A South African Kingdom
The Pursuit of Security in Nineteenth-Century Lesotho

A study of the Basotho and the transition from chiefdom to kingdom to British colony, first published in 2003.

Elizabeth A. Eldredge (Author)

9780521440677, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 17 June 1993

272 pages, 10 b/w illus. 7 maps 9 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.9 cm, 0.57 kg

"...infuses new breath into an old story, the emergence of the Basotho as a distinct people and the survival of their nation in the face of the aggressively expansionist regimes which became South Africa." Marc Epprecht, Canadian Journal of History

The Basotho kingdom emerged and consolidated in the dramatic and dangerous environment of nineteenth-century South Africa. In this 2003 book, Elizabeth Eldredge provides a rich description of local agriculture, iron-working and craft industries, bringing out the resourceful responses of the Basotho to the challenges of drought and famine, and explaining the dynamics of the competition for land. During the colonial period, regional economic integration increasingly influenced local production, land use and internal politics, and drew the Basotho into the regional migrant labour system. Throughout these turbulent years, the overriding interest of the Basotho was the pursuit of security. Dr Eldredge analyzes the epic struggle which bound together rich and poor, chiefs and commoners, and men and women in a largely successful effort to sustain this fragile and innovative society in the face of political threats and environmental challenges.

1. Introduction
2. Settlement and trade patterns before 1830
3. Political consolidation and the rise of Moshoeshoe in the 1820s
4. The land of the Basotho: the geographic extent of Moshoeshoe's authority, 1824–64
5. The European intrusion and the competition for land, 1834–68
6. Food and politics: feasts and famines
7. The rise and decline of craft specialization
8. The allocation of labor, 1830–1910
9. The local exchange of goods and services, 1839–1910
10. Women, reproduction, and production
11. The Basotho and the rise of the regional European market, 1830–1910
12. The colonial imposition and the failure of the local economy, 1871–1910
13. Economy, politics, migrant labor and gender
14. In pursuit of security
Appendix
Note on oral sources.

Subject Areas: Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900 [HBLL], African history [HBJH]