Power was transferred to King Moshoeshoe II, until then a ceremonial monarch, but forced into exile when he lost favour with the military the following year.

In 1992, Moshoeshoe II returned to Lesotho as a regular citizen until 1995 when King Letsie abdicated the throne in favor of his father.

A few months later, when he gained control, Jonathan allowed Moshoeshoe to reassume the title of king.

According to a government statement, Moshoeshoe had set out at 1 a. m. to visit his cattle at Matsieng and was returning to Maseru through the Maluti Mountains when his car left the road.

The last war in 1867 ended only when the British and Moshoeshoe appealed to Queen Victoria, who agreed to make Basutoland a British protectorate in 1868.

At the close of that year a settlement was at length concluded with Moshoeshoe, which left, perhaps, that chief in a stronger position than he had hitherto been.

Moshoeshoe and his followers, mostly the Bakoena BaMokoteli, some Bafokeng from his maternal side and other relations as well as some clans including the Amazizi, established his village at Butha-Buthe, where his settlement and reign coincided with the growth in power of the well-known Zulu King, Shaka and what is now know as the ' time of troubles ' ( previously know as ' Mfecane ').

The attacks also forced Moshoeshoe to move his settlement to the Qiloane plateau.

During their stay there they had inflicted a severe defeat on the Zulus under Dingaan ( December 1838 ), which, following on the flight of Mzilikazi, greatly strengthened the position of Moshoeshoe, whose power became a menace to that of the emigrant farmers.

Moshoeshoe Day is a national holiday in Lesotho celebrated every year on March 11 to commemorate the day of Moshoeshoe's death.

In episode two of the American animated series Animaniacs, in the Pinky and the Brain segment " Win Big ", the Brain attempts to win $ 99, 000 on a quiz show entitled " Gyp-parody " that he might construct a machine that would magnetically hold to the earth any one with loose change in his pockets: one of the categories in the Jeopardy-like game show is " Kings named Moshoeshoe ", to whose first answer, " he ruled Lestho in 1820 ", Brain gives the proper question, " Who was King Moshoeshoe the First?

He is still highly respected in the Kingdom of Lesotho for his judgment on the border issue between the Orange River Afrikaners and the Basotho of King Moshoeshoe, which, had it been implemented, would have secured the economic future of the kingdom.

The notes feature a portrait of the three royal family members: the current king, His Majesty Letsie III is in the middle, his father King Moshoeshoe II is on the left, and the founder of the Basotho nation, King Moshoeshoe I, on the right.

Because Moshoeshoe II initially refused to return to Lesotho under the new rules of the government in which the King was endowed only with ceremonial powers, Moshoeshoe's son was installed as King Letsie III.

It is named for Butha-Buthe Mountain to the north of the town, which King Moshoeshoe I used as his a fortification and headquarters from 1821 to 1823, during his war with the Zulu king Shaka.

Until 1820, there were only " a few isolated villages of Basotho, and a small clan of Baphuti, over which Moshoeshoe exercised ill-defined sovereignty ".

In order to protect his people, Moshoeshoe appealed to the British for assistance, and in March 1868 the land was placed under British protection and the Boer were ordered to leave.

Guns were introduced with the arrival of the Dutch from the Cape Colony and Moshoeshoe determined that he needed these and a white advisor.

The British were eager to check Boer advances, and Moshoeshoe, with advice from Eugene Casalis, realized that continued pressure from the Boers would lead to the destruction of his kingdom.

This came about in the following way-During the Free_State-Basotho War of 1865-1866, five " burghers " from the Transvaal were murdered in the Eastern Free State, and as a result war was declared between the Transvaal and the Basotho leader, Moshoeshoe.

One of the major states to emerge from the Mfecane was the Sotho Kingdom founded at Thaba Bosiu by Moshoeshoe I around 1821 to 1822.

The present Lesotho ( then called Basutoland ) emerged as a single polity under paramount chief Moshoeshoe I in 1822.

Missionaries invited by Moshoeshoe I developed orthography and printed works in the Sotho language between 1837 and 1855.

In 1818, Moshoeshoe I () consolidated various Basotho groupings and became their King.

The only international airport is the Moshoeshoe I International Airport in Mazenod, a short distance southeast from Maseru.

* King Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho

* March 11 – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho ( b. 1786?

* probable – Moshoeshoe I of Lesotho ( d. 1870 )

Moshoeshoe I gathered the mountain clans together in an alliance against the Zulus.

The territory of Moshoeshoe I became the kingdom of Lesotho.

In 1851, Boer malcontents in the Orange River Sovereignty and the Basotho chief Moshoeshoe I asked Pretorius to come to their aid.

The Sotho nation emerged from the accomplished diplomacy of Moshoeshoe I who gathered together disparate clans of Sotho – Tswana origin that had dispersed across southern Africa in the early 19th century.

* Moshoeshoe I

Grave of Moshoeshoe I atop Thaba Bosiu.

Moshoeshoe I International Airport is named in his honour.

da: Moshoeshoe I

de: Moshoeshoe I.

no: Moshoeshoe I

pl: Moshoeshoe I

pt: Moshoeshoe I do Lesoto

sv: Moshoeshoe I

King Moshoeshoe I ( 1786-1870 )

He was a Commandant in the Orange Free State and was killed in the 2nd Orange Free State-Basuto War while trying to storm the mountain stronghold of Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Basotho nation.