Editing Botswana (section)

===Mfecane and Batswana-Boer Wars===
{{main|Mfecane}}
[[File:Kapstaaten 1905.png|thumb|left|1905 German map of Southern Africa, showing the still-undivided [[Bechuanaland]] area]]
The first written records relating to modern-day Botswana appear in 1824. These records show that the Bangwaketse had become the predominant power in the region. Under the rule of Makaba II, the Bangwaketse kept vast herds of cattle in well-protected desert areas, and used their military prowess to raid their neighbours.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Morton|first=Fred|title=The Rise of a Raiding State: Makaba II's Ngwaketse, 1780–1824|url=https://www.academia.edu/11134264|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-date=16 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200816031919/https://www.academia.edu/11134264/The_Rise_of_a_Raiding_State_Makaba_IIs_Ngwaketse_1780_1824|url-status=live|pages=5–9}}</ref> Other chiefdoms in the area, by this time, had capitals of 10,000 or so and were fairly prosperous.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Morton, B. |title=Pre-1904 Population Estimates of the Tswana|journal=Botswana Notes and Records|volume=25 |year=1993|pages=89–99|jstor=40979984 }}</ref> This equilibrium came to end during the [[Mfecane]] period, 1823–1843, when a succession of invading peoples from South Africa entered the country. Although the Bangwaketse were able to defeat the invading [[Kololo people|Bakololo]] in 1826, over time, all the major chiefdoms in Botswana were attacked, weakened and impoverished. The Bakololo and [[Northern Ndebele people|AmaNdebele]] raided repeatedly and took large numbers of cattle, women and children from the Batswana—most of whom were driven into the desert or sanctuary areas such as hilltops and caves. Only after 1843, when the Amandebele moved into western Zimbabwe, did this threat subside.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Morton |first=Barry|date=2009-01-14|title=The Hunting Trade and the Reconstruction of Northern Tswana Societies after the Difaqane, 1838–1880|journal=South African Historical Journal|volume=36|pages=220–239|language=en|doi=10.1080/02582479708671276}}</ref>

[[File:Sechele Gustav Fritsch 1865.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Sechele I]], who led a Batswana Merafe Coalition against [[Boers]] in 1852]]

During the 1840s and 1850s, trade with [[Cape Colony]]-based merchants opened up and enabled the [[Tswana people|Batswana]] chiefdoms to rebuild. The [[Bakwena]], Bangwaketse, Bangwato and Batawana cooperated to control the lucrative ivory trade and used the proceeds to import horses and guns, which in turn enabled them to establish control over what is now Botswana. This process was largely complete by 1880, and the Batswana subjugated thus the Bushmen, Kalanga, Bakgalagadi and other current minorities.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/02582479708671276|title=The Hunting Trade and the Reconstruction of Northern Tswana Societies after the Difaqane, 1838–1880|journal=South African Historical Journal|volume=36|pages=220–239|year=1997|last1=Morton|first1=Barry}}</ref>

Following the [[Great Trek]], [[Afrikaners]] from the Cape Colony established themselves on the borders of Botswana in the [[South African Republic|Transvaal]]. In 1852, a coalition of [[Tswana people|Tswana]] chiefdoms led by [[Sechele I]] defeated Afrikaner incursions at the [[Battle of Dimawe]] and, after about eight years of intermittent tensions and hostilities, eventually came to a peace agreement in [[Potchefstroom]] in 1860. From that point on, the modern-day border between South Africa and Botswana was agreed on, and the Afrikaners and Batswana traded and worked together comparatively peacefully.<ref>[[David Magang|Magang, D.]] (2008) ''The Magic of Perseverance: The Autobiography of David Magang''. Cape Town: CASAS, pp. 28–38. {{ISBN|9781920287702}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author= Ramsay, J. |title=The Botswana-Boer War of 1852–53: How the Batswana Achieved Victory|journal=Botswana Notes and Records|volume= 23 |year=1991|pages=193–208|jstor=40980851 }}</ref>

In 1884, Batawana, a northern-based Tswana clan's cavalry under the command of Kgosi Moremi, fought and defeated the Ndebele's invasion of northern Botswana at the [[Tswana people|Battle of Khutiyabasadi]]. This is the start of the collapse of the Ndebele Kingdom in Zimbabwe and it helped the Tswana speaking authority.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ramsay |first=Jeff |title=The Guns of Khutiyabasadi (II) |url=http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=72905&dir=2017/november/06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124091704/https://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?aid=72905&dir=2017/november/06 |archive-date=24 November 2020 |access-date=2018-11-08 |work=[[Mmegi]]}}</ref>

Due to newly peaceful conditions, trade thrived between 1860 and 1880. Christian [[missionaries]] were able to take advantage of this. The [[Lutherans]] and the [[London Missionary Society]] both became established in the country by 1856. By 1880, every major village had a resident missionary, and their influence slowly grew. [[Khama III]] (reigned 1875–1923) was the first of the Tswana chiefs to make Christianity a state religion, and a great deal of Tswana customary law changed as a result. Christianity became the de facto official religion in all the chiefdoms by [[World War I]].<ref>Landau, P. (1995) ''The Realm of the Word: Language, Gender, and Christianity in the Southern African Kingdom''. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann.</ref>