Sotho+People


 * Sotho People**

The Sotho people are a Bantu ethnic group. Their ancestors have lived in southern Africa since the 5th century. The Bantu people originally came to South Africa around 200-500 A.D. By the 19th century however, stable settlement began to appear. The Zulu and Xhosa occupied the east and southern coastal regions and the Sotho occupied the southern plateau portion. Then, when Shaka took control over the Zulu people, and built a strong military. Since they had a strong military, they began to take over other tribes of people. They ran into the Sotho people, and eventually forced one group of the Sotho, the Kololo, to move North.

At the same time, the Dutch settlers that had originally founded the Cape began to show up in Sotho territory. At the time, the Sotho people referred to them as "Boers." During these developments, King Moshoeshoe took over the Sotho land. King Moshoeshoe was known around the world as a powerful and skilled leader, and he lead the Sotho people to survive the dangers that other South African tribes had fallen to. To deal with posing threats, Moshoeshoe encouraged French missionary activity. Along with being state ministers, the missionaries began printing things in the Sotho language.

After losing to the Boers in 1868 during the Free State-Sotho War, Moshoeshoe claimed the Lesotho land. Britain had control in the now capital, Maseru. Then in 1869, Britan had the borders demarcated. The Sotho speakers then moved to the Orange Free State.

In South Africa today, over 4 million people speak Sotho as a first language and is one of the 11 official languages of South Africa. Due to men going into the big cities to find mining work, the Sotho language has spread. The Sotho people today live in a land of poverty and underdevelopment. Most Sotho people are in economic hardship.