The State and the Social. Ørnulf Gulbrandsen

serious conflicts related to the arrival of Christianity at the royal centres of the Bakwena and Bangwaketse (Gulbrandsen 1993a: 49ff.) as well as the Batawana (Tlou 1973, 1985: 99ff.). Moreover, I explained, there then emerged conflicts between missionary churches and so-called independent Christian church movements that appealed to many people because of their greater tolerance toward indigenous ritual and social practices. These movements were often fiercely rejected by not only the dikgosi but also to a great extent the ruling elites because of, I recall, the perceived threat represented by these movements to the order on which they all basically depended. For these elites, it meant that they in due course had to comply with and impose the missionary requirement of abandoning important ritual and social practices.

      However, popular resistance towards the abandonment of polygyny, bogadi (‘bridewealth’) and bogwera (initiation ritual) as well as prohibitions of alcoholic drinks prevailed as an undercurrent in many contexts. These changes had thus to be enforced continuously by Tswana rulers (Schapera 1970: Ch. 9). But in a few instances the dikgosi did not readily comply with missionary requirements of doing so. One intriguing case is that of Kgosi Sebele II of Bakwena (r. 1918–31).