Editing History of Botswana (section)

== Pre-colonial history ==
=== Prehistory ===
[[File:Tsodilo Hills rock paintings4.jpg|thumb|Prehistoric [[cave painting]]s at [[Tsodilo]]]]
Present-day Botswana was primarily forest ten million years ago and the rivers were much larger than they are in the present, flowing into the massive [[paleolake]], [[Lake Makgadikgadi]].{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=10}} ''[[Homo erectus]]'' lived in the region during the [[Early Stone Age]].{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=14}} Stone tools in present-day Botswana, such as [[Acheulean]] axes, date back to two million years ago.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=26}}{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=6}} Hominin migration to the [[Kalahari Desert]] is estimated to have happened prior to [[Marine Isotope Stage 6]], 186,000 years ago.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=6}} Lake Makgadikgadi began to shrink approximately 50,000 years ago.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=17}}

The ancestors of the [[Khoekhoe|Khoe]] and [[San people|San]] peoples—unrelated peoples who are referred to collectively as the ''[[Khoisan]]'' or ''Sarwa'' peoples—lived in present-day Botswana by approximately 40,000 to 30,000 years ago. They may have been the first humans to enter the [[Late Stone Age]].{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|pp=18, 23}} They established themselves around rivers during drier periods of history but spread throughout the region during wetter periods.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=24}} They are known to have inhabited the areas around Lake Makgadikgadi, as well as [[Tsodilo]] and [[≠Gi]].{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xv}} Other peoples such as the [[Nata people|Nata]], [[Shua people|Shua]], and [[Xani people|Xani]] are believed to have arrived after the Khoe and San.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=23}} [[Rock art]] dates back to approximately 30,000 years ago,{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=58}} and virtually all permanent water supplies were associated with early humans 20,000 years ago.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xv}} More detailed study of southern Africa in the [[Stone Age]] has been limited.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=6}}

The various peoples of the region were [[hunter-gatherer]]s who remained in small groups and engaged in trade with one another.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=23}} It is believed that each groups was a collection of related families holding a specific territory, led by the eldest man of its head family.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=25}} Men hunted large animals, while women gathered plants and caught small animals.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|pp=24–25}} The groups intermarried and practiced a [[dowry]] system, ''xaro''.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=26}}

=== Ancient history ===
Approximately 2,000 years ago, the peoples of the region brought cattle and sheep to present-day Botswana and began making pottery.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=35}}{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=8}}{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=28}} Agriculture developed during this time and the peoples began settling in villages, which rose and fell as the climate and [[cattle raid]]s caused livestock access to fluctuate.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|pp=29–30}} Among the earliest crops were [[pearl millet]], [[finger millet]], [[sorghum]], [[Bambara groundnut]]s, [[cowpea]]s, and [[Cucurbitaceae|cucurbit]]s.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|pp=8–9}}

The first Bantu people arrived in the region between 2,000 and 1,500 years ago, and it was once believed that they had first introduced livestock to the area.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|pp=22–24, 28}} The [[Kalanga people]] were the first of the [[Bantu people]]s to settle in present-day Botswana, arriving {{circa|200 CE}}.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=27}} The first [[Tswana people]] (singular ''Motswana'', plural ''Batswana'') are estimated to have arrived c. 400 CE.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=27}} These Bantu peoples brought iron and copper tools to the region and settled along permanent waterways.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=9}}

=== Post-classical period ===
The [[Taukome people]] arrived in present-day Botswana by the 7th century, and their possession of [[glass bead]]s indicates early connection to [[Indian Ocean trade]].{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=10}} The number of livestock kept in the area increased significantly between the 8th century and the 10th century.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=26}} The Tswana people organised themselves into a tribal government, called a ''[[morafe]]'' (plural ''merafe''), each led by a chief called a ''[[kgosi]]'' (plural ''dikgosi'').{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=28}} This system produced a more hierarchical government relative to others in the region.{{Sfn|Samatar|1999|p=40}} Cattle became a central part of society in the region, and ownership of cattle denoted one's status.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=11}} The early history of the Tswana people remains largely unknown because little archaeological evidence has been left.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=27}}

Trade routes connected tribes throughout the [[Kalahari Desert]] by 900 CE,{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xv}} and access to the Indian Ocean trade expanded in the region over the 10th century.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=11}} The [[Toutswe people]] became the predominant group in present-day Botswana during the 11th and 12th centuries as they became wealthier through ownership of cattle. [[Specularite]] mining became widespread during this period.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=13}} The value of products fluctuated during this period as expanding trade with foreign nations and the discovery of gold took interest away from specularite and animal products like ivory.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=27–28}} One tribe in Tsodilo was particularly influential in the trade of specularite until it fell at the end of the 12th century.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=27}} The tribes in southeastern Botswana were far removed from these developments and remained largely unaffected.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=28}}

