Land of Goshen, 1882

In October 1882, Nicolaas Claudius Gey van Pittius founded “Het Land van Goosen”, the ‘Land of Goshen’, named after the biblical land of that name, in the area called Rooigrond (‘Red Earth’), near Mafeking (now Mafikeng), with the approval of the Tswana chief of the area. It had an area of 10,400 km², and an estimated population of 17,000, of whom 2,000 were Transvaal Boers. Its flag was similar to that of the neighbouring South African Republic, a green band at the hoist, but with horizontal black-white-red stripes. These were the colours of Imperial Germany, so in 1885 about 5,000 British troops invaded. They declared Goshen and neighbouring Stellaland, with which it had planned to unite, part of the Crown Colony of British Bechuanaland; in 1895, it became part of the Cape Colony.