Today in History: The Fifth Frontier War is fought for Grahamstown
Maqana was eventually captured and imprisoned on Robben Island.
On this day in 1819, under the command of Mdushane, AmaNdlambe’s son, the Xhosa prophet-chief, Maqana, led a 10 000-strong Xhosa force in an attack on Grahamstown, which was held by 350 troops.
The Fifth Frontier War, also known as the “War of Nxele”, initially developed from an 1817 judgement by the Cape Colony government about stolen cattle and their restitution by the Xhosa. An issue of overcrowding brought on a civil war between the Ngqika (royal clan of the Rharhabe Xhosa) and the Gcaleka Xhosa (those that remained in their homeland).
A Cape Colony-Ngqika defence treaty of 1818 legally required military assistance to be given at the request of the Ngqika. The Xhosa prophet-chief, Maqana (or Makana) Nxele, emerged at this time and promised “to turn bullets into water”. A Khoikhoi group led by Jan Boesak enabled the garrison to repel Maqana, whose forces suffered the loss of 1 000 Xhosa warriors.
The British pushed the Xhosa further east, beyond the Fish River, to the Keiskamma River. The resulting empty territory was designated as a buffer zone for loyal African settlements, but was declared to be off limits for both sides’ military occupation, and came to be known as the “Ceded Territories”.
The Albany district was established in 1820, on the Cape’s side of the Fish River, and was populated with some 5 000 Britons. The Grahamstown battle site continues to be called “Egazini” (“Place of Blood”), and a monument was erected there for the fallen Xhosa.
Information courtesy of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xhosa_Wars.
