Fingoland was a historical territory situated in what is now the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. It was inhabited primarily by the Xhosa people of the Mfengu clans, and was located in the south-west portion of the "

Transkei Transkei ( , meaning ''the area beyond Great Kei River, he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei (), was an list of historical unrecognized states and dependencies, unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa f ...

" region. The region that was later known as the Transkei was originally divided into territories known as the Idutywa Reserve, Fingoland (Mfenguland) and Xhosaland. Fingoland lay by the borderlands in the far south of the Transkei, just north of the Kei River. Following their annexation by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

however, these territories were restructured into the divisions of Butterworth, Tsomo and Ngqamakwe for Fingoland; Centani and Willowvale for Xhosaland; and Idutywa for the Idutywa Reserve.

Location

The territory is located between the Kei and the Bashee rivers, close to the city of East London. Within the

region, Fingoland is located in the far south-west corner on the coast, just south of Tembuland and west of Pondoland.

History

Mfengu soldier of Cape Colony - Fingo People

The original inhabitants of

southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

were undoubtedly the

Khoikhoi Khoikhoi (Help:IPA/English, /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally Nomad, nomadic pastoralist Indigenous peoples, indigenous population of South Africa. They ...

and San Bushmen. Iron-working, farming, speakers of

Nguni languages The Nguni languages are a group of Bantu languages spoken in southern Africa (mainly South Africa, Zimbabwe and Eswatini) by the Nguni people. Nguni languages include Xhosa, Tsonga, Ndebele, and Swati. The appellation "Nguni" derives from t ...

arrived in the first millennium AD, the fore-front of the great "Bantu Migration" from further north. The Fengu people, whose name means "Wanderers", arrived in the area in the early 1800s fleeing from

Shaka Shaka kaSenzangakhona (–24 September 1828), also known as Shaka (the) Zulu () and Sigidi kaSenzangakhona, was the king of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828. One of the most influential monarchs of the Zulu, he ordered wide-reaching reform ...

's Zulu armies in the east. After settling among the Xhosas they were assimilated into the Xhosa cultural way of life by the Xhosas. However they suffered repression from the Gcaleka Xhosa and fled further west towards the then

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

. They settled in their current area in 1835, on invitation from the Cape Government, and became adept and fearsome military allies of the

in its frontier wars. Fingoland was annexed to the

by treaty and act of Parliament in 1877 (''Act 38 of 1877(C)''). The act ordered that the inhabitants of Fingoland were to elect two seats in the Cape Parliament. At the time, the Cape Colony operated under its multi-racial "

Cape Qualified Franchise The Cape Qualified Franchise was the system of multi-racial Suffrage, franchise that was adhered to in the Cape Colony, and in the Cape Province in the early years of the Union of South Africa. Qualifications for the right to vote at parliamenta ...

" system, so qualifications for suffrage applied equally to all male residents, regardless of race. The full promulgation of the annexation act only took place several years later.

References

{{Reflist Regions of Africa Cape Colony Former countries in Africa Transkei Geography of the Eastern Cape

Location

History

See also

References