The Land Belongs to Us

"1879 was a vital year in South African history. The Zulu Kingdom and the Pedi polity were both obstacles to colonial control. During that year they were both bludgeoned into submission by British-led armies. The events involved in the destruction of the Zulu power have inspired a rich literature. The history of the Pedi is less well-known. This account of the struggle of the Pedi to keep the land that belonged to them will do much to redress the balance. Peter Delius shows how they provided an alternative source of power to the South African Republic and the Swazi Kingdom. Pedi resistance allowed other African communities to reject colonial claims to the land and demands for tax and labour. Peter Delius focuses on the history of the Pedi polity from 1800 to 1880, beginning with its emergence from the upheavals of the difaqane in the 1820s and culminating in its defeat at the hands of a British-led army in 1879. It explores the processes of change at work within Pedi society, particularly early involvement in migrant labour and the impact of converts and missionaries in the Transvaal, and stresses the complex interplay of economic, political and ideological forces. The author has made extensive use of a number of new sources, notably the archives of the Berlin Missionary Society, and presents in this book a radical revision of existing interpretations of this dramatic period."--Book jacket.