Who the Bangwato are
Wikipedia describes the Bangwato (also Ngwato or Bamangwato) as one of the eight principal Tswana chieftaincies of Botswana. It says the core population is an eighteenth-century offshoot of the Bakwena, with members drawn from many other sources. The article does not give a detailed account of the split, and we have not found one in the sources we could read.
Capitals
The Bangwato chiefs built several capitals before Serowe, including Shoshong and Phalatswe (Old Palapye). Wikipedia says Serowe has been the main town and capital since 1902, while its article on Khama III says Khama moved there before the war that brought him to power in 1875. The two articles are not exactly in step.
The ruling line
A list of rulers compiled from rulers.org dates the territorial establishment of the Bamangwato to 1780. It names Mathiba a Moleta (1780 to 1795) and Kgama I (1795 to 1817), followed by Kgari (1817 to 1828). It then lists Sekgoma I, who ruled in three separate terms between 1835 and 1875 and alternated with his brother Matsheng. The list is a single secondary source and the early dates should be treated as approximate.
Khama III
Khama III (born about 1837, died in Serowe on 21 February 1923) is the best-known Bangwato ruler. Wikipedia says he was baptised in 1860 by a Lutheran missionary, and that his father Sekgoma I opposed Christian teaching. The conflict between them included an attempted assassination and Khama’s exile in the hills near Shoshong. Khama moved to Serowe, and after a one-month war Sekgoma was defeated and Khama became king in 1875. As king he promoted schools, restricted alcohol and abolished polygamy, which the article calls his most controversial move. In 1895 he travelled to Britain with Bathoen I of the Bangwaketse and Sebele I of the Bakwena to seek protection from Cecil Rhodes’s British South Africa Company. His eldest son by Mma Bessie, Sekgoma II, succeeded him.
Regents and Seretse Khama
Since the death of Sekgoma II in 1925 the Bangwato have largely been ruled by regents on behalf of Seretse Khama and then his son Ian Khama. Seretse Khama became Botswana’s first president, and Wikipedia describes Ian Khama, Botswana’s fourth president, as the tribe’s de facto paramount chief. The rulers list records that Seretse Khama’s 1949 installation as Kgosikgolo was not recognised by the protectorate authority, and that he renounced the claim on 26 September 1956. The same list shows a Kgosikgolo, Khama IV, from 30 November 2024. We have not checked these recent entries against a second source.
Izithakazelo (direto) and totem
None of the sources we read gives the Bangwato totem (seboko) or a praise text, so we are not printing either. If you belong to the Bangwato and recite the clan praises, we would like to record them, with your permission and credited to you.
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Ngwato (cites Neil Parsons, “The Abandonment of Phalatswe, 1901 to 1916”)
- Wikipedia: Khama III (several statements are marked as needing citations)
- Wikipedia: List of rulers of Ngwato (sourced to rulers.org only)
Do you belong to the Bangwato? Tell us your praises, your totem and what elders say about the tribe’s history, and we will add it, credited to you. Share what you know or WhatsApp 065 138 8213.