SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORY: Timeline of the early contact between the Khoikhoi of the Cape and Europeans

The purpose of this article is to give an overview of the major events between the Khoikhoi of the Cape and European sailors and settlers.

The Khoikhoi of the Cape (Source)

1497 Vasco da Gama

Contact between the Europeans and the Khoikhoi tribes of the Cape started in the initial stages of the Europeans attempt to find a sea route to the East. During the second visit of the Portuguese to Southern Africa, it was recorded that Vasco da Gama stopped briefly and bartered for cattle with the Khoikhoi on 26 November 1497.

1503 Antonio de Saldanha

In 1503 Antonio de Saldanha, a Portuguese fleet commander, sailed into Table Bay to collect fresh water from a stream at the foot of Table Mountain. During the visit, he attempted to barter with the Khoikhoi by offering mirrors, glass beads and a rattle for two sheep and a cow. When the sailors took the animals away, a group of 200 Khoikhoi ambushed them and took the animals back. The attack left De Saldanha wounded, but no one killed.

(Point of interest: Antonio Saldanha, named Table Bay Saldanha Bay. Later years the Dutch misread the map and though he referred to the Bay further north which is currently Saldanha Bay. They renamed the bay to Table Bay).

1510 Francisco d'Almeida

When the Khoi killed Francisco d’Almeida in 1510, the visits of the Portuguese ships to the Cape was forbidden by King Manual. Through this instruction, he prevented the possible of a Portuguese settlement at the Cape of Good Hope.

1613 Xhore (Coree)

To support their trade with the East, the British decided to create an intermediary with whom they can barter for supplies at the Cape of Good Hope. In 1613 Captain Gabriel Townson kidnapped Coree (Xhore) of the Gorachoqua tribe. After a year in London Coree was sent back to the Cape where he acted as an intermediary for the English.

1615 English Settlement

In 1615 the English attempt to create a settlement at the Cape by using convicts which were condemned to death. None of them survived, and the English abandoned the idea of a settlement at the Cape of Good Hope.

1631 Autshumato (Harry)

In 1627 Coree was hanged by a Dutch captain because he refused to trade with him. The English groomed another Khoi, Autshumato of the Goringhaicona tribe in 1631 by taking him to Bantam where learned to speak English. He also returned a year later to the Cape of Good Hope where he acted as an intermediary for not only the English but any other ship which anchored in Table Bay.

1652 Jan van Riebeeck

It was Autshumato, then know as Harry, who Van Riebeeck met on the beach of the Cape on 6 April 1652. With the help of Autshumato and his niece Krotoa, Van Riebeeck established a trade between the Khoi and the Dutch settlement. By instruction from the VOC the settlement was not to be colony as the administration of it would be more than the value they will get from it.

1657 Nommoa (Doman)

In 1657 the Dutch groomed their intermediary – Nommoa or Doman – by sending him off to Batavia. Doman was returned after a year and assist Autshumato and Krotoa in the bartering with the other Khoi tribes. Doman also learned how the Dutch treat the natives which motived him to start a resistance against the Dutch settlers.

1659 First Khoikhoi-Dutch War

When Van Riebeeck allocate the first farms to Vryburgers next to the Liesbeeck river, he took away grazing fields of the Khoikhoi. The first Khoikhoi-Dutch War erupted in 1659 when Doman attacked the new Vryburgers’ farms. The Vryburgers sought refuge in the fort of Van Riebeeck, and the attackers were pushed back. The war resulted in the Dutch erecting a series of fortified fences along the Liesbeeck River and thereby restrict the movement of the Khoikhoi and forced them to use designated gates when entering the enclosed areas.

1672 VOC claimed the Cape

When war broke out between the Netherlands and both Britain and France, the VOC declared itself the rightful owner of the Cape of Good Hope in 1672 - it included Table Bay, Hout Bay, and Saldanha Bay. The Dutch declaration of ownership was based on their claim that they had purchased the land from of Goringhaiqua leader, Osingkhima, for brandy, tobacco, and bread.

