Mokhachane
Very little is recorded about Mokhachane in the sources we could read. Wikipedia’s article on Moshoeshoe I says he was a minor chief of the Bamokoteli, a sub-clan of the Bakoena (see Mokoena), that the Bamokoteli numbered at most about 4,000 and paid tribute to the Bakoena, and that Moshoeshoe, born Lepoqo at Menkhoaneng and his eldest son, succeeded him in 1820 at about 34. It says Moshoeshoe’s mother was Kholu, a daughter of the Bafokeng chief Ntsukunyane, and that Mokhachane chose ‘Mamabela, a Bafokeng chief’s daughter, as Moshoeshoe’s first wife in 1810. South African History Online’s biography says only that Moshoeshoe succeeded his father, Mokhacane (its spelling), as chief of the Bamokoteli in 1820.
His own father
The abstract of Peter Seboni’s 1994 University of the Free State doctoral thesis, Moshweshwe’s diplomatic relations with the indigenous chiefs of Southern Africa, 1822 to 1870, identifies Mokhachane as Moshoeshoe’s father and “the second son of Peete”, and says Peete took the young Moshoeshoe to the traveller and sage Mohlomi for blessings and later for treatment of his “madness”. Wikipedia’s article on the Kwena clan lists a succession Napo, Motebang, Molemo, Tsoloane le Tsolo, Monaheng, Motloang, Peete, Mokhachane and Moshoeshoe, which agrees that Peete was Mokhachane’s father, though that article’s list carries an unexplained “Doc Mokoteli” entry and uncertain spellings.
What we have not read
We have not read Seboni’s thesis beyond its abstract, Thompson, Sanders, Becker or the other works the Moshoeshoe article cites, and we found no source on Mokhachane’s dates of birth or death, wives other than the mother named above, other sons or his own reign. We do not know where he is buried. We found no Mokhachane family account.
Izithakazelo (lithoko) and totem
We found no recorded praises for Mokhachane, so we are printing none. If you belong to the Basotho royal house and recite his lithoko, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Moshoeshoe I
- South African History Online: King Moshoeshoe I
- Peter Seboni, University of the Free State: Moshweshwe’s diplomatic relations with the indigenous chiefs of Southern Africa, 1822 to 1870 (1994; catalogue abstract)
- Wikipedia: Kwena clan
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