Neighbouring present-day Botswana during the 11th and 12th centuries were the people of [[Leopard's Kopje]], who formed the [[Kingdom of Mapungubwe]] and projected influence throughout the region.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|pp=12—13}} Their influence declined by the 13th century, and they were replaced as the regional power by [[Great Zimbabwe]] as the gold trade became a driving factor in the region's economy.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=14}} It controlled many of the tribes that existed in what is now northeastern Botswana.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xvi}} After the fall of Great Zimbabwe in the 15th century, several other states developed. The [[Kingdom of Butua]], formed by the [[Kalanga people]]s, was established on the present-day [[Botswana–Zimbabwe border]].{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=14}}{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xvi}}

Migration of Tswana peoples through present-day Botswana occurred over the following centuries as they were displaced by native and colonial populations from the south.{{Sfn|Leith|2005|p=19}} Large migrations of Kalanga and Sotho–Tswana peoples into present-day Botswana occurred during the 15th and 16th centuries,{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=14}} and the Kalanga peoples controlled the land between the [[Motloutse River]] and the [[Makgadikgadi Pan]] until the 18th century.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=27}} The [[Hurutshe people|Hurutshe]], [[Kgatla people|Kgatla]], and [[Kwena people|Kwena]] peoples split from the [[Phofu dynasty]] in the Transvaal region amid drought and hereditary conflicts, eventually migrating north to present-day Botswana.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=10}}

=== Early modern period ===
[[File:Campbell - Thlapingkaptein en sy vrou.png|thumb|An illustration of a Tswana man and his wife in the early 1800s]]
The Tswana people had a presence throughout present-day Botswana by 1600.{{Sfn|Hjort|2009|p=703}} Some peoples of the region remained in the Late Stone Age until about this time.{{Sfn|Tlou|Campbell|1997|p=22}} According to oral tradition, the pastoralist [[Herero people|Herero]] and [[Mbanderu people|Mbanderu]] peoples split from the [[Mbunda people]] in the 17th century as Tswana cattle raids scattered the groups.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=8–9}} Oral tradition also holds that the [[Yeyi people]] migrated from the upper [[Chobe River]] into the [[Okavango Delta]] in the 18th century, though contact between the Yeyi and the Khoe may have existed much longer.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=8}} Different Tswana tribes were able to separate and form independently from one another as the region's primary asset, cattle, is easily transported.{{Sfn|Hjort|2009|p=703}}{{Sfn|Leith|2005|p=19}} The western tribes were especially prone to separation because of the large distances between towns and farmlands. They were often the targets of raids by the [[Griqua people]].{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=392}}

The first Tswana state was formed by the [[Ngwaketse people]] in the mid-18th century. Subsequent states were formed by the Kwena people, the [[Ngwato people]], and the [[Tawana people]] over the following decades.{{Sfn|Robinson|Parsons|2006|p=113}} With these came the development of the ''[[mophato]]'' (plural ''mephato''), a militia regiment organised by age group, among the eastern Tswana peoples in the 1750s.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=386}} Two Kgatla peoples, the [[Kgafela people]] and the [[Tlokwa people]], joined at this time and seized control over the area surrounding [[Pilanesberg]] in present-day South Africa. They subjugated several peoples in the region and twice won conflicts against the [[Fokeng people]].{{Sfn|Morton|2012|pp=390–391}} The use of ''mephato'' spread to the western Tswana peoples by the end of the century.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=386}} It was never widely adopted in the south.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=392}}

=== The Difaqane ===
The ''[[Difaqane]]'', a period of conflict and displacement in southern Africa, took place during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=17}} During this time, the Tswana people were subject to raids by many groups, including the [[Northern Ndebele people|Ndebele]], the [[Kololo people|Kololo]], the [[Ngoni people|Ngoni]],{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=28}} the [[Pedi people|Pedi]], and the [[Voortrekker]]s.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=391}} Most Tswana groups opted to retreat instead of fight.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=394}} This triggered extensive migration across the region, causing the Tswana tribes to more thoroughly spread and establish a stronger presence throughout the territory of present-day Botswana.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=25}} They settled primarily in the ''[[hardveld]]'' that makes up the eastern region of present-day Botswana.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=29}} The Kwena and Ngwaketse peoples migrated from [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] to the ''sandveld''.{{Sfn|Klehm|2021|p=18}} The first of the Kgatla peoples to settle in present-day Botswana, the [[Mmanaana people]], migrated from South Africa in the early 19th century before settling in [[Moshupa]] and [[Thamaga]].{{Sfn|Matemba|2003|p=53, 56}} Only some of the northwestern Tswana peoples were spared displacement or interruption.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=393}}

