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SWAZILAND (native name Pungwane)

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Originally appearing in Volume V26, Page 186 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SWAZILAND (native name Pungwane) , a See also:country of See also:British See also:South See also:Africa bounded S., W. and N. by the See also:Transvaal, E. by the Portuguese possessions at Delagoa See also:Bay and the Ingwavuma See also:division of See also:Zululand. It lies between the See also:Drakensberg and Lebombo Mountains and is separated from the See also:Indian Ocean by 1dw See also:land varying in width from 30 to 50 M. It has an See also:area of 6536 sq. m. (being somewhat larger than See also:Yorkshire) and a See also:population (1904), of 85,484, of whom 898 were whites. The natives are nearly all Ama-Swazi Bantus, commonly called Swazis, and are closely allied to the Zulus. Spurs from the Drakensberg occupy a large See also:part of the country, which may be divided into three parallel belts See also:running See also:north and south. The western See also:belt has an See also:average See also:altitude of about 4500 ft., and is known as the high veld. It is succeeded by the See also:middle veld —not more than 2500 ft. above the See also:sea, and that by the See also:low veld--moo ft. high, which reaches to the See also:foot of the Lebombo Mountains. These are See also:flat-topped, nowhere higher than 2000 ft. The country is well watered by numerous See also:rivers, all of which See also:discharge into Delagoa Bay. The central and See also:southern pacts are drained by the Usutu and other tributaries of the Maputa; the See also:northern region by the See also:Komati (q.v.) and the Umbelozi. The Umbelozi has two See also:chief headstreams, the See also:Black and the See also:White Umbelozi, the White See also:branch being the more southerly.

The See also:

climate is warm but healthy See also:save in some of the See also:river valleys. The See also:flora and See also:fauna differ in no essential respects from the corresponding regions of the TRANSVAAL and ZULULAND (see those articles). Towns and Communications.—The seat of the See also:administration is Embabaan (Mbabane), a See also:town on a northern tributary of the Usutu 4300 ft. above the sea, 40 M. south of See also:Barberton and 18o in. See also:east of See also:Johannesburg. It replaced (1904) the forrner See also:capital of Bremersdorp situated in the middle veld 23 in. south-east of Embabaan, and destroyed by See also:Boer forces during the See also:war of 1899-1902. Pigg's See also:Peak and See also:Forbes See also:Reef are See also:mining settlements in northern Swaziland. Hlatikulu, the chief See also:place in southern Swazi-land, is built on a See also:plateau about 3000 ft..above the sea. Zombodi, the See also:principal native See also:kraal, lies about 18 in. east of Embabaan. A railway from Lourengo Marques, 47 M. See also:long, runs through Portuguese territory to the Swaziland border at Umbelozi Poort. This See also:line is the eastern See also:link in the See also:direct railway connexion de-signed between Johannesburg and Delagoa Bay. From Johannes-See also:burg the line runs eastward past Springs and had reached Breyten (143 m.) in 1907. A number of See also:good roads have been constructed. There is telegraphic connexion with the Transvaal.

See also:

Industries and See also:Trade.—The See also:soil is generally fertile. On the high veld, where See also:green herbage is found all the See also:year See also:round, large See also:numbers of See also:sheep and See also:cattle are pastured. This region serves as a See also:winter grazing ground for sheep from the Transvaal. The middle veld Is suitable for See also:grain crops as well as bananas, See also:sugar, See also:coffee, See also:tea and other semi-tropical produce. See also:Millet, See also:maize, pumpkins and ground-nuts are extensively cultivated. On the low veld See also:cotton is grown. Some See also:species of the cotton plant are indigenous. Besides See also:agriculture the only considerable industries are See also:gold, See also:tin and See also:coal mining. The goldfields, situated in the north-western part of the country, are a continuation of the De Kaap (Barberton) See also:fields. The auriferous region is stated to be about 25 sq. m. in extent. Up to the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War in 1899 the value of the gold exported from Swaziland was about £350,000. Gold mining re-started on a small See also:scale in 1904.

The output for 1906-1908 was valued at £40,000. Alluvial tin mining is carried on successfully in the neighbourhood of Embadaan, cassiterite to the value of £46,000 being exported in 1905-1907. The output for 1908-1909 was valued at £36,000. See also:

Anthracite coal of a good quality is found over a large area of the low veld. See also:Copper is also found. All mining is carried on under concessions. Imports are chiefly See also:food-stuffs and cotton goods; they were valued in 1906 at £38,000 and in 1909 at £47,000. Up to 1906 no See also:statistics of the trade of the country were kept. Trade is with the Transvaal and Delagoa Bay. The abolition of monopolies in 1904 (see below See also:History) gave an impetus to trade. Up to that date some £4,000,000 of See also:foreign capital had been sunk in the country with very little return. A large number of Swazis find employment in the See also:Rand gold mines.

