The Historiographical Development of the Concept “mfecane” and ...

Macgregor made two major contributions to the mfecane narrative of the greater
Caledon Valley area through the introduction of Difakane as a generic term and
his series of micro-histories. He wrote that Difakane ‘is used to describe a war
waged by nomadic tribes accompanied on the warpath by their women and
children and property [above all livestock], as distinct from ordinary kind of
warfare’. 37 This was a more precise definition than Christol’s ‘Difaqane di hlaho’,
which he translated as ‘ancienne guerres’ - wars of long ago 38 (see Chapter 4).
Orpen suggested that this word was possibly influenced by the Xhosa word for
‘the scatterer or scattered from the word Faca or Faga to scatter.’ 39 Difakane
was also the inspiration for Walker’s generic term “Mfecane”, twenty-three years
later.
The text is divided into two parts, with the first one being a conventional
recounting of mfecane history, which Macgregor claimed started in 1822 - his
only date - in the greater Caledon Valley area, not unlike other contemporary
texts. 40 The larger, second part was a series of micro-histories of the chiefdoms
that became a part of Moshoeshoe’s Sotho state, influenced by the
anthropological methodology of the intensive study of small chiefdoms. This
innovative trait was shared with four texts, to be examined in a later section, on
the history of the Transvaal chiefdoms. 41 Macgregor revisited events from
different angles, creating confusion for the reader. However, Moshoeshoe as
nation-builder is the consistent theme which unites this text, with emphasis on
his mildness, justice, wisdom and ability to provide security at his mountain
(October 1903). Correspondence with S. Gill, Archivist of the Lesotho Evangelical Church,
Morija, Lesotho, May 2004.
37 MacGregor, Basuto Traditions, 8.
38 Translation from the French by the author. Christol, Au Sud de l'Afrique, 48.
39 (CA) A302, J.M. Orpen, Memorandum: Remarks Which Occur to Me While Reading Mr.
MacGregor's Book, Basuto Traditions, 1905, 1.
40 Such as ‘Moshesh of the Mountains', 20-26. Gallienne, Thomas Arbousset. E. Jacottet, The
Treasure of Ba-Sotho Lore (Morija, 1908) and its Sotho version, E. Jacottet, Ditsomo tsa
Basotho (Morija, 1909). Lagden, ‘Basutoland’, 347-62.
41 See Footnote no. 78.
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