Swaziland Digital Archives

Swaziland Digital Archives has a clear and simple aim: to preserve old photos of the country. Colonialism started comparatively late in Swaziland, in the 1880s, after the invention of photography. So when the colonialists arrived in numbers they brought cameras with them and photographed the whole process.

Swaziland had a peculiar history, at least in southern Africa - it was never conquered by a colonial power in a war. In the 1880s the traditional ruler was the king, and it was he who signed concessions that gave away valuable minerals and land. But in order for the concessions to have validity the king or his legitimate heirs had to be on the throne, so the colonists had a vested interest in keeeping the royal family in power. Initially the Boers showed interest, but then they got tangled up in a war with the British that they lost and Swaziland became a British protectorate.

In all of this the traditional power structures survived and flourished, so that when independence arrived in 1968 the family that had ruled before the colonial era returned to power once again. This whole process has been recorded in some detail, Swaziland Digital Archives is committed to preserving as many interesting old photos as possible and also to sharing them - it is not a profit making enterprise. Many of the photos are online at www.sntc.org.sz/sdphotos/