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Andries Pretorius
Andries Wilhelmus Jacobus Pretorius (27 November 179823 July 1853) was a leader of the Boers who was instrumental in the creation of the South African Republic, as well as the earlier but short-lived Natalia Republic, in present-day South Africa. The large city of Pretoria, executive capital of South Africa, is named after him. Early life and background Pretorius was educated at home and although a school education wasn't a priority on the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony, he was literate enough to read the Bible and write his thoughts down on paper. Pretorius had five children, the eldest of whom, Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, later became the first President of the South African Republic (Transvaal). Pretorius descended from the line of the earliest Dutch settlers in the Cape Colony. He belonged to the fifth generation of the progenitor, Johannes Pretorius son of Reverend Wessel Schulte of the Netherlands. Schulte in his time as a theology student at the University of Leide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natalia Republic
The Natalia Republic was a short-lived Boer republic founded in 1839 after a Voortrekker victory against the Zulus at the Battle of Blood River. The area was previously named ''Natália'' by Portuguese sailors, due to its discovery on Christmas ("Natal" is the Portuguese word for Christmas). The republic came to an end in 1843 when British forces annexed it to form the Colony of Natal. After the British annexation of the Natalia Republic, most local Voortrekkers trekked northwest into Transorangia, later known as the Orange Free State, and the South African Republic. History European settlement and setbacks On Christmas Day 1497 Vasco da Gama was sailing past the region now known as Transkei and named the country Terra Natalis. He next sighted the bluff at the entrance to what is now the harbour of Durban. Da Gama made no landing here, but in later years the name Natália became associated with it. Like the rest of South Africa, Natal was neglected by the Portuguese, whose ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Colony
The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three other colonies to form the Union of South Africa. The British colony was preceded by an earlier corporate colony that became an Dutch Cape Colony, original Dutch colony of the same name, which was established in 1652 by the Dutch East India Company, Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Cape was under VOC rule from 1652 to 1795 and under rule of the Napoleonic Batavian Republic, Batavia Republic from 1803 to 1806. The VOC lost the colony to Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain following the 1795 Invasion of the Cape Colony, Battle of Muizenberg, but it was acceded to the Batavian Republic, Batavia Republic following the 1802 Treaty of Amiens. It was re-occupied by the British following the Battle of Blaauwberg in 1806 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Maqongqo
The Battle of Maqongqo was fought on 29 January 1840 during the First Zulu Civil War. Due to military defeats, the Zulu king Dingane had lost the respect of a significant portion of the Zulu people. His brother Mpande sought to separate his followers from Dingane and drew support from an alliance with Boer settlers led by Andries Pretorius. Dingane agitated for Zulu unity, and Mpande attacked Dingane's compound resulting in the battle of 29 January 1840. Mpande and his supporters were victorious. Shortly thereafter Dingane was murdered and Mpande became king of the Zulus. Background The Boer settlers under Pretorius had inflicted a crushing defeat on Dingane in 1838 at the Battle of Blood River, allowing them to carve out territory and create the Natalia Republic. As a result, the king's authority had been severely weakened. His attempt to reassert his leadership by expanding his territory to the north led to another defeat at the hands of the Swazi in 1839. In 1839, fearing th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mpande
Mpande kaSenzangakhona (1798–18 October 1872) was monarch of the Zulu Kingdom from 1840 to 1872. He was a half-brother of Sigujana, Shaka and Dingane, who preceded him as Zulu kings. He came to power after he had overthrown Dingane in 1840. His reign was relatively lengthy at 32 years, but for the latter part of his reign, he was king in name only. His son Cetshwayo became ''de facto'' ruler in 1856. Mpande himself claimed that he preferred a quiet life and that he had been forced to become king. Biography Early career Mpande was born in Babanango, Zululand, the son of Senzangakhona kaJama (1762–1816) and his ninth wife Songiya kaNgotsha Hlabisa. He was considered a weak man in comparison to his contemporaries. While other half-brothers were eliminated when his brother Dingane assassinated Shaka to become king in 1828, he was allowed to live. Mpande apparently showed no interest in Zulu power politics. Mpande came to prominence when Dingane suffered a catastrophic disast ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apartheid
Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was characterised by an authoritarian political culture based on ''baasskap'' (boss-hood or boss-ship), which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status, followed by Indians and Coloureds, then black Africans. The economic legacy and social effects of apartheid continue to the present day. Broadly speaking, apartheid was delineated into ''petty apartheid'', which entailed the segregation of public facilities and social events, and ''grand apartheid'', which dictated housing and employment opportunities by race. The first apartheid law was the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Day Of The Vow
