Rharhabe

An attack by the Rharhabe-Xhosa on Graham’s Town (Grahamstown) in 1819 provided the pretext for the annexation of more African territory, to the Keiskamma River. Various Rharhabe-Xhosa groups were driven from their lands throughout the early 1830s. They counterattacked in December 1834, and Governor Benjamin D’Urban ordered a major…

…after further fighting with the Rharhabe-Xhosa on the eastern frontier in 1846, Governor Colonel Harry Smith finally annexed, over the next two years, not only the region between the Great Fish and the Great Kei rivers (establishing British Kaffraria) but also a large area between the Orange and Vaal rivers,…

…Xhosa clans include the Gcaleka, Rharhabe, Ngqika, Ndlambe, and the Gqunkhwebe (the latter being partly of Khoekhoe origin).