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British Bechuanaland

1885–1895 British colony in Southern Africa

Summary

1885–1895 British colony in Southern Africa

Field	Value
conventional_long_name	British Bechuanaland
common_name	British Bechuanaland
era	New Imperialism
status	Crown Colony
empire	United Kingdom
government_type	Constitutional monarchy
year_start	1885
year_end	1895
event_start	Crown colony established
date_start	30 September
event_end	Annexation to Cape Colony
date_end	16 November
p1	Tswana people
p2	Stellaland
flag_p2	Flag of Stellaland (1883-5).svg
s1	Cape Colony
flag_s1	Flag of the Cape Colony 1876-1910.svg
image_flag	Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
image_coat	Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837-1952).svg
image_map	British bechuanaland 1887.jpg
capital	Vryburg
national_anthem	God Save the Queen
common_languages	English
leader1	Queen Victoria
year_leader1	1885–95
title_leader	Queen

the 1885–95 British Crown colony

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An 1885 map showing the Bechuanaland Protectorate prior to the creation of the Crown colony of British Bechuanaland and the [[Heligoland–Zanzibar Treaty]].

British Bechuanaland was a short-lived Crown colony of the United Kingdom that existed in southern Africa from its formation on 30 September 1885 until its annexation to the neighbouring Cape Colony on 16 November 1895. British Bechuanaland had an area of 51424 sqmi and a population of 84,210. Today the region forms part of South Africa.

History

Bechuanaland meant "the country of the Tswana", and for administrative purposes was divided into two political entities by the Molopo River. The northern part was administered as the Bechuanaland Protectorate, and the southern part was administered as the Crown colony of British Bechuanaland.

refer to caption — A map showing political boundaries in Southern Africa in the late 19th century including British Bechuanaland ("Crown Colony") and the larger [[Bechuanaland Protectorate]] to the north

In 1882, the Tswana country suffered two secessions by the Boer states of Stellaland and Goshen. For many months, starting in 1883, pressure was placed on the British Government to take action in Bechuanaland because of unrest in the area. On 29 October 1884, the British Government appointed Sir Charles Warren as Special Commissioner of Bechuanaland. On 13 November 1884, Parliament voted a sum of £675,000 (this is equivalent to over £32 million today) for military operations in Bechuanaland. Sir Charles Warren was authorised to recruit an irregular force of 1,500 in South Africa

A force of 4,000 troops, under Sir Charles Warren, set off to recapture Stellaland and Goshen. On 7 February 1885 the force reached Vryburg, the principal town in Stellaland, then continued to the hamlet of Rooigrond, the administrative centre of Goshen. Just north of Rooigrond the town of Mafeking was laid out as an administrative centre. By 8 April 1885, Sir Charles Warren sent a dispatch to notify the British Government that he had occupied Bechuanaland and had entirely restored order. The two Boer republics had collapsed without any bloodshed.

On 30 September 1885, Stellaland, Goshen and other territories to the south of the Molopo and Nossob rivers (excluding Griqualand West) were constituted as the Crown Colony of British Bechuanaland. In 1891, the South African Customs Union was extended to British Bechuanaland, and, in 1895, the colony was annexed to the Cape Colony and now forms part of South Africa, the area around Mafikeng.

Postal and revenue stamps

Stamp Bechuanaland 1887 1sh.jpg

References

Ben Cahoon. "South Africa". Worldstatesmen.org.
{{cite EB1911
(13 November 1884). "ARMY SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES' 1884–5—MILITARY OPERATION'S IN EGYPT AND BECHUANALAND. (Hansard, 13 November 1884)". [[Hansard.
(13 June 2018). "Historical dictionary of Botswana". Rowman & Littlefield.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

former-countries-in-africa states-and-territories-established-in-1885 former-colonies-in-africa cape-colony 1885-establishments-in-the-british-empire 1895-disestablishments-in-the-british-empire states-and-territories-disestablished-in-1895

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