Online Reporter
As Botswana celebrates its 59th independence anniversary today, it will be good to reflect on the rich history of the historic town called Shoshong.
Old Shoshong (now preserved as a national monument ) is a very important town in the history of Southern Africa.
Located just north of the Tropic of Capricorn in the Central District of Botswana,Shoshong is a major historic melting pot that has vast deposits of intersections of the 19th century Southern African history.
King Sekgoma I, established the Bangwato people on the site of modern Shoshong in 1850. This was after he attacked and incorporated other people groups such as Bakaa, Babirwa and Balete, joining the Baphaleng, Batalaote and others.
Historians state that Shoshong was initially inhabited by Baphaleng (Tlou and Campbell 1997; A.M. Chebanne and K.C. Monaka 2008), who were later joined by Bakaa and later, Bangwato under King Sekgoma I.
Oral traditions from the village point that it was the Baphaleng king who invited Bangwato from Mosu, where they were continuously harassed and vulnerable to attacks from the Ndebele of Mzilikazi.
Later, under King Khama III, Shoshong became a large and prosperous trading town. It had a sizeable European population that operated trading stores , a missionary station and many other specialised services. According to Hepburn (1895), the name Shoshong is derived from “Leshosho” , the water source that flows into the valley.
For a while Shoshong became an important and the largest town in the interior of Southern Africa, a thousand kilometres in every direction. By 1866 the population had grown to around 30 000 people, equalling that of Cape Town. Missionaries, hunters and explorers passed through Shoshong as they explored Southern Africa and there are many records of their experiences.
The “Missionaries Road” from South Africa linked South Africa to the North. It linked London Missionary Society mission stations in Griquatown and Kuruman to Kanye, Molepolole and Shoshong. From Shoshong, routes developed to Ngamiland, Victoria Falls and Bulawayo.
Shoshong thus became a major stop over for people travelling to the north from South Africa. People found it convenient to buy goods at higher prices in Shoshong than to embark on a six months return trip to Cape Town.
Trade was done mainly through money but goats and sheep were also accepted in exchange of the wares.
King Khama III firmly controlled trade at Shoshong and all the wagons that entered the town were subject to his control. In 1878, 75 tonnes of ivory from 12 000 elephants were exported via Shoshong. By the following year, the total ivory exports at Shoshong clocked £30 000.00 in revenue.
King Khama III fortified Shoshong to become the best defended African town in the interior of Southern Africa with an army of 3000 men skilled in horse riding and use of fire arms. By 1880 postal services from Shoshong to Zeerust were supplemented by a regular fortnightly mail service by a runner from Shoshong to Bulawayo, via Tati.
Between 7000-8000 letters a year, were despatched from Shoshong across Southern Africa and to European destinations
Shoshong was abandoned by Bangwato in 1889 due to environmental factors such as degradation of the area, depletion of pastures, poor hygiene and shortage of water.
Shoshong had become a “Desert City’’, almost waterless with “one trickling well” and with “indescribable filth”.From Shoshong ,Bangwato moved to Palapye .
