Basutoland

Basutoland is the former name of Lesotho until 1966. It was a fertile, healthy, grain-growing territory in South Africa, southeast of the Orange Free State, once under protection of the British crown, of the size of Belgium. It yielded large quantities of maize. The natives kept large herds of cattle. The region was settled by the Sotho people in the 16th century. It came under British rule in 1868 as Basutoland.