Barolong (singular Morolong) are a Setswana-speaking people of the western Highveld, straddling the South Africa-Botswana border around Mahikeng, Ganyesa, Thaba Nchu and Lotlhakane. They are remembered as a nation of ironworkers, and their totem is the tholo (kudu).
Meaning and totem
Tradition links the name to the founding ancestor Morolong and, through him, to iron: several accounts connect Rolong to the working – the go rola, hammering and smelting – of metal. The Barolong totem is the tholo (kudu, Tragelaphus strepsiceros), and the clan’s praises frequently invoke it.
Origins and the four houses
Oral history places Kgosi Morolong as the founding king, active by tradition in the thirteenth century, with a line of successors ruling the country between the upper Molopo and Modder rivers. The decisive figure for the clan’s later structure is Kgosi Tau (“lion”), who reigned around the mid-seventeenth century. After Tau’s death the nation divided among his sons, and the four senior Barolong houses are named for them:
- Barolong booRatlou – associated with Ganyesa, Setlagole and the Madibogo area.
- Barolong booRatshidi – the house of Mahikeng, whose chiefs include Montshiwa; its territory extends across the Botswana border to Goodhope.
- Barolong booSeleka – who settled at Thaba Nchu in the present Free State in the 1830s.
- Barolong booRapulana – around Lotlhakane and the Molopo.
The related Batlhaping (“people of the fish”) separated from the Barolong in the eighteenth century, adopting the fish as a new totem.
History
Barolong ironworking supplied tools and weapons across the region for centuries. In the nineteenth century the Barolong were caught up in the wars of the difaqane: booSeleka gave refuge to Wesleyan missionaries and moved to Thaba Nchu, where they later allied with the Voortrekkers against Mzilikazi’s Ndebele. The booRatshidi capital at Mahikeng became well known during the Siege of Mafeking (1899-1900) in the South African War, when the Barolong stadt played a significant part in the town’s defence.
Direto (praises)
Barolong praises name the kudu totem and the descent from Morolong and Tau. Because each house has its own sereto, there is no single national text. The version currently on this page is from a secondary source and we would like to replace it with texts verified by each house.
Where the Barolong are today
South Africa: the North West province (Mahikeng, Ganyesa, Setlagole) and the Free State (Thaba Nchu). Botswana: the south-east around Goodhope and the Barolong farms. Common surnames include Rolong, Montshiwa, Moroka (of the booSeleka chiefly line) and many house names.
Related clans
Bakwena, Bafokeng, Bahurutshe, Batlhaping, Batlharo – all part of the wider western Sotho-Tswana family.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: “Rolong,” “Batlhaping clan,” “Barolong Boo Ratshidi.”
- Isaac Schapera, The Tswana (1953).
- Z. K. Matthews, writings on the Barolong of Thaba Nchu.
- Sol Plaatje, Mafeking Diary – a Morolong eyewitness account of the 1899-1900 siege.
Help us improve this page. Each Barolong house (booRatlou, booRatshidi, booSeleka, booRapulana) has its own sereto and history. If you can supply a verified praise text or your house’s oral history, send us a WhatsApp on 065 138 8213 or use our contact page. We credit contributors who wish to be named.