View source for Place:Sekhukhuneland

{{Infobox settlement
| name                    = Sekhukhuneland
| native_name             = 
| native_name_lang        = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead -->
| settlement_type         = Natural region
| image_skyline           = 
| image_alt               = 
| image_caption           = 
| image_flag              = 
| flag_alt                = 
| image_seal              = 
| seal_alt                = 
| image_shield            = 
| shield_alt              = 
| nickname                = 
| motto                   = 
| image_map               = Sekukuniland-South Africa.png
| map_alt                 = 
| map_caption             = Sekhukhuneland
| pushpin_map             = 
| pushpin_label_position  = 
| pushpin_map_alt         = 
| pushpin_map_caption     = 
| coordinates             = 
| coor_pinpoint           = 
| coordinates_footnotes   = 
| subdivision_type        = Country
| subdivision_name        = {{wipe|South Africa}}
| subdivision_type1       = 
| subdivision_name1       = 
| subdivision_type2       = 
| subdivision_name2       = 
| subdivision_type3       = 
| subdivision_name3       = 
<!-- ALL fields with measurements have automatic unit conversion -->
<!-- for references: use <ref> tags -->
| area_footnotes          = 
| area_urban_footnotes    = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_rural_footnotes    = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_metro_footnotes    = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_magnitude          = <!-- <ref> </ref> -->
| area_note               = 
| area_water_percent      = 
| area_rank               = 
| area_blank1_title       = 
| area_blank2_title       = 
<!-- square kilometers -->
| area_total_km2          = 
| area_land_km2           = 
| area_water_km2          = 
| area_urban_km2          = 
| area_rural_km2          = 
| area_metro_km2          = 
| area_blank1_km2         = 
| area_blank2_km2         = 
<!-- hectares -->
| area_total_ha           = 
| area_land_ha            = 
| area_water_ha           = 
| area_urban_ha           = 
| area_rural_ha           = 
| area_metro_ha           = 
| area_blank1_ha          = 
| area_blank2_ha          = 
| length_km               = 
| width_km                = 
| dimensions_footnotes    = 
| elevation_footnotes     = 
| elevation_m             = 
| population_footnotes    = 
| population_total        = 
| population_as_of        = 
| population_density_km2  = auto
| population_demonym      = 
| population_note         = 
| timezone1               = 
| utc_offset1             = 
| timezone1_DST           = 
| utc_offset1_DST         = 
| website                 = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| footnotes               = 
}}
{{Location map
 |South Africa
 |relief     = 1
 |label   =Sekhukhuneland
 |lon_dir =E
 |lat_dir =S
 |lat_deg =24|lat_min=26
 |lon_deg =29|lon_min=56
 |position=left
 |width   =280
 |float   =right
 |mark    =Cercle rouge 100%.svg
 |marksize=20
 |caption =Location of Sekhukhuneland in South Africa
}}
'''Sekhukhuneland''' or '''Sekukuniland''' ({{lang-af|Sekoekoeniland}}) is a [[Earth:Natural region|natural region]] in north-east {{wipe|South Africa}}, located in the historical Transvaal zone, former Transvaal Province, also known as '''Bopedi''' (meaning “land of Bapedi”). The region is named after the 19th-century King, Sekhukhune I. 

==Geography==
This region is mainly covered by [[Earth:Grassland|grassland]]<ref>[http://www.fao.org/ag/AGP/AGPC/doc/Show/SAfrica/sapaper/saessay.htm Sekhukhuneland grasslands: a treasure house of biodiversity]</ref> and was inhabited traditionally by the Bapedi in an area stretching across central and northern Transvaal.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/00020185208706871 | volume=11 | issue=2 | title=Death and burial customs of the Bapedi of Sekukuniland | year=1952 | journal=African Studies | pages=83–84 | last1 = Longmore | first1 = L.}}</ref>

Sekhukhuneland lies in present-day Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces, between the Olifants River (Lepelle) and its tributary the Steelpoort River (Tubatse); bordered on the east by the Drakensberg Range,<ref>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Transvaal |volume=27 |page=188 |first=Frank Richardson |last=Cana}}</ref> and crossed by the Thaba Ya Sekhukhune in the southeast and the Leolo Mountains in the north.

==History==
At the height of the Pedi power under Thulare, about 1790–1820, historical Sekhukhuneland included an area stretching from the site of present-day Rustenburg in the west to the Lowveld in the east, and ranging as far south as the Vaal river.

