Moshoeshoe I

(Moshesh). Born in the 1790’s in Mokoaneng; died Mar. 11, 1870, in Maseru. Paramount chief of the Basutos.

In his youth the leader of the Bakwena tribe, Moshoeshoe sought to unify all the Basuto tribes against the British-Boer expansion. Upon becoming paramount chief, he assisted in the creation of the Basuto state. At the end of the 1820’s and beginning of the 1830’s he repelled an attack by the Matabeles.

In December 1852, Basuto troops under the command of Moshoeshoe defeated a British force at the Berea. Later, the threat of the Boer conquest of the entire Basuto territory forced Moshoeshoe in 1868 to reach an agreement with the British authorities regarding establishment of a British protectorate. He advocated an end to intertribal wars and the establishment of friendly ties between the peoples and tribes of Southern Africa.