Montshiwa. He died in 1882. One of his sons, Silas Molema, became a Doctor and historian of the Barolong. (see S.M. Molema). The settlement was named Mafikeng, a Setswana name meaning "place of stones". Later British settlers spelled the name as "Mafeking". The Jameson Raidstarted from Pitsani Pothlugo (or Potlogo) 24 miles (39 km) north of Mafeking on December 29, 1895.
At the outbreak of the Second Boer War in 1899, the town was besieged. The Siege of Mafeking lasted 217 days from October 1899 to May 1900, and turned Robert Baden-Powell into a national hero. In September 1904, Lord Roberts unveiled an obelisk at Mafeking bearing the names of those who fell in defence of the town. In all, 212 people were killed during the siege, with more than 600 wounded. Boer losses were significantly higher.
Although it was outside the protectorate's borders, Mahikeng served as capital of the Bechuanaland Protectorate from 1894 until 1965, when Gaborone was made the capital of what was to become Botswana. Mafeking briefly served as capital of the pre-independence Bantustan of Bophuthatswana in the 1970s, before the adjoining town of Mmabatho was established as capital.
Following the end of apartheid in 1994, Mahikeng and Mmabatho were merged and instated as capital of the new North-West Province
