Introduction: Toward a Transcolonial History of Victoria Falls

Abstract

This study places Victoria Falls as a central focus of analysis, which allows for a close examination of the transcolonial process of British expansion. Perhaps better than any other sub-Saharan landscape feature, Victoria Falls serves as a clear example of why colonial African history cannot be simplified into a colony-by-colony historical approach. Early colonial development around Victoria Falls exemplifies the push to exploit African resources at both a local and regional scale and the competing visions of those involved in the colonial project. Even after the British South Africa Company formally acquired territory north of the Zambezi, the Falls continued to be a contested terrain as it served as a natural border between North Western Rhodesia and Southern Rhodesia. I argue that to analyze the history of development around Victoria Falls is to analyze the history of British Southern Africa. This special place in the African landscape reflected and stimulated numerous interests of multiple colonial actors from within and outside the territory, thousands of kilometers away.