Shoshong
title: "Shoshong" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-botswana"] topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-botswana" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoshong" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Shoshong |
| native_name_lang | |
| settlement_type | Central District |
| pushpin_map | Botswana |
| image_caption | Location of Shoshong in Botswana |
| population_total | 8,887 |
| population_as_of | 2022 |
| coordinates | |
| subdivision_type | Country |
| subdivision_name | Botswana |
| subdivision_type1 | District |
| subdivision_name1 | Central District |
| timezone | Central Africa Time |
| utc_offset | +2 |
| timezone_DST | not observed |
| utc_offset_DST | +2 |
| blank_name | Climate |
| blank_info | BSh |
| iso_code | BW-CE |
| website | |
| :: |
| name = Shoshong | native_name = | native_name_lang = | settlement_type = Central District | image_skyline = | image_alt = | pushpin_map = Botswana | image_caption = Location of Shoshong in Botswana | etymology = | nickname = | population_total = 8,887 | population_as_of = 2022 | coordinates = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Botswana | subdivision_type1 = District | subdivision_name1 = Central District | timezone = Central Africa Time | utc_offset = +2 | timezone_DST = not observed | utc_offset_DST = +2 | blank_name = Climate | blank_info = BSh | iso_code = BW-CE | website = Shoshong is a town in Botswana, formerly the chief settlement of the eastern Bamangwato.
Physical location
Shoshong is located just north of the Tropic of Capricorn at , in the Central District of Botswana, about 40 km west of Mahalapye. The town is situated 3000 ft above sea level in the valley of the Shoshong, an intermittent tributary of the Limpopo.
Shoshong is encircled by hills used for grazing cattle, and is a windy place. The central kgotla is located by the mouth of the steep valley (kloof) which used to be the source of water for the village.
History
Shoshong was initially inhabited by BaPhaleng, who were later joined by Bakaa, and later BaNgwato under King Sekgoma I. Oral traditions from the village points that the Baphaleng chief invited Bangwato from Mosu where they were continuously harassed and vulnerable to Matebele attacks. The site of Shoshong was chosen as being easily defensible against the Matabele. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Seven_Years_in_South_Africa,_page_372,_Bamangwato_huts_at_Shoshong.jpg" caption="Bamangwato huts at Shoshong, 1881"] ::
Being the meeting place of trade routes from south and north it was of considerable importance to early explorers (including David Livingstone) and traders in South-Central Africa.
A mission station of the London Missionary Society (preceded for many years by a station of the Hermannsburg Lutheran Missionary Society) was founded here in 1862. Scottish missionary John Mackenzie (1835–99), who lived at Shoshong from 1862 to 1876, "believed that the Ngwato and other African peoples with whom he worked were threatened by Boer freebooters encroaching on their territory from the south", and campaigned "for the establishment of what became the Bechuanaland Protectorate, to be ruled directly from Britain."{{Cite book | publisher = Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington,- via World Digital Library | last = Mackenzie | first = John | title = Austral Africa: Losing It or Ruling It; Being Incidents and Experiences in Bechuanaland, Cape Colony, and England | location = London | accessdate = 2014-06-19 | date = 1887 | url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2525/#regions=africa&page=4
In 1875, King Sekgoma was overthrown here by his Christian son Khama (later Khama III or Khama the Great). In 1885 (at the time of the declaration of the British protectorate of Bechuanaland) Shoshong had 20,000 to 30,000 inhabitants, including about twenty Europeans.
The move to Palapye
By the 1880s, Shoshong had existed in the same location for forty years, possibly a record for a Tswana town. But it became a 'Desert City', almost waterless with 'one trickling well' and with 'indescribable filth'. Due to the water shortage in 1888/1889, Khama and most of his followers moved to Phalatswe/Old Palapye, 95km (60 miles) N.E. of Shoshong, and later to Serowe to the north-west of Palapye.
However, by 1898, Phalatswe was also running short of water, and Khama ordered some of his people back to Shoshong. The BaPhaleng returned in 1900 and the Bakaa in 1902, while the capital relocated to Serowe. At the publication of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Shoshong had a population of about 800.
Modern Shoshong
In the 2001 census, the population of "Shoshong and Associated Localities" was listed as 11,176 people, including 7,490 in "Village Shoshong". According to Botswana 2022 Population and Housing Census, Preliminary results volume 2, Shoshong has registered a population growth decline of 0.9%. The village has a boarding school, therefore the decline could be attributed to the fact that students were enumerated at their usual place of residence even when they were not present during enumeration. Currently, Shoshong has 8,827 population compared to 9,678 of 2011.
In 2012, Kgosi Sediegeng Kgamane decision to install his son as chief created controversy. Kgamane is described as "a prominent Mongwato royal and uncle to president Ian Khama."{{Cite news |last = Dipholo |first = Kabelo |title = TRIBAL WAR BREWING IN SHOSHONG |work = The Voice |accessdate = 2014-06-19 |date = 2012-04-27 |url = http://www.thevoicebw.com/2012/04/27/tribal-war-brewing-in-shoshong/ |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20130131123623/http://www.thevoicebw.com/2012/04/27/tribal-war-brewing-in-shoshong/ |archivedate = 2013-01-31 ::quote
Historically Shoshong’s chieftainship had been held by three tribes from three different wards of the Bakaa, BaPhaleng and Bagwato simultaneously sitting at the Kgotla to deliberate the issues of the people. ::
References
- The Abandonment of Phalatswe 1998 Paper by Neil Parsons, University of Botswana History Department
- Botswana Central Statistics Office 2001 Population and housing census
References
- {{cite EB1911
- Nearby villages are [[Tobela]], [[Ikongwe]], [[Kalamare]], [[Mmutlane]], and [[Mosolotshane]].Central District Council, Central District Development Committee, Ministry of Local Government, Lands & Housing, 1997 - Botswana
- (2014). "Shoshong: a short history". Kwangu.
- Tlou and Campbell (1997); A.M. Chebanne and K.C. Monaka (2008)
- "Population_Towns Villages and associated localities by District_2001 Census".
- "Population_Towns Villages and associated localities by District_2001 Census, Botswana".
- (2022-05-10). "2022 Population and Housing Census Preliminary Results".
- Knight, Jacob. (2014). "Shoshong : a short history". Kwangu.
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