The lecture sessions will now focus on term 2’s work, i.e.

the period after 1890 to the

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL RULE IN ZAMBIA

Introduction

This process was done by the British South Africa Company (BSACo) and was
accomplished by 1890. The Company was founded by John Cecil Rhodes in 1889 after
being granted a Charter of Incorporation by the British monarch. The establishment of
colonial rule was done on two fronts i.e. North-Western Rhodesia and North–Eastern
Rhodesia. During this long process the British used either negotiations or force. This
colonisation should be viewed from the perspective of the Scramble for Africa. Between
1890 and 1905, the geographical boundaries of Zambia were completed. Up to 1924 the
country was administered by the BSACo. The British government only took over direct
control of the government of the country in 1924 up to independence in 1964.

North-Western Rhodesia

Rhodes had to negotiate with King Lewanika, who was presumed to be the most
powerful king north of the Zambezi. To achieve this, Rhodes had to sign treaties with
the Lozi king. King Lewanika clearly chose to advance relations with the British. He was
of the opinion that certain Western ideas and methods would be beneficial to his people.
Lewanika was also insecure due to frequent Ndebele attacks across the Zambezi.
Further still was the threat posed by the activities of the Germans who were established
in today’s Namibia Lewanika was influenced in his choice of the British by the fact that
the Ngwato kingdom of King Khama to the south of Bulozi was a protectorate of the
British crown known as Bechuanaland. In this light he had allowed the most suitable
missionaries (protestant missionaries) to settle in his land. These were the Paris
Evangelical Missionary Society (PEMS). In 1889 the PEMS missionary Francois Coillard,
on behalf of Lewanika, wrote to the British Administrator of Bechuanaland to solicit for
the protectorate status over his kingdom from the British. However, no official reply
came.

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1. The Ware Concession (1889)---In the meantime, Harry Ware, a concession seeker
from South Africa arrived at Lealui and successfully negotiated with Lewanika in
1889. Lewanika hoped that by granting the concession to Ware, his chances of
gaining contact with the British would increase or at least be maintained. Ware
was allowed to prospect and mine for minerals for 20 years in those areas not
inhabited by the Lozi. The borders of the land involved were outlined,
incorporating the Zambezi Tonga to the east and the Katanga area and the Luvale
to the north. This however was no real reflection of the land under Lozi control.
In return for the land concessioned, Lewanika was to receive an annual subsidy
of £200. However Ware sold this concession to two other prospectors. As soon as
Rhodes heard about this event he bought the concession from those two miners.
To Rhodes the original consideration of the treaty now shifted because to him
the Charter he obtained in 1889 meant that he was to make further treaties,
laws, establish a police force, etc contrary to what it meant when Ware had got it.
2. Lochner Treaty (27 June, 1890)—in 1890 Rhodes sent his own representative
Frank Elliot Lochner to negotiate a better agreement for the BSACo with
Lewanika. However there were other traders at Lealui attempting the same. The
advantage Lochner had was that he tricked Lewanika into believing he was
representing the British govt through the BSACo or that the BSACo was part of
the British govt. He was further assisted by Coillard and Makoatse, a messenger
of King Khama. Coillard had settled in Barotseland for a long time as a PEMS
missionary and there was well vest with local customs that King Lewanikja
trusted him. The king, wanting to gain British protection, was convinced and
signed what became known as the Lochner Treaty of 1890. Under this treaty
exclusive mineral rights were given to the Co. Covering the whole kingdom
except Bulozi proper (up to the Zambezi-Congo watershed OR Copperbelt. In
return, Lewanika was to receive an annual subsidy (£2000), a gunboat and
mineral royalties. Schools were to be built and trade developed. A Co.
Representative was to be sent to Lealui to further the relationship. However, for
a period of seven years, no follow up was made on the treaty. This disappointed
Lewanika.
3. Lawley Treaty (25 June 1898)---with the arrival of the Co. Representative, Robert
Coryndon in 1897, negotiations began to increase cooperation with the Litunga.

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 The following year, Arthur Lawley, the Co. Administrator of Ndebeleland signed a
new agreement. It confirmed the Lochner Treaty that was concerned with
mineral rights, and extended it with administrative clauses. The trade monopoly
of the company was ended. The company was given administrative powers in the
territory except for Bulozi proper between Sesheke and Lealui. Jurisdiction in
this area remained with the Litunga except for cases involving Europeans.
4. Coryndon or Lewanika Treaty (17 October 1900)— this was worked out as a
measure to keep a closer watch on BSACo activities in Central Africa following
the company’s disastrous administrative activities in Zimbabwe (1894/5 and
1896/7). The British govt, therefore, worked out its own framework by which
the company had to comply. This was done by the North-Western Rhodesia
Order in Council of 1899 in which an Administrator was to be appointed by the
co subject to ratification by the govt through the High Commissioner at Cape
Town. Subsequently the Coryndon Treaty of 1900 was negotiated to officialise,
clarify and further extend the Lawley agreement. Under this arrangement,
administrative expenses and infrastructure were the responsibility of the co. The
co was allowed to make land grants in the Ila and Tonga areas for the coming
European farmers. Lewanika’s subsidy was reduced to £850 and the special
situation of Bulozi proper was confirmed. The dispute over the Western
boundary of Barotseland with the Portuguese in Angola was settled in 1905 by a
commission led by the king of Italy.

