1834–1835
Sixth Frontier War
After years of land pressure, cattle disputes, raids and frontier patrols, Xhosa forces attacked colonial farms in December 1834; the British counter-invasion devastated Xhosa livelihoods and briefly annexed territory to the Kei River.
The Sixth Frontier War followed decades of shrinking Xhosa access to land, disputed cattle ownership, patrols and retaliatory raids along an increasingly militarised boundary. The immediate crisis came in December 1834, when Xhosa forces entered the colony, attacked and burned farms, killed settlers and took cattle after a period of heightened pressure and violence on both sides of the boundary.
Governor Benjamin D'Urban responded with a large invasion across the Keiskamma. Colonial forces destroyed settlements and crops and seized cattle. During negotiations, British troops killed the Gcaleka ruler Hintsa while he was in colonial custody and attempting to escape, an episode whose circumstances and responsibility became deeply contested.
D'Urban annexed the land between the Keiskamma and Kei as Queen Adelaide Province. The British government later reversed the annexation, but the war had already caused extensive displacement and economic destruction and intensified pressure on Xhosa independence.
Significance
The war exposed the recurring cycle in which contested land and livestock produced raids, punitive expeditions and further annexation, while the killing of Hintsa became an enduring symbol of colonial violence.
Why it matters
The war exposed the recurring cycle in which contested land and livestock produced raids, punitive expeditions and further annexation, while the killing of Hintsa became an enduring symbol of colonial violence.
Perspective notes
The December invasion caused deaths, farm destruction and livestock losses. Its background also includes earlier expulsions, cross-border raids, disputed cattle seizures and coercive colonial reprisals.