Editing Orange Free State (section)

===British rule===

Meanwhile, a new power had arisen along the upper Orange and in the valley of the [[Caledon River|Caledon]]. [[Moshoeshoe I|Moshoeshoe]], a minor [[Basotho]] chief, had welded together a number of scattered and broken clans which had sought refuge in that mountainous region after fleeing from Mzilikazi, and had formed the Basotho nation which acknowledged him as king. In 1833 he had welcomed as workers among his people a band of French Protestant missionaries, and as the Boer immigrants began to settle in his neighborhood he decided to seek support from the British at the Cape. At that time the British government was not prepared to exercise control over the immigrants. Acting upon the advice of Dr [[John Philip (missionary)|John Philip]], the superintendent of the [[London Missionary Society]]’s stations in South Africa, a treaty was concluded in 1843 with Moshoeshoe, placing him under British protection. A similar treaty was made with the Griqua chief [[Adam Kok III]]. By these treaties, which recognised native sovereignty, the British sought to keep a check on the Boers and to protect both the natives and Cape Colony. The effect was to precipitate collisions between all three parties.<ref name="eb1911-text" />

The year in which the treaty with Moshoeshoe was made, several large parties of Boers recrossed the [[Drakensberg]] into the country north of the Orange, refusing to remain in [[Natal (region)|Natal]] when the British annexed the newly formed Boer republic of [[Natalia Republic|Natalia]] to form the [[Colony of Natal]]. During their stay in Natal the Boers inflicted a severe defeat on the Zulus under [[Dingane]] in the [[Battle of Blood River]] in December 1838, which, following on the flight of [[Mzilikazi]], greatly strengthened the position of Moshoeshoe, whose power became a menace to that of the Boer farmers. Trouble first arose, however, between the Boers and the Griqua in the [[Philippolis]] district. Some of the Boer farmers in this district, unlike their fellows dwelling farther north, were willing to accept British rule. This fact induced [[Mr Justice Menzies]], one of the judges of the Cape Colony then on circuit at [[Colesberg]], to cross the Orange and proclaim the country British territory in October 1842. The proclamation was disallowed by the Governor, Sir [[George Thomas Napier|George Napier]], who, nevertheless, maintained that the Boer farmers remained British subjects. After this episode the British negotiated their treaties with [[Adam Kok III]] and Moshoeshoe.<ref name="eb1911-text"/>

The treaties gave great offence to the Boers, who refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of the native chiefs. The majority of the Boer farmers in Kok's territory sent a deputation to the [[British commissioner in Natal]], [[Henry Cloete]], asking for equal treatment with the [[Griquas]], and expressing the desire to come under British protection under such terms. Shortly afterwards hostilities between the farmers and the Griqua broke out. British troops moved up to support the Griquas, and after a skirmish at Zwartkopjes (2 May 1845) a new arrangement was made between Kok and [[Peregrine Maitland]], the then [[Governor of Cape Colony]], virtually placing the administration of his territory in the hands of a British resident, a post filled in 1846 by Captain [[Henry Douglas Warden]]. The place purchased by Captain (afterwards Major) Warden as the seat of his court was known as [[Bloemfontein]], and it subsequently became the capital of the whole country.<ref name= "eb1911-text" /> Bloemfontein lay to the south of the region settled by Voortrekkers.