Johann Jakob Erhardt, or John James Erhardt, (17 April 1823 – 14 August 1901) was a German missionary and explorer who worked in East Africa and India.
Although he remained on or near the coast of East Africa, he contributed to European knowledge of the interior through gathering descriptions from local people who had traveled there. His map of the region stimulated dispatch of the expedition of Burton and Speke.
Early life
Erhardt was born on 17 April 1823 in
Bönnigheim
Bönnigheim () is a town in the German administrative district ( Kreis) of Ludwigsburg which lies at the edge of the areas known as ''Stromberg'' and ''Zabergäu''. The nearest large towns are Ludwigsburg and Heilbronn.
Geography
District ...
, then in the
Kingdom of Württemberg
The Kingdom of Württemberg (german: Königreich Württemberg ) was a German state that existed from 1805 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Duchy of Württemberg, which exist ...
.
He was the son of a master tailor, and was apprenticed to a cooper.
He worked with the Boennigheim
Pietist
Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...
s, then joined the
Basel Mission
The Basel Mission was a Christian missionary society based in Switzerland. It was active from 1815 to 2001, when it transferred the operative work to , the successor organization of ''Kooperation Evangelischer Kirchen und Missione'' (KEM), found ...
, where he was trained as a missionary until 1846.
From 1846 to 1848 he studied with the
Church Mission Society
The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British mission society working with the Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as mission ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, where he was ordained in 1848.
East Africa
Erhardt was dispatched by the Church Mission Society to East Africa.
On 10 June 1849 Erhardt and John Wagner arrived at the
Rabbai Mpia mission station near
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of the British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital city status. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
, where they joined
Johann Ludwig Krapf
Johann Ludwig Krapf (11 January 1810 – 26 November 1881) was a German missionary in East Africa, as well as an explorer, linguist, and traveler. Krapf played an important role in exploring East Africa with Johannes Rebmann. They were the first ...
and
Johannes Rebmann
Johannes Rebmann (January 16, 1820 – October 4, 1876) was a German missionary, linguist, and explorer credited with feats including being the first European, along with his colleague Johann Ludwig Krapf, to enter Africa from the Indian Ocean coa ...
.
However, Wagner died on 1 August 1849.
In the spring of 1850 Erhardt and Krapf travelled by dhow down the East African coast from Mombasa.
The boat was small and food was scarce, poor quality and difficult to prepare due to the rain.
However, they collected much information about the interior.
Erhardt and Krapf went via
Tanga Tanga may refer to:
Places Burkina Faso
* , a town in eastern Burkina Faso
* Tanga, Sidéradougou, a village in western Burkina Faso
* Tanga-Pela, a village in northern-central Burkina Faso
Other places
* Tanga, Tanzania, a city and port on th ...
,
Kilwa
Kilwa Kisiwani (English: ''Kilwa Island'') is an island, national historic site, and hamlet community located in the township of Kilwa Masoko, the district seat of Kilwa District in the Tanzanian region of Lindi Region in southern Tanzania. K ...
,
Lindi
Lindi is a historic southern Tanzanian coastal small city and regional capital of the Lindi Region located at the far end of Lindi Bay, on the Indian Ocean in southeastern Tanzania. The town is south of Dar es Salaam and north of Mtwara, ...
and
Mikindani
Mikindani (''Mji wa kale wa Mikindani'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is a historic coastal town located in Mtwara-Mikindani District of Mtwara Region in Tanzania. The name comes from the Swahili word ''mikinda'' which means "young coconut trees". ...
to
Cape Delgado
Cape Delgado ( pt, Cabo Delgado) is a coastal promontory south of Mozambique's border with Tanzania. It is the arc-shaped delta of the Rovuma River and was created from sediment deposited by the Rovuma as it empties into the Indian Ocean. It is som ...