The Day of the Vow ( af, Geloftedag) is a religious public holiday in South Africa. It is an important day for Afrikaners, originating from the Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838, before which about 400 Voortrekkers made a promise to God that if He rescued them out of the hands of the approximately 20,000 Zulu warriors they were facing, they would honour that day as a sabbath day in remembrance of what God did for them. Initially called Dingane's Day ( af, Dingaansdag), 16 December was made an annual national holiday in 1910, before being renamed Day of the Vow in 1982. In 1994, after the end of Apartheid, it was officially replaced by the Day of Reconciliation, an annual holiday also on 16 December. However, many still celebrate it unofficially. Origin The day of the Vow traces its origin as an annual religious holiday to The Battle of Blood River on 16 December 1838. The besieged Voortrekkers took a public vow (or covenant) together before the battle, led by Sare ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muzzle-loading Rifles
A muzzle-loading rifle is a muzzle-loaded small arm or artillery piece that has a rifled barrel rather than a smoothbore. The term "rifled muzzle loader" typically is used to describe a type of artillery piece, although it is technically accurate for small arms as well. A shoulder arm is typically just called a "rifle", as almost all small arms were rifled by the time breechloading became prevalent. Muzzle and breechloading artillery served together for several decades, making a clear distinction more important. In the case of artillery, the abbreviation " RML" is often prefixed to the guns designation; a Rifled breech loader would be "RBL", or often just "BL", since smoothbore breechloading artillery is almost nonexistent (except in tank guns). A muzzle loading weapon is loaded through the muzzle, or front of the barrel (or "tube" in artillery terms). This is the opposite of a breech-loading weapon or rifled breechloader (RBL), which is loaded from the breech-end of the barrel. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pretorius
Pretorius is a common Afrikaans surname. Recorded in several forms (including ''Praetor'', ''Praetorius'', ''Pratorius'', ''Pretorius'', (German), and in English ''Preater'', ''Preter'' and ''Pretor''), Pretorius is a surname of Germanic origins, although the ultimate origin is the Roman (Latin) word "praetor". This literally meant "leader", but was used in Imperial Rome to describe officials who led processions, as well as the Praetorian Guard, who provided the security for the Senate and the Imperial Roman family. Although apparently first recorded in England several centuries before Germany, which is probably because of lost medieval records, it is rare in England, although now found in some numbers in Austria, Switzerland and South Africa. People with the surname Pretorius *André Pretorius, South African rugby player *Andries Pretorius (1798–1853), Boer leader *Andries Pretorius (rugby player), South African rugby player *Karla Pretorius (1990-) South African and internation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kraal
Kraal (also spelled ''craal'' or ''kraul'') is an Afrikaans and Dutch word, also used in South African English, for an enclosure for cattle or other livestock, located within a Southern African settlement or village surrounded by a fence of thorn-bush branches, a palisade, mud wall, or other fencing, roughly circular in form. It is similar to a '' boma'' in eastern or central Africa. In Curaçao, another Dutch colony, the enclosure was called "koraal" which in Papiamentu is translated "kura" (still in use today for any enclosed terrain, like a garden). Etymology In the Afrikaans language a ''kraal'' is a term derived from the Portuguese word , cognate with the Spanish-language , which entered into English separately. In Eastern and Central Africa, the equivalent word for a livestock enclosure is '' boma'', but this has taken on wider meanings. In some Southern African regions, the term Kraal is used in Scouting to refer to the team of Scout Leaders of a group. Homestead Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piet Retief
Pieter Mauritz Retief (12 November 1780 – 6 February 1838) was a ''Voortrekker'' leader. Settling in 1814 in the frontier region of the Cape Colony, he assumed command of punitive expeditions in response to raiding parties from the adjacent Xhosa territory. He became a spokesperson for the frontier farmers who voiced their discontent, and wrote the Voortrekkers' declaration at their departure from the colony. He was a leading figure during their Great Trek, and at one stage their elected governor. He proposed Natal as the final destination of their migration and selected a location for its future capital, later named Pietermaritzburg in his honour. The massacre of Retief and his delegation by the Zulu King Dingane and the extermination of several Voortrekker laagercamps in the area of the present town of Weenen led to the Battle of Blood River on the Ncome River. The short-lived Boer republic Natalia suffered from ineffective government and was eventually annexed to the Brit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dingane
Dingane ka Senzangakhona Zulu (–29 January 1840), commonly referred to as Dingane or Dingaan, was a Zulu chief who became king of the Zulu Kingdom in 1828, after assassinating his brother Shaka. He set up his royal capital, uMgungundlovu, and one of numerous military encampments, or kraals, in the Emakhosini Valley just south of the White Umfolozi River, on the slope of Lion Hill (''Singonyama''). Rise to power Dingane came to power in 1828 after assassinating his half-brother Shaka with the help of another brother, Umhlangana, as well as Mbopa, Shaka's bodyguard. They were traditionally said to have killed Shaka because of his increasingly brutal behaviour after the death of his mother, Nandi. The assassination took place at present-day Stanger. Governance and reverence Captain Gardiner related that Dingane was revered as the "great idol" of the Zulu nation, while Reverend Francis Owen, who observed his rule at close quarters while stationed at Umgungundhlovu, highligh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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