Moshoeshoe

Moshoeshoe or Moshweshwe (both: mōshwā`shwā), c.1786–1870, Sotho king. A remarkable leader, he was a superior military tactician and was able to unite several small groups into the Sotho nation. By the mid-1820s he ruled approximately 25,000 citizens. He permitted Christian missions and sought British aid against Afrikaner pressure from the Orange Free State (see Free State). After the Afrikaners attacked (1865), he won protectorate status from Britain in 1868, maintaining the autonomy of the 125,000 Sotho. Moshoeshoe is considered the founding father of modern Lesotho.

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Moshoeshoe

 or Mshweshwe

(born c. 1786, near the upper Caledon River, northern Basutoland—died March 11, 1870, Thaba Bosiu, Basutoland) Founder and first paramount chief of Sotho (later Basutoland; now Lesotho). In the 1830s and '40s he carefully played off British and Boer interests against one another. Involved in a series of wars, he proved a skillful tactician. In 1868 the British annexed Sotho, and Moshoeshoe's power waned. His descendant Moshoeshoe II (1938–96) was the first king of independent Lesotho.

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Moshesh, Moshoeshoe

died 1870, African chief, who founded the Basotho nation, now Lesotho