Moshoeshoe

or Mshweshwe

(born c. 1786, near the upper Caledon River, northern Basutoland—died March 11, 1870, Thaba Bosiu, Basutoland) Founder and first paramount chief of Sotho (later Basutoland; now Lesotho). In the 1830s and '40s he carefully played off British and Boer interests against one another. Involved in a series of wars, he proved a skillful tactician. In 1868 the British annexed Sotho, and Moshoeshoe's power waned. His descendant Moshoeshoe II (1938–96) was the first king of independent Lesotho.

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