Letsie I
Wikipedia’s article on Letsie I describes him as paramount chief of the Basotho from 11 March 1870 until his death, born Mohato about 1811, the eldest son of Moshoeshoe I and his principal wife ‘Mamabela (‘MaMohato). It says that at his initiation in 1829 he took the name Letsie, reportedly in remembrance of the Sotho sage Mohlomi, and that in June 1833 he and his brother Molapo escorted the first missionaries of the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society to Thaba Bosiu and Morija. It says that after succeeding in 1870 he lived mainly at Matsieng, near Morija, with Molapo based at Leribe and Masopha at Thaba Bosiu.
Cape rule and the Gun War
According to the article, Basutoland passed from imperial protection to the Cape Colony in 1871, and the Cape extended the Peace Preservation Act to disarm the Basotho in 1879. Resistance led to the Basuto Gun War from September 1880 to April 1881, in which coalition forces of Basotho chiefs fought, including Letsie’s son Lerotholi; the Cape could not impose disarmament and the Basotho kept their arms. Imperial control was restored by an Order in Council of 2 February 1884 (effective 18 March), placing Basutoland under the British High Commissioner. Wikipedia’s article on Masopha says Letsie, urged by Prime Minister Sprigg to arrest Masopha, believed most of the nation supported Masopha and judged it unfeasible; that by Basuto oral tradition he appointed Lerotholi and Masopha as the rebel leaders while ordering other chiefs to comply with Cape rules; that in January 1882 he assembled an army to enforce the Award on Masopha but cancelled it; and that in September 1882 he and Lerotholi agreed with Sauer a plan to assemble a force against Masopha. The Masopha article also records that the Award of 29 April 1881 let the Basuto keep their guns and the Quthing district, with a collective fine of 5,000 cattle.
Under the Resident Commissioner
The article says that under the first Resident Commissioner, Sir Marshal James Clarke (1884 to 1893), the colonial state governed indirectly through the paramountcy; that in 1886 Clarke urged Letsie to create an advisory council alongside the traditional pitso assembly and Letsie accepted in 1889; and that this led to the Basutoland National Council, which first sat in 1903 under Lerotholi. It says Letsie died on 20 November 1891 and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son, Lerotholi Letsie (reigned 1891 to 1905). It describes scholars as reading his reign as defensive statecraft under heavy external pressure.
What we have not read
The Letsie article cites Eldredge’s A South African Kingdom (1993), Ellenberger and Macgregor’s History of the Basuto (1912), Casalis (1861), the Historical Dictionary of Lesotho (2004) and others; we have read none of them. The article does not mention Moorosi or the 1879 war against him. We have not read Burman, Eldredge (2007) or Machobane and Karschay, whom the Masopha article cites, and we found no Matsieng royal-house account on a page we could open. We do not know who holds the paramountcy’s line today.
Izithakazelo (lithoko) and totem
We found no recorded praises for Letsie, 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: Letsie I
- Wikipedia: Masopha (a Good Article; cites Burman 1981, Eldredge 2007, Machobane and Karschay 1990)
- Wikipedia: Moshoeshoe I
Do you belong to the Basotho royal house? Tell us the history you know and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.