Bathoen I

Kgosi Bathoen I was born in 1845 in Kanye, the son of King Gaseitsiwe. Ascending the chieftainship of the Bangwaketse in 1889, Bathoen governed with exceptional diplomatic skill during the turbulent expansion of British imperial interests in Southern Africa.

In 1895, learning that the British Empire planned to hand over the administration of Bechuanaland to Cecil Rhodes's British South Africa Company (BSAC), Bathoen sailed to England alongside Khama III and Sebele I. Presenting their case directly to Queen Victoria and the British public, the 'Three Dikgosi' successfully secured direct British imperial protection, preventing Botswana from being absorbed into Rhodesia or apartheid South Africa. His monument stands in Gaborone.