1673 Second Khoikhoi-Dutch War

In general, the VOC was opposed to war against the Khoikhoi, but the conflict was initiated in 1673 when individual soldiers looted the kraal of Gonnema of the Cochoqua tribe. Gonnema reacted and murdered a hunting party of eight Vryburgers. The Cape governing body response by sending a punitive party to the Saldanha Bay area and the Second Khoikhoi-Dutch started. The conflict also grew further to the northeast of the Cape where the Dutch encountered the Chainoqua, Hessequa, Quana, and Gouriqua tribes. The Dutch pushed the Khoikhoi back and claimed the land on the right of conquest.

1674 Third Khoikhoi-Dutch War

The Third Khoikhoi-Dutch War was a follow-up on the Second Khoikhoi-Dutch War as Gonnema was still escaping the Dutch and keep on attacking Dutch settlements. In 1674 the Dutch sent a combined forced of Vryburgers and Khoikhoi from the Goringhaiqua and Gorachoqua tribes against him. The conflict and chase lasted until 1677 when Gonnema was finally willing to sue for peace. A settlement was reached where the Cochoqua tribe had to pay 30 head cattle each year to the Dutch.
The end of the Khoikhoi-Dutch wars established the borders of the Dutch settlement until it was taken over by the English in 1795.

1713 Smalpox Epidemic

On 13 February 1713, a Dutch ship anchored in Table Bay for supplies. Their dirty laundry was sent to the slave quarters to be washed. It resulted in a smallpox epidemic in the Cape which started in Cape Town, spread to the Vryburger farming community and the Khoikhoi tribes. The outbreak affected everybody and brought agriculture to a standstill. The Khoikhoi was affected the hardest as only 10% of the original Khoikhoi population survived - whole tribes disappeared. The survivors could not establish their tribe structure again, and end up working on the farms of the Vryburgers.

The Gorachoqua tribe was one of the few who escaped as they have already in 1692 left the Cape and trekked across the Orange River. They later became known as the Korana.

Sources:
http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/dutch-settlement
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoikhoi%E2%80%93Dutch_Wars
http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-struggles-contact-and-conflict-cape-colony
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khoisan
http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/establishment-cape-and-its-impact-khoikhoi-and-dutch
https://books.google.co.za/books?id=tW3M_wz6pAAC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=khoi+coree+prisoners&source=bl&ots=tevTJLsY3q&sig=jyfXtblPPycei_ULIboLSBzwd7c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirwreRrLrRAhXDI8AKHegfAcQQ6AEIKzAD#v=onepage&q=khoi%20coree%20prisoners&f=false
https://books.google.co.za/books?id=tW3M_wz6pAAC&pg=PA17&lpg=PA17&dq=coree+khoi&source=bl&ots=tevTJKu02s&sig=0siqYHUqK15V59njjqEj2LsxESQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG5uPlj7rRAhUFShQKHRHdCRUQ6AEIMzAE#v=onepage&q=coree%20khoi&f=false
https://books.google.co.za/books?id=ntsyoxWIB44C&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=goringhaiqua&source=bl&ots=lVQv89ZTM2&sig=rsm-la5wUyacdvTWSui6g6I8jt8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiv3Z786LTRAhUBI8AKHXhuBwAQ6AEIRTAK#v=onepage&q=goringhaiqua&f=false
https://books.google.co.za/books?id=fZ-vCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=british+khoi+1613&source=bl&ots=Q2YtCt6Zs8&sig=udzKMoWv-b0qieR6pRZxWCrOa3Y&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjh3di70bnRAhXMExoKHSRaBBUQ6AEIMjAF#v=onepage&q=british%20khoi%201613&f=false
https://books.google.co.za/books?id=J8rVeu2go8IC&pg=PA12&lpg=PA12&dq=coree+khoi&source=bl&ots=Mt-5-9ZNI_&sig=q8FrDjes2_X7ZCyXCKd45dHMXSg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjG5uPlj7rRAhUFShQKHRHdCRUQ6AEIMDAD#v=onepage&q=coree%20khoi&f=false
https://books.google.co.za/books?id=tW3M_wz6pAAC&pg=PA19&lpg=PA19&dq=khoi+coree+prisoners&source=bl&ots=tevTJLsY3q&sig=jyfXtblPPycei_ULIboLSBzwd7c&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwirwreRrLrRAhXDI8AKHegfAcQQ6AEIKzAD#v=onepage&q=khoi%20coree%20prisoners&f=false