Rudd Concession
Encyclopedia
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
concession
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
or agreement that Charles Rudd
Charles Rudd
Charles Dunell Rudd was the main business associate of Cecil John Rhodes.Rudd studied at Harrow School and then entered Trinity College, Cambridge in 1863, where he excelled in playing rackets...
secured from Lobengula
Lobengula
Lobengula Khumalo was the second and last king of the Ndebele people, usually pronounced Matabele in English. Both names, in the Sindebele language, mean "The men of the long shields", a reference to the Matabele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.- Background :The Matabele were related to...
, King of Matabeleland
Matabeleland
Modern day Matabeleland is a region in Zimbabwe divided into three provinces: Matabeleland North, Bulawayo and Matabeleland South. These provinces are in the west and south-west of Zimbabwe, between the Limpopo and Zambezi rivers. The region is named after its inhabitants, the Ndebele people...
on 13 October 1888. Rudd was a business associate of Cecil John Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes
Cecil John Rhodes PC, DCL was an English-born South African businessman, mining magnate, and politician. He was the founder of the diamond company De Beers, which today markets 40% of the world's rough diamonds and at one time marketed 90%...
and he obtained the concession as his agent.
Rhodes had already tried and failed to get a concession from Lobengula. In 1888 he used the 'imperial factor' to lay the groundwork: a friendship treaty with the British Government, which Rhodes instigated by using John Moffat
John Smith Moffat
Reverend John Smith Moffat was a British missionary and imperial agent in southern Africa, the son of missionary Robert Moffat and brother-in-law of missionary explorer David Livingstone....
, son of the missionary Robert Moffat
Robert Moffat
Robert Moffat was a Scottish Congregationalist missionary to Africa, and father in law of David Livingstone....
who was trusted by Lobengula, to persuade the latter to sign the treaty and favour Rhodes' subsequent mining concession proposals.
Rhodes and Rudd also used deceit, assuring Lobengula that no more than ten white men would mine in Matabeleland, but this was left out of the actual document Lobengula signed. Furthermore it stated that the mining companies could do anything necessary for their operations. In the months of negotiations, Rhodes also used Dr. Leander Starr Jameson
Leander Starr Jameson
Sir Leander Starr Jameson, 1st Baronet, KCMG, CB, , also known as "Doctor Jim", "The Doctor" or "Lanner", was a British colonial statesman who was best known for his involvement in the Jameson Raid....
, whom Lobengula regarded as his friend having previously been treated by him for gout, to help persuade him.
When Lobengula discovered later what the Rudd Concession really meant, it was too late. He satisfied himself by putting to death the councillors who had supported it and attempted to undermine the concession by granting a parallel one to a German prospector the following year - the so-called Lippert Concession. However, Rhodes managed to buy out Lippert.
British South Africa Company
Meanwhile, with the Concession, during 1889 Rhodes obtained a charterCharter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
from the British Government in London for the British South Africa Company
British South Africa Company
The British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...
(BSAC) to rule, police and make new treaties and concessions from the Limpopo River
Limpopo River
The Limpopo River rises in central southern Africa, and flows generally eastwards to the Indian Ocean. It is around long, with a drainage basin in size. Its mean annual discharge is 170 m³/s at its mouth...
to the great lakes of Central Africa. He convinced the Colonial Office that Lobengula's tributary state
Tributary state
The term tributary state refers to one of the two main ways in which a pre-modern state might be subordinate to a more powerful neighbour. The heart of the relationship was that the tributary would send a regular token of submission to the superior power...
of Mashonaland
Mashonaland
Mashonaland is a region in northern Zimbabwe. It is the home of the Shona people.Currently, Mashonaland is divided into three provinces, with a total population of about 3 million:* Mashonaland West* Mashonaland Central* Mashonaland East...
, which had a few ancient gold mines, would be a new Rand
Witwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
gold mining area, and would pay for the administration as well as bringing trade benefits to Britain.
In July 1890 Rhodes therefore sent the Pioneer Column
Pioneer Column
The Pioneer Column was a force raised by Cecil Rhodes and his British South Africa Company in 1890 and used in his efforts to annex the territory of Mashonaland, later part of Southern Rhodesia ....
of white settlers protected by well-armed British South Africa Police
British South Africa Police
The British South Africa Police was the police force of the British South Africa Company of Cecil Rhodes which became the national police force of Southern Rhodesia and its successor after 1965, Rhodesia...
(BSAP), the BSAC's own paramilitary force, to Mashonaland, using the Rudd Concession as the justification. Once the BSAC had consolidated their base in Mashonaland, they negotiated with the Portuguese authorities over the placement of the eastern border to the territory in Manicaland leading to the Anglo-Portuguese Treaty of 1891. The tricky problem of the hostile Matabele kingdom was solved when war broke out (the First Matabele War
First Matabele War
The First Matabele War was fought in 1893-1894 between the British South Africa Company military forces and the Ndebele people. Lobengula, king of the Ndebele, avoided outright war with the British settlers because he and his advisors were mindful of the destructive power of the European weapons...
) in 1893 and Matabeleland was incorporated into the colonial BSAC territory.
Consequences
It turned out that the Rudd Concession was somewhat disappointing in mining terms, as the gold deposits were much scantier than those of the WitwatersrandWitwatersrand
The Witwatersrand is a low, sedimentary range of hills, at an elevation of 1700–1800 metres above sea-level, which runs in an east-west direction through Gauteng in South Africa. The word in Afrikaans means "the ridge of white waters". Geologically it is complex, but the principal formations...
in South Africa. However, the mineral resources of the country proved to be considerable, although scattered in relatively small deposits.
Gold production made up approximately 25% of the country's exports as late as 1988. The farmland taken by settlers was valuable, and after putting down two more uprisings,
a new order was imposed that mobilised the people of the territory into a supply of cheap labour. A prosperous white settler society was established that segregated itself from the indigenous inhabitants whilst controlling and overseeing the development of the territory.
See also
- Cecil Rhodes
- LobengulaLobengulaLobengula Khumalo was the second and last king of the Ndebele people, usually pronounced Matabele in English. Both names, in the Sindebele language, mean "The men of the long shields", a reference to the Matabele warriors' use of the Zulu shield and spear.- Background :The Matabele were related to...
- Southern RhodesiaSouthern RhodesiaSouthern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
- ZimbabweZimbabweZimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
- British South Africa CompanyBritish South Africa CompanyThe British South Africa Company was established by Cecil Rhodes through the amalgamation of the Central Search Association and the Exploring Company Ltd., receiving a royal charter in 1889...