Administration, €fc.—Swaziland forms a See also:

crown See also:colony under the See also:government of the High See also:Commissioner for South Africa. It is administered by a See also:resident commissioner. Legislation is by See also:ordinance. See also:Roman-Dutch See also:common See also:law prevails except when modified by See also:statute, the See also:laws of the Transvaal being in force as far as applicable to the country. Native laws and customs are generally respected and the chiefs exercise See also:civil See also:jurisdiction over their tribesmen, subject to See also:appeal to the resident commissioner's See also:court. There is a See also:special court to See also:deal with serious civil and criminal cases in which Europeans are concerned. See also:Order is maintained by a special See also:police force. See also:Education is mainly dependent on the efforts of missionary See also:societies, but the administration has a few See also:schools. See also:Revenue is derived chiefly from a See also:poll-tax on natives of fi per annum, concession rents, royalties and customs. For the See also:period 1904-1909 the revenue—apart from loans—was about £40,000 a year, the normal See also:expenditure being approximately the same amount. Since 1904 considerable sums (e.g. £49,000 in 1909) have been spent by the administration on the See also:expropriation of monopolies.

Swazi-land is a member of the South See also:

African Customs See also:Union (see SouTx AFRICA). History.—Ama-Swazi tribes are believed to have occupied the country now known as Swaziland from the period of the invasion of South East Africa by the See also:Bantu peoples. They were formerly called Ba-Rapuza or Barabuza after a chief under whom in the 18th See also:century they acquired homogeneity. In the See also:early part of the 19th century they See also:fell under the dominion of the newly constituted Zulu nation. In 1843, the year in which the British annexed See also:Natal and with it a part of the country hitherto ruled by the Zulus, the Barabuza, under a chief named Swazi, took See also:advantage of the See also:comparative weakness of the Zulu See also:power, achieved See also:independence and founded the See also:present See also:state. According to Kaffir See also:custom they adopted the name of their deliverer. The Boers of the Transvaal were then beginning to occupy the regions adjacent to Swaziland and in 1855 the Swazis in order to get a See also:strip of territory between themselves and the Zulus, whose power they still dreaded, ceded to the Boers the narrow strip of land north of the Pongola river nowknown as the Piet Retief See also:district. The Zulus under See also:Cetywayo claimed the ceded district as theirs and the Swazis as their subjects and for over ten years no white farmers were able to See also:settle in the district. With the Boers the Swazis remained on friendly terms and this friendship was extended to the British on the occupation of the Transvaal in 1877. In 1879 they joined the British in the attack on the Bapedi chief Sikukuni, whom they looked upon as an ally of the Zulus. They captured from Sikukuni certain " See also:rain See also:medicine," the See also:possession of which has since greatly increased the See also:prestige of the See also:paramount chief of the Swazis among the See also:Kaffirs of South Africa. On the retrocession of the Transvaal in 1881 the in-dependence of the Swazis was recognized by the Boers and the See also:Pretoria See also:convention of that year defined the boundaries of the country.

By the See also:

London convention of 1884 the Transvaal again recognized the independence of Swaziland. Immediately afterwards, however, the Boers began a See also:series of efforts to obtain See also:control of the country. In 1886 the See also:governor of Natal received a See also:paper from Umbandine (Mbandini), the paramount chief of the Swazis, stating that Piet See also:Joubert had called on him and requested him to sign a paper saying that " he and all the Swazis agreed to go over and recognize the authority of the Boer government, and have nothing more to do with the See also:English." On his refusal the Boers replied to him, "Why do you refuse to sign the paper? You know we defeated the English at See also:Majuba." The Boers further added that if the Swazis were relying on the British, they were leaning on a broken See also:reed, and would find themselves See also:left in the See also:lurch. Umbandine followed up this communication with a See also:request for British See also:protection, but without result. Later on, in 1887, both Boers and gold prospectors of all nationalities were overrunning his country, and Umbandine asked for a British resident. This request was also refused. The Boers now determined to adopt, towards Swaziland the policy which had proved so successful in Zululand. A colony of Boers settled within the Swazi territories and proclaimed " The Little See also:Free State." Umbandine was then at length induced to ask the Transvaal for See also:annexation. The Transvaal applied in 1889 to See also:Great See also:Britain for permission to accede to this request, but the British government replied that the only intervention to which they would consent must be a dual one. Consequently a See also:joint See also:commission was appointed to visit Swaziland and See also:report on the See also:condition of things there. See also:Sir See also:Francis de Winton, the British commissioner, who was accompanied by Generals Joubert and Smit on behalf of the Transvaal, reported that Umbandine had already granted concessions, such as " postal, telegraphic, banking, customs,"&c., to the Transvaal, and concessions of land mining and grazing rights to various adventurers.

