🪶If your understanding of historical timelines is influenced by the assumption that all African kingdoms followed the same model as the Zulu and Basotho. Not for Batswana, and I’ll explain why.

🪶If your understanding of historical timelines is influenced by the assumption that all African kingdoms followed the same model as the Zulu and Basotho. Not for Batswana, and I’ll explain why.

🪶If your understanding of historical timelines is influenced by the assumption that all African kingdoms followed the same model as the Zulu and Basotho. Not for Batswana, and I’ll explain why.

○When Did Tswana Identity Begin?
The Tswana identity and civilization are much older than the formation of the Zulu kingdom (1816) or the Basotho identity (1820s).

• Archaeological and historical records confirm that Tswana settlements like Toutswe (600 CE), Dithakong (1200s), and Kaditshwene (1500s) were already major political centers before Shaka and Moshoeshoe were even born.
• The Tswana people have been recorded as an independent and structured nation long before the colonial era, with their own kings, laws, and governance. So if we have been a people for over 1,400 years, why would we “come from” a group that was only formed in the 1800s?
• The idea that Batswana originated from Basotho is a colonial fabrication—Europeans lumped people together for convenience rather than respecting our distinct histories.

○ Why Do Batswana Have Multiple Kings?
Your comparison assumes that unity means having one king, like the Zulu and Basotho. But this ignores how African civilizations functioned before colonial interference.

• Batswana were never conquered and merged into one state like the Zulu under Shaka or Basotho under Moshoeshoe. Instead, they maintained a federated kingdom structure, similar to how Europe had multiple independent kingdoms that recognized shared ancestry.
• The Batswana model is older and predates the military-driven nation-building of Shaka and Moshoeshoe. Each Tswana tribe (Bakgatla, Bakwena, Bangwaketse, Barolong, Bahurutshe, Bataung, Batlhaping, etc.) retained their own rulers.
• This is why when Batswana fought against the Zulu or Boers, Barolong would assist Bakwena, Batlhaping would assist Bataung, and Bangwaketse would assist Bangwato—they operated as a confederation, not a single monarchy.

○ How Batswana Were Different From Basotho & Zulu
Zulu and Basotho nations were built through conquest and refugee consolidation.

◇ Zulu:
Shaka Zulu used warfare to conquer and dissolve smaller Nguni kingdoms, forcing them under one ruler. That’s why the Zulu have one king today.

◇ Basotho:
Moshoeshoe did not conquer, but he gathered refugees (Nguni, Tswana, and Limpopo tribes) who fled from Zulu expansion and Boer attacks. He merged them into a new identity called “Basotho” through collective protection (“phutadichaba”). This means not all Basotho were originally Basotho—they became Basotho through inclusion.

◇ Batswana:
Batswana were not dissolved into a new kingdom. The same royal houses that existed in ancient times (Bakgatla, Bakwena, Bangwato, Bafokeng, etc.) are still ruling today.

○ Who Is the King of Batswana?
Unlike the Zulu and Basotho, Tswana kingship never centralized under one ruler because that was never our system.

• Instead of a single king, Batswana follow the traditional structure of independent royal houses, meaning we still have kings today:

▪︎Kgosi Leruo Molotlegi – King of Bafokeng
▪︎Kgosi Kgari III – King of Bangwato
▪︎Kgosi Bakgatla ba Kgafela – King of Bakgatla
▪︎Kgosi Tawana Moremi – King of Batawana
▪︎Kgosi Mosadi Seboko – Queen of Balete

Each of these rulers is equivalent to what a Zulu or Basotho king would be, but in the Tswana system, they exist alongside each other rather than being forced into one monarchy.

○ History is Not a Competition—It’s About Truth
Your perspective assumes that history is a competition—that every kingdom must look like the Zulu or Basotho to be valid. This is a Westernized way of thinking.

◇ The fact that Batswana were never conquered and still maintain their original kingship is proof that our system worked differently, not less effectively.

◇ The idea that Batswana came from Basotho is false—it was pushed by European colonizers who disregarded the complexity of African civilizations.

◇ We are Batswana because we have always been Batswana. Our history is our proof.