Vaccination at a Kraal, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

c1894. This photograph of a group of Ndebele (Matabele) boys and men receiving vaccinations from British colonials was taken at a time of upheavel for the tribe. War had broken out in 1893 between the Matabele kingdom in the country today called Zimbabwe and the British South Africa Company. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, avoided a larger conflict because he knew the destructive power of British guns. However, in January 1894 Lobengula died of smallpox, the Ndebele warriors submitted to the British South Africa Company and an order on July 18, 1894, ceded power of the company over Matabeleland. The House of Commons brought charges accusing the company of provoking the Matabele to war so their land could be seized, but Lord Ripon, the Colonial Secretary, exonerated the company and Cecil Rhodes, its leader. In 1895 Zimbabwe became Rhodesia in his honor. That same year the rebuilt town of Bulawayo had 1,900 colonial residents and the goldfields were filled with 2,000 prospectors. Approx. 5 1/2 x 4". Inscription on verso in pencil reads "Vaccination at a Kraal." Kraal is an Afrikaans, Dutch and South African English word for a circular livestock enclosure, visible in the image. Item #16969

Price: $125.00