-
shaka zulu founds the Zulu empire
A military leader and ruler emerged among the Zulu who was to leave a lasting legacy. His name was Shaka. He was the son of a Zulu chieftain, Senzangahona, and of a woman not recognized as one of the chieftain's legitimate wives. Shaka's mother was driven into exile, and she took her little son, Shaka, with her. When Shaka was fifteen he and his mother were driven away again, and they found shelter in another clan. When Shaka was twenty-three, he was called into service by a chieftain. -
The Boers leave 1835-1840
The boers leave Cape Colony and found the Orange free state and the Transvaal. -
Boers proclaim the Transvaal a republic
Republic of Swellendam (1795-?)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Republic of Graaff-Reinet (1795-1796)
Voortrekker Flag.png Zoutpansberg (1835-1864)
Voortrekker Flag.png Winburg (1836-1844)
Burgers flag.svg Potchefstroom (1837-1844)
Burgers flag.svg Winburg-Potchefstroom (1844-1848)
Flag of Natalia Republic.svg Natalia Republic (1839-1843)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Lydenburg Republic (1849-1857)
Flag of the Netherlands.svg Utrecht Republic (1854-1858)
Flag of the Orange Free State.svg Orange Free -
Diamonds are discovered at Kimberley
The history of the town of Kimberley started with the first diamond finds in South Africa in 1867. The farm boy Erasmus Jacobs had discovered an unusually glittering stone and brought it home for his sisters to play with. His parents had it analysed and identified as a diamond. But the big diamond rush only broke out three years later, when a whole handful of such stones was found on the farm Zandfontein of Nicolaas de Beers. More than 30,000 people came to the area, and the de Beers were happy. -
Defeat of Zulus
The British and the Boers defeat the Zulus in the Zulu war. the Zulu nation hands colonial British forces a resounding defeat in battle. A nearby regiment of the British Army takes over a station run by a missionary (Jack Hawkins) and his daughter as a supply depot and hospital under the command of Lieutenant John Chard and his subordinate Gonville Bromhead. Unable to abandon their wounded soldiers even in dire circumstances, the regiment defend their station against the Zulu warriors. -
The South African Gold Rush
On summer's day in 1886, two prospectors discovered gold on a Transvaal farm called Langlaagte. Gold was not new to the Transvaal. African had mined gold hundreds of years earlier. More recently, gold had been found in the Eastern Transvaal. In most cases this gold ran out, forcing small mining towns to close down. The gold found at langlaagte was different. The gold discovered there ran for miles and miles underground, 'an endless treasure of gold'. -
The Boer War 1880-1881
The Boers rebel against the British The Boer Wars was the name given to the South African Wars of 1880-1 and 1899-1902, that were fought between the British and the descendants of the Dutch settlers (Boers) in Africa. -
South Union of Africa
Formation of the Union of South Africa by former British colonies of the cape and Natal, and the Boer republics and Transvaal, and Orange Free State. -
Land act
Prevented "Blacks" from purchasing land.