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Gender, Succession and Dynastic Politics: The Saga of Senate and her son Motšoene Molapo Moshoeshoe, 1858 - 1930
Abstract
This is a history of a Lesotho Princess of the nineteenth century named Senate. This Princess was represented by her grandfather Moshoeshoe I as a man and duly married to another woman by the marriage custom of Basotho. At another stage she was caused to enter a union without marriage to Prince of a rival district, from which a son named Motšoene was born. That son was declared heir to throne of the Lesotho kingdom.
The saga depicts the web of marriage alliances used in the nineteenth century. Similarly it depicts the multiple of feuds within the Lesotho Kingdom. Indeed the story provides many other glimpses into the period of Senate's life. In the process Motšoene, who was meant to weld the nation together, became instead a cruel victim of the chimeric social experiment by Moshoeshoe I, founder of the nation and political genius.
(Review of Southern African Studies: 2000 4 (1): 19-41)
The saga depicts the web of marriage alliances used in the nineteenth century. Similarly it depicts the multiple of feuds within the Lesotho Kingdom. Indeed the story provides many other glimpses into the period of Senate's life. In the process Motšoene, who was meant to weld the nation together, became instead a cruel victim of the chimeric social experiment by Moshoeshoe I, founder of the nation and political genius.
(Review of Southern African Studies: 2000 4 (1): 19-41)
