Wikipedia:Today's featured article/requests/Rudd Concession

Rudd Concession
This nomination predates the introduction in April 2014 of article-specific subpages for nominations and has been created from the edit history of Today's featured article/requests. 
 * This is the archived discussion of the TFAR nomination for the article below. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/requests). Please do not modify this page. 

The result was: scheduled for Today's featured article/October 30, 2013 by BencherliteTalk 16:23, 17 October 2013‎ (UTC)



The Rudd Concession, a written concession for exclusive mining rights in Matabeleland, Mashonaland and other adjoining territories in southern Africa, was granted by King Lobengula of Matabeleland to Charles Rudd (pictured), James Rochfort Maguire and Francis Thompson, three agents acting on behalf of the politician and businessman Cecil Rhodes, on 30 October 1888. The concession conferred on the grantees the sole rights to mine throughout Lobengula's country, as well as the power to defend this exclusivity by force, in return for weapons and a regular monetary stipend. Despite Lobengula's retrospective attempts to disavow it on the grounds of alleged deceit by the concessionaires regarding the settled terms, it proved the foundation for the royal charter granted by the United Kingdom to Rhodes' British South Africa Company in October 1889, and thereafter for the Pioneer Column's occupation of Mashonaland in 1890, which marked the beginning of white settlement, administration and development in the country. The Company officially named the territory Rhodesia, after Rhodes, in 1895, and governed it until 1923.
 * 125th anniversary of signing gives us 2 points so far as I see. (Unfortunately that magnificent beard does not count for anything in terms of points.) Important African history article, and one of the most important of all for Zimbabwe. —Cliftonian (talk) 22:45, 23 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Support: I believe that beards should count for points (see Bizet, above, for an equally magnificent example). In fact, the two look rather spookily alike – did Bizet really die in 1875...? The plot thickens. Brianboulton (talk) 15:39, 24 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Support, but the nominator seems to have forgotten that time lords get an extra ten points. — Crisco 1492 (talk) 15:42, 24 September 2013 (UTC)
 * Support Unusual topic - may edify readers Cas Liber (talk · contribs) 13:46, 29 September 2013 (UTC)