History of Botswana | The Tswana People | African History

Focusing on the history of Botswana. The history of the Tswana people started around 600 AD with Bantu-speaking tribes that migrated towards Southern Africa. They were mainly farmers and herders that lived in tribal enclaves. The name of the country means "Land of the Tswana" which refers to the majority ethnic group in Botswana.

Learn more about the Tswana people here: https://www.hatshepsut.co/tswana-people/
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Contents of the video:

00:00 - Intro
00:38 - Iron Age & Economy
03:36 - Tswana Culture & Arts

Introduction to the Tswana people:

The history of the Tswana people started around 600 AD with Bantu-speaking tribes that migrated towards Southern Africa. They were mainly farmers and herders that lived in tribal enclaves. The name of the country means "Land of the Tswana" which refers to the majority ethnic group in Botswana.

The Tswana people: Iron Age & Economy

By 900 AD, the iron age flourished in Botswana with the Toutswemogala Hill being one of the most notable iron age settlements. Iron tools and gold goods were discovered in this area which suggests that they mined gold and iron to make their life easier as they could use these materials to make tools. The Toutswe also had a pastoral and agricultural land tenure system which was based on millet and sorghum as well as domesticated livestock. There were also large structures containing animal faeces which is evidence of animal enclosures which leads to the idea that Toutswemogala Hill was the centre of animal husbandry in that region. Grain storage structures were discovered in this area which suggests that agriculture was key to the toutswe settlement. The toutswe also relied on the Tswana cattle breed that was in Kraals because this was their source of wealth. The huge cattle-raising system flourished until 1300 AD. All these different groups of people were connected through trade routes that went from the Limpopo River to the Indian Ocean. Trading of goods from Asia, such as beads arrived in Botswana by exchanging gold, ivory and rhinoceros horn. Kaditshwene was one of the famous capitals of the time which belonged to the Bahurutshe people which was one of the Tswana tribes. This capital was the centre of trading and manufacturing which dates back to the late 1400s on copper ore and iron deposit. This settlement also had a metalworking industry.

The Tswana people: Culture & Arts

The Tswana people wear a cotton fabric known as Shweshwe in Sotho and Leteishi in Setswana. This is used in traditional celebrations such as weddings. Mothers wear mogagolwane which is a checkered, blanket in baby showers and married women wear this in traditional weddings so they can be identified. Music by the Tswana is largely vocal and the use of drums is dependent on the occasion but they make a lot of use of string instruments. The instruments they use consists of: A miniature piano known as the Setinkane, their version of a Chinese instrument they call Erhu, the Moropa which are drums and whistle they use mainly in celebrations which they call the Phala. The Tswana are known for their crafting skills, especially baskets made from local dyes and Mokola palm. They craft three types of baskets: small baskets for winnowing pounded grain, open and large baskets to carry objects on the head or for winnowing threshed grain and riddled, large baskets for storage. Potters made pots out of clay to store beer, water and cooking. They also crafted items from wood such as cooking utensils as well as wooden drums and chairs.

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