Tshosa was a
regent
In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...
of the
Kwena tribe from 1803 to 1807. He became regent following the death of his brother
Maleke, who was also a regent, and he held the position until he passed it to the Kwena heir, his nephew
Motswasele II. After Motswasele's death, Tshosa led a group of the fractured Kwena tribe. He was killed in an attack by the
Bakololo.
Life
Tshosa was a son of the Kwena ''
kgosi
A (; ) is the title for a hereditary leader of a Batswana and South Africa peoples tribe.
Usage
The word "kgosi" is a Setswana term for "king" or "chief". Various affixes can be added to the word to change its meaning: adding the prefix ''di- ...
''
Seitlhamo
Seitlhamo (died ) was a ''kgosi'' of the Kwena tribe. He ruled from the death of his father Motswasele I c. 1785 until his own death c. 1795. He was succeeded by his son Legwale.
Life
Seitlhamo was the son of Motswasele I, ''kgosi
A (; ...
, born in the third house, and he was the junior brother of
Legwale and
Maleke. When Legwale became ''kgosi'', he initiated a raid against another tribe. Tshosa opposed the action, and he allegedly gave the tribe advance warning. Legwale was killed in the raid, and Maleke became regent.
Tshosa became regent in 1803, taking on the role after the death of Maleke. While he was regent of the Bakwena, Tshosa was responsible for defending the tribe from two raids by the
Bangwaketse, first in
Mantsho and then in
Kgomphata. Toward the end of his tenure, Tshosa moved the Kwena tribe from
Dithejane to
Shokwane. Tshosa's regency ended in 1807 when he passed the role of chief to his nephew and the next in line,
Motswasele II. Tshosa's son
Moruakgomo disagreed with this decision, desiring the role for himself.
The Kwena tribe fractured after Motswasele's death, and Tshosa led one faction to
Borithe,
Molepolole, and then
Dithubaruba. He successfully defended Molepolole from a raid by the Bangwaketse, who sought to avenge their previous defeats. Tshosa made peace with the Bangwaketse to defend against an invasion by
Sebetwane and his
Kololo tribe in 1824, but he then fled Dithubaruba and allowed the Bangwaketse to be defeated. From here, he travelled to
Lehututu and
Lake Ngami. After returning to the land of the Kwena, he reunited his faction with that of Motswasele's son,
Sechele I, and they went to
Diruthe. Once they settled in Diruthe, the Kwena came into conflict with the
Ngwato tribe. The Bangwato aligned with the Bakololo, who then killed Tshosa and Moruakgomo in a raid. Tshosa's wife took their younger son Kgakge to live with the Bangwaketse.
Notes
References
*
* {{Cite journal , last=Schapera , first=I , year=1980 , title=Notes on the early history of the Kwena (Bakwena-bagaSechele) , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40980796 , journal=Botswana Notes and Records , volume=12 , pages=83–87 , jstor=40980796 , issn=0525-5090
Kwena chiefs
Year of birth unknown
Year of death unknown
19th-century regents