British Kaffraria
| British Kaffraria | |||||
| Colony of the British Empire | |||||
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| Capital | King William's Town | ||||
| History | |||||
| • | Established | 1835 | |||
| • | Disestablished | 1866 | |||
| Population | |||||
| • | 1858 | 52,535 | |||
British Kaffraria was a British colony/subordinate administrative entity in present-day South Africa, consisting of the districts now known as King Williams Town and East London.
It was inhabited primarily by the Ngqika ("Gaika") people, the major branch of the Rharhabe Xhosa.
The term Kaffraria stems from the word "Kaffir" - originally an Arabic term which was used for the Black African inhabitants of southern Africa. The word Kaffraria came to refer specifically to the Xhosa lands in what is now the Eastern Cape. Later, the western Xhosa lands which fell under British rule came to be known as "British Kaffraria", while the independent Xhosa territory to the east was known simply as "Kaffraria".
A subsection of British Kaffraria was later reconstituted by the Apartheid regime as the semi-independent homeland of Ciskei.
Similar to elsewhere in southern Africa, the aboriginal inhabitants of the area were the Khoisan hunter gatherers and herders. Early on, these peoples were displaced by the Bantu expansion, when it crossed the Kei river from the north. The area was consolidated under the rule of a branch of the Xhosa people.
The native Xhosa people were ruled by the Ngqika ("Gaika") Chiefs (part of the Rarabe offshoot of the main Xhosa line):
The territory came under British rule in the 19th century. However, there was great disagreement on how it should be governed, with the Cape Colony being reluctant to take responsibility for its administration. Its status therefore changed several times before it finally became part of the Cape Colony.
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