THE OCCUPATION OF NORTH-EASTERN RHODESIA

The colonisation of NER was different from that of NWR because it did not involve the
signing of treaties between the BSACo and local chiefs. This was because the territory’s
three major kings refused to be colonised. These were Mpezeni of the Ngoni,
Chitimukulu of the Bemba and Mwata Kazembe of the Lunda. This state of affairs would
have a bearing later on how this territory would be governed. They suffered because of
their resistance to colonial rule.

The British entered NER as an extension of the occupation of Nyasaland. The British
Consul of Nyasaland, Harry Johnston was responsible for this process. He appointed
Alfred Sharpe, a hunter and ivory trader to help him execute the exercise. Sharpe
embarked upon a treaty-making tour of NER between 1889 and 1890. He travelled

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throughout the Luangwa valley but with little success because Mpezeni, who dominated
the area, felt secure and therefore refused to sign a treaty with Sharpe. He then
proceeded to the Luapula valley where he convinced Kazembe to accept British
protection and to give mineral rights to the BSACo. Kazembe’s power, however, had
been lost to Msidi’s and the Yeke in the Katanga who in turn refused to make any treaty
with Sharpe.

At the same time, Rhodes, unaware of Sharpe’s journey’, sent Joseph Thompson on a
treaty signing tour in order to acquire parts of the Katanga. He only dealt with minor
chiefs and failed to reach Msidi’s due to ill health. The following year, Msidi was killed
by a Belgian force who in turn annexed the Katanga.

In 1894 NER was separated from Nyasaland and received its own Administrator
appointed by the BSACo under the approval of the British Commissioner to Nyasaland.
The first Administrator Major Forbes worked from Zomba in Nyasaland. Major Forbes
was succeeded in 1897 by Robert Edward Codrington who had the daunting task of
completing the occupation.

Mpezeni, who had refused to sign a treaty with Sharpe and was opposed to British
influence, signed a treaty with the German trader Karl Wiese from Portuguese East
Africa (Mozambique). Later, Wiese sold his concession to the Mozambique Gold and
Land Company.

With the Anglo-Portuguese Agreement of 1891 (SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA) Mpezeni’s

However, Mpezeni’s forces led by his heir apparent Nsingo were firmly opposed to
British domination. War soon broke out between the two factions in 1898. The BSACo
obtained assistance of the Imperial forces in Nyasaland. Like the Ndebele, Ngoni ways of
warfare was no match to the firepower and new methods of fighting of the British. The
war lasted two months. Nsingo was captured and executed while Mpezeni was
imprisoned and died in 1900.

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Further to the north of the Ngoni were the Bemba whose chiefs were also opposed to
British colonisation owing to the profitable slave trade and raiding in which they were
involved. In spite of Bemba resistance to imperialism, Sharpe managed to set up a fort at
Mbala, which he renamed Abercorn. By so doing, he secured British control over the
southern end of Lake Tanganyika in the wake of the Anglo-German Treaty of 1890
which separated the two spheres of influence.

However, two major events assisted in the British occupation of Lubemba. The first was
that in 1895 the White Fathers established a mission station at Kayambi with the
approval of Chief Makasa. The missionaries proved vital in informing and influencing
the chiefs in favour of the British.

Secondly, and perhaps most importantly was that in 1896 Chitimukulu Kapalakasa
Sampa, who had been opposed to European influence, died. A period of instability soon
followed in which Chief Mwamba Chipoya became prominent. In 1898 Chipoya allowed
Fr. Dupont to set up a mission at a place which later became known as Chilubula (a
place of refuge or escape). Soon after Chipoya died, further weakening the leadership if
the Bemba. In the following succession dispute, the British intervened and succeeded,
with the assistance of Fr. Dupont, in putting their candidate on the Mambwe throne. The
British built a fort at Kasama from where they easily submitted the rest of Lubemba.

The demise of the Bemba at the hands of the British in 1898 meant that Kazembe also
lost a powerful ally. The Bemba had previously assisted him in his fight against Msidi.
Kazembe was now surrounded by Belgian forces in the west and the British in the east.

In 1899 Codrington dispatched an imperial force from Nyasaland to attack the Lunda.
Kazembe, having fled across the Luapula was more willing to negotiate. Plymouth
Brethren missionaries helped in the negotiations that were held resulting in the return
of Kazembe to his capital in 1900.

With all the powerful chiefs in the territory now subdued, the Swahili traders no longer
could oppose the BSACo administration. The occupation of NER was now complete.!