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The colonial history of South Africa

  • Mar 12, 1488

    "Cape of good Hope"

    "Cape of good Hope"
    Bartholomew Diaz, a Portoguese navigater, lands on the Cape The "Cape of good Hope" was first rounded by Bartolomew Diaz
  • Period: Apr 1, 1488 to

    The colonial history of South Africa

  • Jun 6, 1488

    setting up of the second padráo

    setting up of the second padráo
    Bartholomew Diaz erects the second padráo on his return journey to Portugal Bartholomew Diaz erects the second padráo on his return journey to Portugal. It is that one of St. Philips, at Cape Maclear, west of Cape Point
  • Nov 22, 1497

    Sea route to India

    Sea route to India
    Vasco da Gama discovers a sea route to India around the Cape of good Hope Vasco da Gama, who is a Portuguese navigator, discovers a sea route to India around the Cape of good Hope.
  • Dec 25, 1497

    Anchorage of Durban

    Anchorage of Durban
    Vasco da Gama anchored at present day Durban and named it "Rio De Natal Vasco da Gama anhored at present day Durban and named it "Rio De Natal".
  • Mar 1, 1510

    Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida

    Portuguese viceroy Francisco de Almeida
    Many of his men died in Table Bay because they had a dispute with the Khoi-Khoi --> They stole them cattle.
    Portuguese avoid the Cape.
  • Jun 15, 1580

    English admiral, Sir Francis Drake,rounds Cape on his world voyage

    English admiral, Sir Francis Drake,rounds Cape on his world voyage
    "Most stately thing and fairest cape we saw in whole circumfence of earth"
  • Period: to

    Trade relationships with the Khoikhoi

    James Lancaster, an English navigator, explores the southern African coast and establishes Trade relationships with the Khoikhoi.
  • Santo Esperito

    Santo Esperito
    The Portuguese ship, Santo Esperito, is believed to have been shipwrecked off the eastern coast of South Africa.
  • Sao Joao Baptista

    Sao Joao Baptista
    The Portuguese ship, Sao Joao Baptista, was lost off the eastern coast of South Africa.
  • KhoiKhoi leader Autsumao is taken to Batawia

    KhoiKhoi leader Autsumao is taken to Batawia
    He returned later and acts as an resident agent for passing ships.
  • Nieuwe Haerlem

    The Dutch ship, Nieuwe Haerlem, is wrecked in Table Bay and survivors later built a small fort.
  • Landing at the Cape

    Landing at the Cape
    Landing at the Cape businessman Jan van Riebeeck landed on a bay at the foot of the Tafelberg on behalf of a Dutch-East India Trading copany
  • First imported slaves from Indonesia, Madagascar and India

  • Agriculture

    Pieter Cruythoff is sent out from the Cape settlement to investigate the suitability of the interior for agriculture.
  • Jan van Riebeeck leaves the Cape on promotion to a position on the Council of Justice in Batavia.

  • Jan van Riebeeck is succeeded as Commander of the Cape by Zacharias Wagenaer

  • Settlers and the Hottentots

    Settlers and the Hottentots
    Settler outposts are established in the Hottentots Holland and Saldanha Bay areas.
  • Isbrand Goske

    Isbrand Goske
    He arrives at the Cape as Commissioner and was instructed to select a site for the Castle of Good Hope.
  • Work commenced on a fortress, known as the Castle of Good Hope, which replaced the previous wooden fort built by Jan van Riebeeck and his men

  • The first Malays arrive as slaves

  • Land is purchased from the Khoikhoi and the Cape Colony started

  • 2nd Dutch-Khoikhoi War

    When negiotiations for trade of livestock fails, the Dutch East India Company sends in Hieronimus Cruse to attack the Cochoqua.
  • The settlement of Hottentots-Holland is established

  • The building of the Castle of Good Hope is completed.

  • Huguenots flew from France

    Huguenots flew from France
    Some settle on the Cape. "Their" area is called Franschnoek (KhoiKhoi)
  • Stellenbosch is founded.

  • Land belonging to the Khoikhoi is given to Dutch farmers along the Eerste River in the Cape Colony

    Land belonging to the Khoikhoi is given to Dutch farmers along the Eerste River in the Cape Colony
  • The Johanna, a British East Indiaman sailing from Kent to Surat, India under the command of Captain Robert Brown is shipwrecked off Cape Agulhas

  • The Cape Colonists send a commissioner to Europe to attract more settlers

  • French Huguenot refugees arrive after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes

  • Serious friction develops between the Huguenots and the Dutch settlers

  • Settlers started moving beyond the Cape Colony driving off the Khoikhoi from the land

  • Many are killed following the grounding of the ship Gravenstein at Roodestrand near Camps Bay

  • Dlamini chiefdoms move south and settle north of the Phongolo River

    Dlamini chiefdoms move south and settle north of the Phongolo River
    thereby forming the core of the future Swazi nation
  • Settlers spread inland

    They spread to the east and north and were called Trekboer who are white farmers searching land for cattle
  • A Smallpox epidemic broke out at the Cape Colony

  • The system of freehold title to land in the Cape ends

  • An expedition leaves Cape Town to establish ports along the east coast. The members reach Delagoa Bay and build a fort

     An expedition leaves Cape Town to establish ports along the east coast. The members reach Delagoa Bay and build a fort
    But are later raided by English pirates
  • George Schmidt, the first Protestant missionary (Moravian Brethren) in southern Africa, arrives at the Cape

    George Schmidt, the first Protestant missionary (Moravian Brethren) in southern Africa, arrives at the Cape
  • Number of slaves in the province is higher than the number of European settlers

  • A day of prayer and fasting is held for the elimination of the locust plague from Table Valley

  • A population count shows that there were 5,510 Europeans and 6,279 slaves in the Cape Colony

  • A Smallpox epidemic breaks out at the Cape Colony.

    A total of 2,372 people die.
  • Settlers went to the west

    They retreat the Kjoisan and reach the east frontier of Bantu series of war against Xhosa.
  • 13 of England's American colonies erupt in revolt

  • British forces capture Pondicherry in the Bay of Bengal from the French

    Later recaptured.
  • Xhosas moving south clash with the settlers at the Fish River starting the first of nine Cape Frontier Wars

    Xhosas moving south clash with the settlers at the Fish River starting the first of nine Cape Frontier Wars
  • Spain joins with France and America in the war against Britain

  • The Sultan of Mysore, India declares war on the British

    The Sultan of Mysore, India declares war on the British
  • Britain declares war on the Netherlands.

     Britain declares war on the Netherlands.
  • French troops arrive at the Cape Colony to guard it against the English

    French troops arrive at the Cape Colony to guard it against the English
  • British forces captured St Eustatius and neutralises all other Dutch outlets in the West Indies and in Surinam.

    French and Spanish forces later recaputed the island for the Dutch
  • The Treaty of Paris is signed ending the war.

    The Treaty of Paris is signed ending the war.
    The Dutch have lost the most from the war
  • The French troops departed the Cape

  • Wars

    -Xhosas clash with the white settlers at the Fish River starting
    the 2nd Cape Frontier War
    -War is declared by the victorious French revolutionaries
    against the Dutch Prince of Orange
    -Britain goes to war against France
  • British forces under General Sir James Henry Craig seizes the Cape Colony for the Stadtholder Prince William V of Orange

     British forces under General Sir James Henry Craig seizes the Cape Colony for the Stadtholder Prince William V of Orange
  • The republics of Graaff Reinet and Swellendam reject the British and the British army is sent in

  • The Cape becomes a British colony

    The Cape becomes a British colony