Firearms in Nineteenth-Century Botswana: The Case of Livingstone's 8-Bore Bullet

While the importance of firearms in shaping the history of Southern Africa has long been acknowledged, the participation by local societies in the nineteenth-century revolution in gun technology has been relatively neglected. This paper examines the nature of munitions in Botswana during the critical decade that led up to the 1852–1853 Batswana-Boer War, focusing on the early presence of elongated or conical bullets and large bore hunting rifles, as well as artillery in the region. The findings have a bearing on a re-evaluation of the wider regional balance of military power during the period, as well as the relationship between the evolution of armaments and local society.