands of the provincial leaders, which brought efficiency.

Using external threats people were united, as they realized that they had common problems and interests, which brought unity.

How Mosboesboe handled/ solved these problems

To the hostile neighbours, Moshoeshoe established his stronghold at Thaba- Bosiu and Butha- Buthe, which could easily be defended.

He incorporated the refugees and gave them cattle, land and eventually they became law-abiding citizens.

He also used diplomacy to ward off attacks from hostile strong neighbours, for instance he gave tribute or revenue to Shaka.

To the Boers from Transvaal, Orange Free State and Natal who attacked his Kingdom for land, he gave them temporally land and cattle.

To reduce problems of administering the state made up of various ethnic groups, Moshoeshoe allowed them to remain with their traditional institutions or their social way of life .

To bring unity, Moshoeshoe married from different Sotho clans.

He also employed his female relatives as spies in places where they had got married.

To avoid redundancy in the army, he embarked on conquering and raiding neighboring states.

He combined war and diplomacy to beat off threats from his neighbors, for example after defeating Mzilikazi he sent surprising messages and gifts to him.

He played his enemies against each other, e.g. to remove Sekoyale's threat, Moshoeshoe accused him to Shaka by stating that the latter had grabbed cattle and women, which was his tribute to Shaka.

This annoyed Shaka and reacted by destroying the Tlokwa society.