Umbandine See also:

bad in See also:short granted concessions of every conceivable See also:character, including exemption from See also:taxation. A See also:charter of self-government had also been granted (1888) to the whites in the country. In the circumstances de Winton considered a British See also:protectorate inadvisable and impracticable. A dual control was arranged in 1890, but the convention then signed proved abortive owing to the objection of the Transvaal to join the South African Customs Union. In 1893 a further See also:conference on the Swazi question took place between Sir See also:Henry See also:Loch, high commissioner for South Africa, and See also:President See also:Kruger, the result of which was that the administration of Swaziland, with certain reservations as to the rights of the natives, was made over to the South African See also:Republic. In the following year six Swazi envoys visited See also:England for the purpose of asking See also:Queen See also:Victoria to take Swaziland under her protection. In view, however, of the arrangement come to, this See also:petition had to be refused. In 1894 a convention was signed between Great Britain and the Transvaal, and the Boers, in spite of the Swazi opposition, assumed administration of the country. The Boers' See also:object in intriguing to acquire Swazi-land was not merely that of obtaining that country. They desired also to annex the See also:coast lands to its east and thus obtain—at Kosi Bay—a seaport of their own. This object they might have attained if they had agreed to de Winton's proposals, but Great Britain in view of the increasingly hostile attitude assumed by the Transvaal government now intervened and by annexing in 1895 Amatongaland, the region in question, blocked the Boers' further progress towards the sea (see So-um AxxlcA: History). Swaziland suffered during the struggle between the Transvaal and Great Britain as to its destiny.

Umbandine died in 1889 and had various successors. Ubanu, installed by the Boers as paramount chief in 1894, was a sanguinary See also:

despot and was compelled to flee in 1898. The principal personage in the country after Umbandine's See also:death was, however, his widow Naba Tsibeni, known to Europeans as the queen See also:regent. She more than once appealed to the British to cause the Boers to respect the terms of the conventions, and before the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer war in 1899 she took the See also:side of the British. On the annexation of the Transvaal in 1901 the queen regent asked that Swaziland might be annexed also. On the cessation of hostilities a British special commissioner was sent into the country—then in a condition bordering on anarchy—and a See also:pro-visional administration established. In See also:June 1903 an order in See also:council formally conferred the government of the country on the governor of the Transvaal (then See also:Lord See also:Milner;. Lord Milner visited Swaziland in See also:July 1904 and denounced " the abominable network of concessions " in which the country was entangled. On the 3rd of See also:October following the governor issued a See also:proclamation providing further for the administration, and for the expropriation of the concessions other than those See also:relating to land and minerals. In See also:September Igo6 Lord See also:Selborne, who had succeeded Lord Milner, conferred with the queen regent and her councillors on questions specially affecting the natives. A lad named Sobhuza, See also:born about 1898, was selected as paramount chief, Naba Tsibeni, his grandmother, being confirmed as regent during his minority. In See also:December 1906 the control of Swaziland was severed from the governorship of the Transvaal and transferred to the High Commissioner for South Africa, and in See also:March 1907 a resident commissioner was appointed.

When the Union of South Africa was established in 1910, Swaziland, with other native territories, remained under direct Imperial control. See A. M. See also:

Miller, " Swaziland," in Journ. See also:Roy. See also:Col. Inst. (190o), vol. xxxi., and "Swaziland: its agricultural and See also:pastoral future," in Transvaal Agricultural Journ., vol. iv. (1906); T. R. See also:Jones, "Notes on the See also:Geology of See also:West Swaziland" in Geol. Mag.

(1899), vol. vi. Colonial See also:

office reports on the country have been issued annually since 1908. Consult also the Colonial Office See also:List issued yearly. In it are cited the See also:Blue Books dealing with Swaziland. For history see also TRANSVAAL: Bibliography. (A. P. H.; F. R.

End of Article: SWAZILAND (native name Pungwane)

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