Moshoeshoe I

Moshoeshoe I
Paramount Chief of the Basotho
Reign	1822 – 18 January 1870
Predecessor	first monarch
Successor	Letsie I
Born	c. 1786 Menkhoaneng, Southern Africa
Died	11 March 1870 (aged 83–84)
Burial	Thaba Bosiu
Consort	’MaMohato
House	Bamokoteli
Father	Mokhachane
Mother	Kholu

Moshoeshoe I (/mʊˈʃwɛʃwɛ/) (c. 1786 – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his father gain power over some other smaller clans. At the age of 34 Moshoeshoe formed his own clan and became a chief. He and his followers settled at the Butha-Buthe Mountain. He became the first and longest-serving King of Lesotho in 1822.