The area under Pedi control was severely limited after the military campaigns by [[Place:British Empire|British]] troops in 1879. Following their defeat native reserves were created for the Pedi and for other northern Sotho people groups by the Transvaal Republic's Native Location Commission.<ref name="Kinsey1973b">{{Cite journal |journal=Military History Journal |title=The Sekukuni Wars Part II |publisher=South African Military History Society |last=Kinsey |first=H.W. |date=December 1973 |volume=2 |issue=6 |url= http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol026nk.html  }}</ref>

Between 1972 and 1994 part of Sekhukhuneland was included in the Lebowa bantustan. The territory was not contiguous, being divided into two major and several minor portions.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/334276/Lebowa Lebowa - Britannica Online]</ref> Having been intended as a homeland for the Northern Sotho-speaking tribes such as the Pedi, Lebowa included swathes of Sekukuniland. However, various other non-Northern Sotho-speaking tribes, including the Northern Ndebele, Batswana and VhaTsonga lived in the bantustan as well.

Sekukuniland is named after Pedi chief Sekhukhune or Sekukuni, who succeeded Sekwati in 1860 or 1861,<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/DictionaryOfSouthernAfricanPlaceNames/SaPlaceNames_djvu.txt Dictionary of Southern African Place Names]</ref> and it is the only native region in South Africa named after a famous local chief.<ref name="Kinsey1973a">{{Cite journal |journal=Military History Journal |title=The Sekukuni Wars Part I |publisher=South African Military History Society |last=Kinsey |first=H.W. |date=June 1973 |volume=2 |issue=5 |url= http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol025hk.html  }}</ref> Present day Sekhukhune District Municipality in Limpopo Province is named after this natural region.

South African artist Johannes Segogela, renowned internationally for his wooden sculptures, was born in Sekukuniland in 1936.<ref>[http://memphiscaliproject.wordpress.com/2011/05/29/johannes-segogela/ Art from the African Diaspora - Johannes Segogela]</ref>

==See also==
*History of South Africa
*Lebowa
*Limpopo Province
*Sekukhune Flat Lizard
*The Contemporary African Art Collection (CAAC)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book|last=Winter|first=Johannes August |title=The Mental and Moral Capabilities of the Natives, Especially of Sekukuniland (Eastern Transvaal): The Study of South African Native Languages|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TlQCHwAACAAJ|date=n.d.}}
*[https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/190753242 A L Hall, ''The geology of Sekukuniland : an explanation of sheet 8 (Sekukuniland)'', Government Printing and Sationery Office, Pretoria 1911]
*{{Cite journal |title=The kgoma, or initiation rites of the Bapedi of Sekukuniland |last1=Roberts |first1=Noel |last2=Winter |first2=C. A. T. |journal=South African Journal of Science |volume=12 |issue=12 |date=July 1916 |pages=561–578 |location=Cape Town |url= https://siris-libraries.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?uri=full=3100001~!557865!0 }}
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3GVGAAACAAJ|first= A. M. F.|last= Pretorius|title=Inventory of the archives of the Native Affairs Commissioner, Sekukuniland 1902-1961|publisher=Transvaal Archives Depot|date= 1994|isbn=9780797030183}}

==External links==
*[http://www.mapstudio.co.za/locationmap.php?loc=Sekhukhuneland Map of Sekhukhuneland]
*[https://archive.today/20121225014538/http://www.polity.org.za/topic/the-50th-anniversary-of-the-sekhukhuneland-revolt The 50th Anniversary Of The Sekhukhuneland Revolt]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305093713/http://www.disa.ukzn.ac.za/webpages/DC/asoct58.5/asoct58.5.pdf The Sekhukhuneland Terror]
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/isabel_maree/6206966875/ The Loreto Mission, Glen Cowie, Sekukuniland]
*[http://journals.cambridge.org/download.php?file=%2FGEO%2FGEO59_04%2FS0016756800109008a.pdf&code=c58f28c3b6b131dbd563057d88374391 The Nepheline Rocks of Sekukuniland]
*[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13135066 Trachoma in the South African Bantu; a survey in Sekukuniland]
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/still-picture/5592822820/in/photostream Landscape of Sekukuniland]
*[http://openagricola.nal.usda.gov/Record/CAIN729018499 A variant of Acacia karroo from Sekukuniland]
*[http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/language/about/sepedi.html The Sepedi Language]
*[http://www.wildliferesorts.org/limpopo-resorts/sekhukhune.html Sekhukhune Region - Tourism]
{{coord|24|26|S|29|57|E|display=title|scale:500000}}
[[Category:Regions of Africa]]

{{Sourceattribution|Sekhukhuneland}}