War of Southern Queensland
| War of Southern Queensland | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Australian frontier wars | |||||||||
Region of Southern Queensland; by John Arrowsmith 1841 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
|
British Empire • Colony of New South Wales |
Indigenous confederation of south-east Queensland and Wide Bay-Burnett; 'United Tribes' •Jagera •Wakka Wakka •Kabi Kabi •Jinibara and allies. | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Queen Victoria Sir George Gipps (1843–1846) Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy (1846–1855) Stephen Simpson (1842–1849) |
Multuggerah Dundalli Old Moppy Dalaipi Yilbung Daki-Yakka (Duke of York) Commandant Billy Barlow and others | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
Colonial militia, Native police, mounted police, and settlers | Several hundred warriors across allied tribal groups | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
Estimated death toll: |
Estimated death toll: 1000 – 5000 | ||||||||
The War of Southern Queensland (August–September 1843 – 5 January 1855) was a prolonged and widespread series of conflicts between the Indigenous peoples of South East Queensland and the southern parts of Wide Bay–Burnett, and British colonial settlers, militias, and police. The war began in the spring of 1843, following intertribal meetings held the previous year near to Baroon Pocket in the wake of the Kilcoy massacre. Leaders from the Jagera, Wakka Wakka, Kabi Kabi, and Jinibara nations formed a loose alliance sometimes described as the United Tribes. From this gathering came what historians later called the Bunya Declaration—a coordinated call for resistance and a stated intent to drive the British from their lands.
Historians regard the conflict as the largest and most sustained campaign of the Australian frontier wars, both in its geographic scope and duration, and had among the highest death tolls. The war led to the dispossession of Indigenous nations and consolidated colonial pastoral control across southern Queensland, continuing until the mid-1850s and culminating in the capture and public hanging of the resistance leader Dundalli in Brisbane in 1855, which largely ended organised Aboriginal resistance in the region.