Basutoland Gun War

Gun War
Part of the South African Wars (1879-1915)
Date 1880-1881 Location South Africa, Lesotho Result Stalemate
Belligerents
Basuto Rebels	British Empire Cape Colony

British Empire

The Gun War, also known as the Basuto War, was an 1880-1881 conflict in the British territory of Basutoland (present-day Lesotho) in Southern Africa, fought between Cape Colony forces and rebellious Basotho chiefs over the right of natives to bear arms. Although officially considered a stalemate, the final settlement favoured the Basotho.

Basutoland—home of the Basotho people—had been under the nominal control of the Cape Colony (of the British Empire) since 1871 (it was a British protectorate from 1868 until 1871), but the territory remained essentially in the early years of colonial rule, with traditional Basotho authorities wielding effective power. Only in the late 1870s did Cape authorities attempt to consolidate power over the region and enforce its laws. Basutoland, an independent state as recently as 1868, chafed under the new restrictions and attempts to reduce the authority of its chiefs. Matters came to a head in 1879, when Governor Henry Bartle Frere reserved part of Basutoland for white settlement and demanded that all natives surrender their firearms to Cape authorities under the 1879 Peace Protection Act.

The Cape government of Sir John Gordon Sprigg set April 1880 as the date for surrendering weapons. Although some Basotho with great reluctance were willing to surrender their guns, the majority refused; government attempts to enforce the law brought fighting by September.

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