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1594 |
Datum |
Gebeurtenis |
| 1594 - 1601 | The English navigator, James Lancaster, explores the southern African coast extensively. He establishes trade relationships with local Khoikhoi inhabitants | |
| 1602 | Founding of the trading company the Vereenigde Landsche Ge-Oktroyeerde Oost-Indische Compagnie in Holland. In Anglophone countries it is better known as the Dutch East India Company or simply the VOC | |
| 1654 | Batavian convicts and political opponents are banished to the Cape | |
| 1655 | Van Riebeeck has the first vine planted in the Company's garden | |
| 1657 | Doman, the leader of the Goringhaiqua Khoikhoi, is sent to Batavia to be trained as an interpreter | |
| 1662 | Zaccharias. Wagenaer succeeds Van Riebeeck as Commander of the refreshment station, which has, under Van Riebeeck's command, become a colony | |
| Colonialists establish outposts in the newly reconnoitred Hottentots Holland and Saldanha Bay areas | ||
| Doman, leader of the Goringhaiqua Khoikhoi, dies | ||
| Autsumao, the interpreter, dies | ||
| 1666 | Work begins on the building of a stone fortification at the Cape that later is popularly known as the Castle | |
| 1668 | Hieronimus Cruse is given the instruction to explore the southeast coast as far as Mossel Bay and to return to the Castle overland. His crew in the vessel Voerman are to explore the coast of Natal | |
| 1672 | The VOC attempts to transact a formal transfer of land seized from Khoikhoi in numerous skirmishes | |
| Sugar cane is introduced. Brandy, which is used as currency in the bartering trade relations with the Khoikhoi, is produced in the colony for the first time | ||
| 1673 | Following the various exploratory excursions into the interior north of the colony, the Dutch discover fertile grazing land to the northeast of the Hottentots-Hollands Mountains, which belong to the Chainoqua, Hessequa, Cochoqua and Gouriqua Khoikhoi chiefdoms. These Khoikhoi have big herds of livestock. They are also willing to engage in trade with the Dutch. However, the Dutch terms of trade lead to warfare and raiding of livestock, also amongst the Khoikhoi chiefdoms. The Company sends Hieronimus Cruse in 1673 to attack the Cochoqua. This attack, executed on horseback, marks the beginning of Second Dutch-Khoikhoi War. The Dutch take approximately 1800 head of livestock | |
| 1674 - 1677 | The VOC launches a second attack on the Chocoqua. In this Third Dutch-Khoikhoi War almost 5000 head of livestock in addition to weapons are taken from the Chocoqua. This war continues until 1677 when Governor Bax extracts the submission of the Chocoqua to Dutch rule, expressed in an annual tribute of 30 head of cattle. This submission paves the way for Dutch colonial expansion into the land of the Khoikhoi | |
| 1674 | The building of the stone fortification, known as the Castle of the Cape of Good Hope, is completed | |
| 1679 | Simon van der Stel is appointed Commander of the Cape of Good Hope Colony. He is specifically mandated by the VOC to vigorously continue with the Company policy of Dutch colonial expansionism | |
| 1680 | Van der Stel gives land belonging to the Khoikhoi to Dutch farmers along the Eerste River | |
| 1684 | The VOC unilaterally establishes price controls over hides, skins, ivory and ostrich eggs, thereby provoking more conflict with the indigenous population and the ?illicit? dealing in these commodities | |
| 1685 | The visiting VOC Commissioner, Hendrik van Rheede, decrees that male slaves buy their freedom at the age of 25 and female slaves at 22 years. The freed slaves are to be trained in designated areas of work, including agriculture. This decree is not enacted. However, a slave school is established in the Company Slave Lodge for the children of Company slaves only. Dutch settlers discover the copper deposits in Namaqualand after decades of exploratory expeditions to that purpose |
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| 1687 | Khoikhoi land, which becomes known as Stellenbosch after Van der Stel, is now fully occupied by Dutch settler farmers | |
| Free burghers petition the Company administration to extend the slave trade to private enterprise | ||
| 1688 | French Huguenot refugees are given asylum by the colonial Cape government. Commander van der Stel settles them in the present day Drakenstein, Franschhoek and Wellington areas, all of which belong to various Khoikhoi chiefdoms and do not fall within the jurisdiction of the Cape Colony. Van der Stel thereby extends colonial settlement beyond the official boundaries of the Cape colonial administration and simultaneously seizes Khoikhoi land | |
| 1690 (approx) | This period marks the appearance of the trekboer, a semi-nomadic Dutch farmer and cattle grazer who illegally settles beyond the Cape's official borders and out of the reach of the authority of the Company. They raid the livestock of the Khoikhoi, burn down their dwellings and settlements and drive them off the land, which the trekboers then appropriate for themselves | |
| 1690 | Slaves in Stellenbosch attempt unsuccessfully to rise up against their owners | |
| 1691 | Simon van del Stel is elevated to the rank of Governor of the Cape Colony | |
| 1699 | Governor Simon van de Stel retires. His son Willem Adrian van der Stel, who governs until 1707, succeeds him | |