The history Botswana, from the origins to the colonial period. | Exploring Africa
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The history Botswana, from the origins to the colonial period.
Botswana: Tsodilo Hills - Photo Credits: Romina Facchi
The territory of Botswana has been inhabited for millennia, it is thought 20,000 years, but some scholars support 100,000 years, from the Khoi and from the San.
Testimonies of their presence are present in various places of the country, several fossil remains have been found, and the San painted, for millennia, in different places, scenes of daily life; many of these art masterpieces have been preserved for millennia and have come to us, an example are the paintings on the rocks of the Tsodilo Hills.
The San, also known as Bushmen, are a population of hunter-gatherers and are considered the closest descendants to Homo sapiens; while the Khoi, from whom the Nama descend, are a breeders' people.
These were for thousands of years the only inhabitants of these semi-arid lands, never growing in number, somewhat as a result of the inhospitable territory but also because their society was not very evolved.
During the 17th century some Bantu populations from the North began to arrive in these lands, more precisely from the Equatorial Africa.
These populations were more evolved and more aggressive than the Sans and the Khoi, and in the clashes that inevitably took place, they had the best and forced the native Botswana inhabitants to take refuge in remote and impending areas.
The Tswana, who descend directly from these populations of Bantu farmers and breeders, are still subdivided into many clans, each of them has a boss; all the leaders respond to a supreme leader or king of the Tswana, known by the name of Kgosikgolo.
The country, whose history was characterized by intertribal struggles for centuries, had to suffer in the 19th century invasions and raids by the powerful Zulu.
Only after 1880 Khama III, a great leader of the Mangwato, one of the main Tswana clan, managed to unify under his authority the various tribes of the country.
But after a few years the colonial era of Botswana began and the country became a British Protectorate.
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Nama old woman - Photo Credits: Otto
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San or Bushmen - Photo Credits: D'Anne Harp
The San people