We have done several stamps from the former colonies of South Africa before it federated. See https://the-philatelist.com/2018/04/27/natal-boers-to-the-left-zulus-to-the-right-and-stuck-in-the-middle-with-the-indians/ Most had white rule, but not all and today comes a stamp from an area that kept black rule and stayed independent even as South Africa transitioned to majority rule. So slip on your smoking jacket, fill your pipe, take your first sip of your adult beverage and sit back in your most comfortable chair. Welcome to todays offering from The Philatelist.
Aesthetically this stamp is both quite old fashioned and yet up to date. The British policy toward the African colonies was about to change. The new policy became known as the writing is on the wall. It meant that the British were going to leave and turn over power to the majority blacks. This was most controversial in the south where there were more white settlers that couldn’t see themselves under black rule. Lots of old history now but look who is on this stamp from even earlier, the current Queen of Great Britain. It is amazing to think how long she has been guiding the ship of the Empire/Commonwealth.
Todays stamp is issue A7, a 3 Pence stamp issued by the British Crown Colony of Basutoland on October 18th, 1954. It was part of an eleven stamp issue in various denominations. According to the Scott catalog, the stamp is worth 40 cents used.
Basutoland was ruled by King Moshoeshoe I. He had been successful in raiding neighboring cattle herds earning him the name the razor. He sensed early on that if his empire was to survive he needed to procure a white advisor. The appearance of Christian missionaries provided that. He also was able to acquire some firearms for his warriors. His warriors therefore did surprisingly well against Zulu and British rivals. In victory, Moshoeshoe was conciliatory and so wars were just incidents not long battles and the British established friendly relations.
This would prove useful when the Boers came for the land. Boers, Dutch heritage South Africans sent what they called trekkers into Basuto land from the Orange Free State. Again Moshoeshoe had early military success against them but the Boers kept coming in ever greater numbers. King Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria for help. A deal was struck with the Boers making Basutoland a British Crown Colony with new borders that ended the Boer intrusion. Moshoeshoe I was kept on has Paramount Chief with substantial powers. The area remained far less than one percent white.
As the British read their writing on the wall in the 50s and 60s, the then current Paramount Chief was named King Moshoeshoe II of the new Kingdom of Lesotho. Relations with apartheid South Africa were tense as the ANC had a presence in Lesotho, but British pressure again kept the Boers out. Lesotho decided not to join the new South Africa in the 1990s and Moshoeshoe I’s Royal line still sits on Lesotho’s Throne. All this stability has not translated into prosperity. The GNP per person is about one sixth that of not rich South Africa, and much of that is from remittances of Lesotho citizens working in South Africa.
Well my drink is empty and I will pour another to toast the Catholic missionaries that got King Moshoeshoe’s ear. You would think that advise from missionaries would just be of a spiritual nature but their good advise lead to a stability and continuity unusual in the region. Come again tomorrow for another story that can be learned from stamp collecting