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EventAdam Tas is arrested
Magistrate Starrenburg arrested Adam Tas because of the role he played in drawing up a petition for the Cape burghers against the incumbent Governor W. A. van…
Date of the first preserved entry in the journal of Adam Tas, an early Cape Dutch ‘free burger’
EventMerenstejin Sinks
The Merenstejin, (or Merenstein as it is now spelled) a Dutch merchant ship that was built in Amsterdam, Holland in 1693 with a passenger capacity of 315, is…
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day.
EventSheikh Yusuf, regarded as the founder of the Islamic faith in the Cape, dies at Zandvliet (Macassar)
In the late 1600s many Muslim men of wealth and influence were banished to the Cape from their homeland in the East because the Dutch feared them as a threat…
Simon van der Stel is succeeded by his eldest son
Simon van der Stel, who became commander of the Cape on 12 October 1679 and was promoted to governor in 1691, was succeeded by his eldest son, Willem Adriaan…
EventSheik Yusuf arrives at the Cape of Good Hope
Sheik Yusuf, Islamic leader and brother of the sultan of Macassar, was banished to the Cape by the Dutch East India Company (DEIC). He arrived on board De…
A French minister, Pierre Simond, joins the Huguenots at the Cape by order of the Heeren XVII (Lords Seventeen)
Pierre Simond, a Huguenot minister, was born in 1651 in Nion (Dauphine). After studying theology he became a minister at Montjoux and then at Embrun. After the…
EventThe Dutch East India Company decides to send French Huguenot refugees to the Cape
On 3 October 1685 the Dutch East India Company in Amsterdam decided to send French Huguenot refugees to the Cape for settlement. The Huguenots were French…
Regulations concerning slaves implemented
EventThe Castle of Good Hope, oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa, is completed.
The Castle of Good Hope is the oldest surviving colonial building in South Africa. Built between 1666 and 1679, the castle replaced a small clay and timber…
Survey counts 953 people at the Cape
First census conducted at the Cape
The end of the second KhoiKhoi war
EventThe four corner stones of the castle (Kasteel de Goede Hoop) at the Cape are laid
On 2 January 1666 the four corner stones of the Castle of Good Hope (Kasteel van Goede Hoop) at the Cape were laid by Zacharias Wagenaer, Johan van Arckel,…
EventJonas de la Guerre leaves the Cape in an expedition to the north
On this day Sergeant Jonas de la Guerre left the Cape to venture north in search for the "great river that flowed east to west" and to "investigate trade…
The Chamber of XVII orders Jan Van Riebeeck to restrict the allocation of farms at the Cape
The Khoikhoi carry out a series of raids on the free burghers’ herds
With the coming of the Dutch settlers, the Khoikhoi faced a stronger demand for their cattle. Trade disputes and charges of theft caused great tension between…
EventVan Riebeeck establishes the first burgher commando
Jan van Riebeeck established the Burgher Militia a few days before a Khoi-Khoi (Hottentot) rising, sometimes called the 'First Hottentot War' (though it was…
Herry*, also known as Autshumao, Khoi
EventFirst formal school opens at the Cape
Jan van Riebeeck, commander at the Cape, wrote in his diary that a school for slaves has been started. Sick-comforter Pieter van der Stael was the first…
Jan Hendrik Boom becomes one of the first free burghers
EventThe Directors of the Dutch East India Company propose Hout Bay to Jan van Riebeeck as a possible area to settle some Dutch families
Hout Bay is a sheltered cove along South Africa's Cape Peninsula. Before European settlement, the area was populated by Khoisan hunter-gathers who lived…
Van Riebeeck states first butter is churned at the Cape
EventJan van Riebeeck visits Robben Island for the first time
Robben Island is the largest of the nearby coastal islands around the Cape. In the nearly four centuries of European settlement it has been used for numerous…
EventThe first family at the Cape moves into the fort
On 4 June 1652, sick-comforter at the Cape, Willem Barentz Wijlant and his wife became the first people to move into the semi-completed fortress, the Fort de…
EventVan Riebeeck lands at the Cape
On 24 December 1651, accompanied by his wife and son, Jan van Riebeeck set off from Texel in The Netherlands for the Cape of Good Hope. Van Riebeeck had signed…
Janszen and Proot recommend settlement at the Cape in ‘Remonstrantie’
EventLeendert Janszen, junior merchant of the VOC, recommends settlement at the Cape
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) was established as a trading company in 1602, with the aim of monopolising trade in East Asia, in particular the spice trade…
EventThe Dutch Indiaman, the Nieuwe Haerlem, is wrecked in a storm in Table Bay
Since Bartholomew Dias managed to circumnavigate the Cape in 1488 in an attempt to find a sea route to the spice lands of East Asia, numerous Dutch ships,…