Griqualand East

Griqualand East (Afrikaans: Griekwaland-Oos), officially known as New Griqualand (Dutch: Nieuw Griqualand), was one of four short-lived Griqua states in Southern Africa from the early 1860s until the late 1870s and was located between the Umzimkulu and Kinira Rivers, south of the Sotho Kingdom.

History

Background

Before the arrival of migrants from the west and north, the area formed part of the Mpondo kingdom under King Faku, who ruled as sovereign of the ethnically Xhosa dynasty from 1815 to 1867. During his reign, Faku initially welcomed many refugees who came over the territory's north-eastern border, fleeing from the incursions and raids by the army of Shaka (leader of the Zulu Kingdom from 1816 to 1828).

Meanwhile, a group of Griquas who had left the Cape of Good Hope in the 18th century

and had settled in the area around present-day Philippolis in 1826 faced the prospect of their area coming under the control of the emerging Orange Free State (Oranje Vrijstaat - officially established as a Boer republic in 1854). In 1861 most of these inhabitants embarked on an exhausting journey, leaving to move southwards over Ukhahlamba also called intaba zokhahlamba that means mountains of Ukhahlamba (today known as the Drakensberg mountain range), After their leader Adam Kok III had sent an advance party to survey the area,

thumb|left|[[Adam Kok III]]

More recently recovered official documents, however, tell the story of a deal that was negotiated between the Colonial Office and the Free State in 1854, long before the Griquas had any knowledge of their fate. The Colonial Office agreed to undertake the expulsion of the entire population in exchange for a settlement of a border conflict between the Afrikaners and the Cape colonists. According to the sources, Adam Kok III and his followers only learned about the plans six years after the official document had been secretly signed.

Ultimately, all sources agree that the last great Griqua leader's

Government

thumb|right|300px|One Sterling Pound banknote of Nieuw Griqualand, 1868

Though, in historical terms, constantly on the move, with permanent settlements existing only for short intervals, the people of Griqualand East managed to establish a Raad (or Volksraad), a gathering of 12 members which made decisions on behalf of the Griqua population and formed delegations to deal with the surrounding polities.

Currency

In 1867, after the Bank of Durban had begun printing its own banknotes, Kok and his followers embarked on a similar experiment of their own and had about 10,000 one pound-notes printed for use in the area. --> The plans to actually introduce them never materialised, and, with the exception of a few remaining samples, almost all of them were destroyed without ever being in circulation.

After the move to Kokstad, however, a new venture in introducing a local currency was more successful in 1874; designed by Strachan and Co. and minted in Germany, several coins were used (see picture) and remained in circulation long after the disestablishment of the country. and the managing director of Strachan and Co

Symbolism

The seal included in the information-box is a rough replica of a seal shown on the first set of banknotes of 1867 which is the only known and surviving depiction. On the banknote itself, it is flanked to the left and right by a band or ribbon which reads "GOUVERNEMENT VAN | NIEUW GRIQUALAND" and includes a helm with mantling. The actual implied colours are unknown. The Griqua flag is a vertically flipped version of the "Vierkleur" used by Transvaal and the South African Republic. A single source dates its first documented appearance to 1903, On the other hand, opinion among the Griqua people themselves seems to have been divided.

A quote by Adam Kok III, upon learning of the Colonial Offices' plans, suggests that there was misunderstanding or even deception involved in the annexation of Griqualand East: "There you have it... we were not consulted. We can say nothing."

What is known for a fact is that the Griqua leader, whose name still adorns the town he founded, died in December 1875 after being severely injured in a wagon-accident.

Incorporation into the Cape (1879)

Although initially the Cape had refused to annex the territory, agreement was reached after substantial negotiation and in 1877 the Cape Parliament passed the Griqualand East Annexation Act (Act 38 of 1877).

The act was only promulgated two years later on 17 September 1879, when four magistrates were set up, at Kokstad, Matatiele, Mount Frere and Umzimkulu. The territory was also given two elected seats in the Cape Parliament, which at the time was elected through the multi-racial "Cape Qualified Franchise" system, whereby qualifications for suffrage were applied to all males, regardless of race.

The Griqua people had only ever been a small, ruling minority of the population of Griqualand East. Once independent Griqua rule was ended, the Xhosa speaking Pondo people, who had long constituted the majority of the Griqualand East population, came to own increasing amounts of land in the area, together with newly arriving European settlers. These demographic factors led to a further dilution of Griqua identity and a century later, under Apartheid, the territory was incorporated into the Xhosa "homeland" of the Transkei.

Contemporary Griqualand

When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the Cape Colony changed its name to "Cape Province", and during the 1980s, part of former Griqualand East was partitioned off into the Transkei, one of the four nominally independent Bantustans. In 1994, shortly before the first all-inclusive elections, it was incorporated into the southern part of the KwaZulu-Natal province. Kokstad retained its name and is today one of the main cities of the Harry Gwala District Municipality.