Episode 38 – The First Frontier War of 1781 and why the survivors of the Grosvenor were attacked by the amaXhosa

This is episode 38 and we’re focusing on the first war between the isiXhosa and the settlers which took place in 1781. Rharhabe had proposed an alliance between himself and the Colony – in return for Boer assistance against the imiDange clan who he had represented as rebels. Rharhabe framed the conversation as offering “friendship and peace upon a permanent footing” which spoke the settler language.

Local strongman Adriaan van Jaarsveld had responded positively, but then Rharhabe missed another important meeting. Meanwhile Rharhabe’s implacable enemy and uncle, Ndlambe, had found a Boer ally in Barend Lindeque who was a lieutenant in the commando.
Friction is endemic in frontier situations and neither the Xhosa nor colonists were going to be innocent in the coming conflicts. You could take the stance modern politicians take that the colonists were outsiders and therefore always to blame – but that would be somewhat historically ill-informed. The Boers feared the weight of Xhosa numbes and resented being pestered for presents by the roving bands of Xhosa men – they also had been given permission by Rharhabe to use pastures and yet Xhosa clans not aligned to Rharhabe would occupy these lands.