colony · Central and Southern Africa
British Kaffraria
Origins
After the War of the Axe of 1846-1847, Governor Sir Harry Smith annexed the land between the Keiskamma and Kei rivers in December 1847, reviving the abandoned Province of Queen Adelaide. Governed from King William's Town, it was a separate dependency under the Cape governor rather than part of the colony.
Rule and society
British magistrates gradually took power from Xhosa chiefs, and a further war in 1850-1853 tightened control. In 1856-1857 a prophecy by the girl Nongqawuse led many Xhosa to kill their cattle and destroy their grain; tens of thousands died of hunger. Governor Sir George Grey used the catastrophe to push survivors into wage labour and to settle German military veterans and immigrants on confiscated land.
Decline and legacy
British Kaffraria became a Crown colony in 1860 but could not pay its way, and it was annexed to the Cape Colony in 1866. Towns such as East London, Stutterheim and Berlin preserve the marks of its settlement schemes.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- British Kaffraria was a colony of British Empire1847 CE – 1866 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). British Kaffraria. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-kaffraria
- MLA
- “British Kaffraria.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-kaffraria. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “British Kaffraria.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-kaffraria.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘British Kaffraria’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/british-kaffraria (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