Who We Are

The Batlhaping: masters of trade and diplomacy

the batlhaping were known as the southernmost batswana and were among the first to interact with European traders and missionaries. our name means "people of the fish" reflecting our initial settlement after a dislodgement from the barolong chieftancy along the kolong river banks.

our ancestors understood the value of trade.

trading iron & cattle with Portuguese and Dutch traders, ivory & animal skins in neighboring regional markets and weapons obtained from colonial contacts to defend ancestral lands. 

we split from the main barolong under our great ancestor phuduhutswana, grandson of tshesebe, son of morolong with the centers of batswana civilization predating the formation of modern day Lesotho by 300 years. our territory was a commercial and diplomatic powerhouse long before the arrival of the British and boers due to to our iron works pioneer which by the 1600's saw us develop an economy based on iron smelting and trade creating a distinct and organized society where we never surrendered our cultural sovereignty.  

setswana sa rona is raw, rhythmic and deeply ancestral, unfiltered by the colonial tongue, it is closer to the original proto-bantu form preserved by batswana across millenia. we are not a break away tribe, we are a root of southern bantu civilization.