Basutoland was a British Crown colony that existed from 1884 to 1966 in present-day Lesotho, bordered with the Cape Colony, Natal Colony and Orange River Colony until 1910 and completely surrounded by South Africa from 1910. Though the Basotho (then known as Basuto) and their territory had been under British control starting in 1868 (and ruled by Cape Colony from 1871), the rule by Cape Colony was unpopular and unable to control the territory. As a result, Basutoland was brought under direct authority of Queen Victoria, via the High Commissioner, and run by an Executive Council presided over by a series of British Resident Commissioners.
It was divided into seven administrative districts: Berea, Leribe, Maseru, Mohale's Hoek, Mafeteng, Qacha's Nek and Quthing.
Basutoland gained its independence from the United Kingdom on 4 October 1966 and was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho.
Between 1856 and 1868 the Basotho engaged in conflict with the Orange Free State. Their king, Moshoeshoe I, sought British protection. On 29 August 1865, he wrote to Sir Philip Wodehouse, the Governor of Cape Colony:
I am giving myself and my country up to Her Majesty's Government under certain conditions which we may agree on between your Excellency and me.
In July 1866, after referring to the former letter, the Chief said:
All those things I have given up into your hands the last year..., they are still yours. I still continue to be the humble servant of Her Majesty.
Eventually, in January 1868, the Governor received a document dated 9 December 1867, signed by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, authorizing the annexation of Basutoland to the Colony of Natal (not to the Cape as Wodehouse had wished). On 12 March 1868, a proclamation declared the Basotho to be British subjects and Basutoland to be British territory. It was not in fact annexed to Natal, as Natal attempted unsuccessfully to condition its acceptance on Basotho land being made available for European settlement; so for some time Basutoland remained under the direct authority of Wodehouse as British High Commissioner for South Africa.
Three years later, Basutoland was annexed to the Cape Colony by Act No. 12 of 1871 of the Parliament of the Cape of Good Hope, confirmed by an Order in Council of 3 November 1871. The rule of the Cape Colony then proved unpopular with the people, leading to the Basuto Gun War of 1880–1881.
By an Order in Council dated 2 February 1884, which came into force on 18 March 1884, royal assent was given to a Cape bill repealing the Act of 1871. Basutoland was thus brought under the direct authority of the Queen, with legislative and executive powers again vested in the High Commissioner.
Moshoeshoe had been succeeded as paramount chief by his son, Letsie I, and he in turn was succeeded in 1891 by Lerotholi Letsie I. These chieftains acted in concert with the British representative in the country, to whom was given the title of resident commissioner. The first commissioner was Sir Marshal James Clarke. The period of warfare over, the Basotho turned their attention more and more to agricultural pursuits and Christian missionaries entered the territory. Trade increased, and in 1891 Basutoland was admitted to the customs union, which already existed between Orange Free State, Cape Colony and British Bechuanaland. When Alfred Milner visited Basutoland in 1898, on his way to Bloemfontein, he was received by 15,000 mounted Basotho. The chiefs also attended a large meeting at Maseru. On the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899, these same chiefs proclaimed loyalty to the British Crown. They remained passive throughout the War and the neutrality of the country was respected by both armies. One chief alone sought to take advantage of the situation by disloyal action, and his offence was met by a year's imprisonment.
In pursuance of the policy of encouraging the self-governing powers of the Basotho, a national council was instituted and held its first sitting in July 1903. In August 1905 the paramount chief Lerotholi died. In early life he had distinguished himself in the wars with the Boers, and in 1880 he took an active part in the revolt against the Cape government. Since 1884 he had been a loyal supporter of the imperial authorities, and carried a reputation for high diplomatic gifts. On 19 September following Lerotholi's death, the national council, with the concurrence of the imperial government, elected his son Letsie II as paramount chief. The completion in October 1905 of a railway connecting Maseru with the South African railway system proved a great boon to the community. During the Bambatha Rebellion in 1906 the Basotho remained perfectly quiet.
The first task of the Basuto National Council was to revise and draft the "old laws of Moshoeshoe I", which they did within three days. These new laws were called the " Laws of Lerotholi" after the sitting Paramount Chief. However the commoners believed that the Chiefs who sat on the council did not follow these laws, leading to opposition by the Commoners Council, one of the earliest political organizations in the territory. This forced the council to pass reforms, recommended in a 1935 study of Basutoland by Alan Pim. This reduced the number of chiefs and their judicial powers. The legality of the National Council itself and the laws it passed came to the forefront in 1940, with a succession crisis caused by the death of Paramount Chief Seeiso Griffith. The regency for his two-year-old son was disputed by his brother Bereng Griffith and his first wife Mantsebo, who had the support of the Resident Commissioner. It was ruled in 1942 in the Basutoland High Court that the "Laws of Lerotholi" were not legally binding and that the British High Commissioner for Southern Africa could choose who they wanted as the Paramount Chief. This led to efforts by the Basotho to convert the National Council into a legislative institution. The country was also badly affected by a combination of land shortages, drought and the arrival of railways. This led to the colony being a net importer of food and an exporter of labor, mostly to the neighboring South Africa. This was addressed in the 1935 study by Pim, who recommended increased investment in agriculture and efforts to stop soil erosion in the territory. This resulted in reforms by the Basutoland government to reduce erosion such as creating buffer strips and cattle grazing schedules. These were met with opposition from the native Basuto due to the fact that it was run mostly by South African administrators and often increased erosion in many places. Development projects that took place in the 1950s also met with similar opposition from the natives, due to the fact that they had very little input into how these projects were managed.
From the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 the South African government made numerous overtures to take over the High Commission Territories, which included Basutoland. However these demands were refused by Britain, wanting to consult with the inhabitants of the territories regarding their future. With the election of the National Party 1948 opposition to union with South Africa increased both amongst the Basuto and the British, due to the apartheid policies implemented by the new government. This hastened the progress towards independence. After WW2 progress towards self government and independence was slow due to opposition from local Basotho chiefs who feared losing their power and resistance from local colonial officials. In 1959 the Basutoland National Council, a body established in 1903, became a semi legislative body consisting of 80 members, half of whom were to be elected by the district councils. The others were tribal chiefs, nominated by the Paramount Chief and four officials. In the elections that followed the African nationalist Basutoland Congress Party achieved the overwhelming majority of elected seats.
In 1964 a constitutional conference in London resulted in the enactment of a new constitution which gave the country full self government with the Paramount Chief at its head assisted by a bicameral Parliament. The British Resident Commissioner was left only with the responsibilities of external affairs, defense and internal security. It was also decided that one year after elections were held under the new constitution the new Parliament could request independence. In the 1965 elections the conservative and pro South African Basutoland National Party, under chief Leabua Jonathon, won a narrow majority, with 31 seats out of the 60 seats in the National Assembly. Independence came as promised a year later in 1966, despite opposition from both the Paramount Chief who resented the reductions in his power as established by the 1964 Constitution and the opposition, who feared that Jonathon's pro South African stance would result in the country becoming a vassal to the Apartheid regime. The challenge the country faced at independence was that it was underdeveloped and completely economically dependent on neighboring South Africa. This was mostly due to a lack of interest from Britain in developing the territory. This fact was acknowledged by the last British Commissioner, Sir Alexander Giles who wrote: