British South Africa Company

The British South Africa Company was a chartered company that administered territories north of the Limpopo River under British authority, especially present-day Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Royal charter: A formal grant by a sovereign that establishes an organization or assigns it specific rights and powers. The 1889 charter authorized the company to occupy and administer territories in southern Africa.
Cecil Rhodes: A British imperialist, mining magnate, and politician who founded the British South Africa Company. Rhodes organized the company to extend his commercial and political influence northward.
Southern Rhodesia: The British colony established in the territory that became Zimbabwe, known as Southern Rhodesia from 1923 to 1980. It developed from the company's administration of Mashonaland and Matabeleland.
Imperial British East Africa Company: A chartered company that administered British territories in East Africa during the late nineteenth century. It offers a comparison with another chartered company used to extend British influence.
Rudd Concession: A 1888 agreement in which Lobengula granted Cecil Rhodes's agents mining rights in Matabeleland. The company used this disputed concession to support its claim to mineral rights.
Alfred Beit: A German-born financier and mining magnate who helped fund Cecil Rhodes's ventures in southern Africa. Beit's financing helped make the company's territorial ambitions financially possible.
Northern Rhodesia: The British protectorate that became Zambia, administered by the British South Africa Company until 1924. The company governed this territory before Britain assumed direct administration.
British colonial empire: The global system of territories ruled or controlled by Britain, at its height spanning every inhabited continent. The company exercised delegated authority within Britain's wider imperial system.
Pioneer Column: A 1890 expedition of settlers and police sent by the company to occupy Mashonaland. Its arrival established the company's first lasting administrative foothold north of the Limpopo.
Scramble for Africa: The rapid European conquest and partition of most of Africa during the late nineteenth century. The company pursued its charter amid competition among European powers for African territory.

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