chiefdom · Central and Southern Africa

Griqualand East

1862 CE – 1879 CE · capital Kokstad

The territory where Adam Kok III's Griqua resettled after their trek over the Drakensberg, with its capital at Kokstad.

Origins

After selling their land at Philippolis to the Orange Free State in 1861, Adam Kok III and some 2,000 Griqua trekked across the Drakensberg with wagons and cattle, arriving in 1863 in Nomansland, a thinly settled area between the Mpondo Kingdom and Natal that the Cape government had offered them.

Rule and society

The Griqua set up a Volksraad under Kok and issued land titles to settlers. They founded Kokstad in 1869 below Mount Currie. Many settlers, however, sold their farms to whites, and debt and land loss weakened the community.

Decline and legacy

The Cape Colony took over administration in 1874 and annexed the territory formally in 1879, after Kok's death in 1875 and a short Griqua rising in 1878. Kokstad remains a centre of Griqua identity.

Lineage

Philippolis Griqua State 1826 CE – 1861 CEGriqualand EastCape Colony 1795 CE – 1910 CE

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Griqualand East. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-east
MLA
“Griqualand East.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-east. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Griqualand East.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-east.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Griqualand East’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/griqualand-east (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