The Kololo people attacked the northwestern Tswana peoples in 1826, forcing the Kwena and Ngwaketse from their respective territories. [[Sebogo]], the regent of the Ngwaketse tribe, raised 4,000 men in their ''mephato'' and surrounded [[Dithubaruba]] where the Kololo were residing. Killing the warriors and the civilians, they permanently expelled the Kololo from the region.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|pp=393–394}}

The tribes reestablished their states in the 1840s, founding several towns and villages of varying sizes.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=31}}{{Sfn|Hjort|2009|p=693}}{{Sfn|Robinson|Parsons|2006|p=114}} Governance was based around the ''[[kgotla]]'', a deliberative forum in which the chief or a regional leader heard the concerns of most male citizens before making decisions.{{Sfn|Hjort|2009|p=695}}{{Sfn|Holm|Molutsi|1992|p=77}}

=== European missionaries ===
European missionaries first arrived in present-day Botswana in 1816 through the [[London Missionary Society]]. This and other missionary groups worked to convert the chiefs to Christianity and to build missionary schools.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=38}} The missionary [[Robert Moffat (missionary)|Robert Moffat]] set his mission station on the border of present-day Botswana as a barrier against the [[Boers]] so they could not move further inward.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=28}} Moffat published the first Setswana language text with a uniform orthography when he began translating Christian texts and wrote a Setswana dictionary. Both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s could be read in Setswana by 1857.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=57, 65}}

The 19th century Tswana people used several economic ideas that were rare in southern Africa, including credit, service contracts, and the ''[[mafisa]]'' system of the rich loaning cattle to the poor in exchange for labour.{{Sfn|Hjort|2009|p=701}} They also had a conception of [[private property]] by the mid-19th century, and both married men and married women were entitled to land rights.{{Sfn|Hjort|2009|p=698}} The men typically herded cattle while the women grew crops.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|pp=31–32}} Sorghum was the region's most commonly grown crop in the 19th century. Land was widely available, but droughts meant that farming was inconsistent.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=34}}

British traders arrived in the 1830s and engaged in transactions with the chiefs.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=38}} The influx of European settlers nearby allowed the Tswana tribes to incorporate themselves into the global economy.{{Sfn|Samatar|1999|p=43}} Chief [[Sechele I]] of the Kwena people took advantage of the new trading routes, securing control of British trade for his tribe.{{Sfn|Robinson|Parsons|2006|p=114}} The Scottish missionary [[David Livingstone]] arrived in Botswana in 1845, where he established the [[Kolobeng Mission]]. This was the beginning of heavier European involvement in the Tswana tribes as they established intercontinental trade routes.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=xvi}} Westernised fashion was adopted in urban areas through the rest of the century and combined with traditional clothing.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=120–121}} In another effort to thwart the Boers, Livingstone provided firearms to the Kwena people. Sechele was the first person who Livingstone converted to Christianity, and the chief subsequently offered to convert his head men using rhinoceros-hide whips.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=29}}

The Tswana peoples faced conflict from other groups in the region, peaking in the 1850s. Many Batswana, particularly the Kwena and Ngwato tribes, fought against Afrikaners and Zulu tribes in the eastern Kalahari Desert.{{Sfn|Rotberg|2023|p=195}} The Kwena and the Mmanaana fought against Boers from Transvaal in 1852, defending their territory and ending the nation's westward expansion.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=396}} The Batswana saw missionary groups as a means of refuge from invaders, incentivising conversion to Christianity.{{Sfn|Rotberg|2023|p=196}} Sechele requested a British protectorate in 1853 to end regional conflicts, but he was denied.{{Sfn|Beaulier|Subrick|2006|p=107}}

European visitors became more common in the mid-19th century as hunters, explorers, and traders sought profit and adventure in the region.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|p=29}} Many wrote [[travel book]]s about the area, which were some of the only non-academic publications about present-day Botswana at the time.{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=65–66}} By the 1860s, migration out of the region increased as Batswana men travelled to work in South African mines.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=96}} The discovery of the [[Tati Goldfields]] triggered the first European gold rush of Southern Africa in 1868.{{Sfn|Hillbom|Bolt|2018|p=38}} An early mining camp established in the 1870s expanded greatly as it became a major railway hub between [[Cape Province]] and [[Bulawayo]], becoming Botswana's first major city, [[Francistown]].{{Sfn|Denbow|Thebe|2006|pp=15, 29}} At this point in Botswana's history, the major chiefs were all Christian.{{Sfn|Samatar|1999|p=43}} A war between the Kwena and the Kgafela in 1875.{{Sfn|Morton|2012|p=396}} By the end of the decade, chief [[Khama III]] of the Ngwato people seized control of British trade from the Kwena people.{{Sfn|Robinson|Parsons|2006|p=114}}