. The two missionaries, the first Europeans to investigate the coast in such detail, went unarmed and with few escorts, and were generally given a good reception by the Arabs, Swahilis and local people they met. They mapped the
Pangani River
The Pangani River (pin-gi'nee) (also called Luffu and Jipe Ruvu, especially in older sources, and probably once called Rhaptus) is a major river of northeastern Tanzania. It has two main sources: the Jipe Ruvu River, Ruvu, which rises as River L ...
's mouth, the delta of the
Rufiji River
The Rufiji River lies entirely within Tanzania. It is also the largest and longest river in the country. The river is formed by the confluence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania ...
and the
Ruvuma River
Ruvuma River, formerly also known as the Rovuma River, is a river in the African Great Lakes region. During the greater part of its course, it forms the border between Tanzania and Mozambique (in Mozambique known as ''Rio Rovuma''). The river is ...
.
After the voyage the two returned to the mission station, and in 1851 Krapf left for Europe to recuperate.
In September 1853 Erhardt visited Vugha in the
Usambara Mountains
The Usambara Mountains of northeastern Tanzania in tropical East Africa, comprise the easternmost ranges of the Eastern Arc Mountains. The ranges of approximately long and about half that wide, are situated in the Lushoto District of the Tang ...
, capital of the
Shambaa ruler
Kimweri ye Nyumbai
Kimweri ye Nyumbai (or Shekulwavu) (died 1862) was the King of the Shambaa people of the Usambara Mountains in what is now Tanga Region of Tanzania between around 1815 and 1862. Under his rule the kingdom reached its greatest extent. However, di ...
, where he saw two witches brought in and executed.
Erhardt recorded the repulse of a
Maasai Maasai may refer to:
* Maasai people
*Maasai language
* Maasai mythology
* MAASAI (band)
See also
* Masai (disambiguation)
* Massai
Massai (also known as: Masai, Massey, Massi, Mah–sii, Massa, Wasse, Wassil or by the nickname "Big Foot" Mas ...
raid at
Mazinde by an allied army of Shambaa under Semboja, Kimweri's son, and of Wazigua, Parakuyo and "Arabs" (most likely
Swahili).
Erhardt's journey took from 9 August 1853 to December 1853, and he spent three months with the king.
Erhadt spent six months in Tanga in 1854, where he studied the
Shambala language
Shambala or Shambaa is a Bantu language of Tanzania.
Overview
Shambala, also Kishambala, (ki)Sambaa, (ki)Shambaa is spoken by the Shambaa people, Shambaa in the Usambara mountains in the Lushoto District and Muheza District, Tanga Region, of nor ...
.
At Tanga, where caravans assembled before leaving for the interior,
he learned of Ukerewe (
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
),
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika () is an African Great Lake. It is the second-oldest freshwater lake in the world, the second-largest by volume, and the second-deepest, in all cases after Lake Baikal in Siberia. It is the world's longest freshwater lake. ...
and
Lake Nyasa
Lake Malawi, also known as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania and Lago Niassa in Mozambique, is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.
It is the fifth largest fre ...
, and heard of the city of
Ujiji
Ujiji is a historic town located in Kigoma-Ujiji District of Kigoma Region in Tanzania. The town is the oldest in western Tanzania. In 1900, the population was estimated at 10,000 and in 1967 about 41,000. The site is a registered National Histo ...
.
However, he was told by ivory traders that the great inland "
Sea of Uniamesi" was just a westward extension of Lake Nyasa, reaching close to the mountains that formed the spine of the continent.
Erhardt was struck by the fact that various travellers who had gone inland from different points on the coast had all come to an inland sea, and made a map based on available information, including the findings of his fellow missionaries Krapf and Rebmann.
In November 1854 while talking about the problem to Rebmann, "at one and the same moment, the problem flashed on both of us solved by the simple supposition that where geographical hypothesis had hitherto supposed an enormous mountain-land, we must now look for an enormous valley and an inland sea."
On the map that he and Rebmann drew the three lakes are shown as one very large S-shaped lake.
Later career
In 1855 Erhardt was repatriated due to poor health, and took the map with him. It was first published in the ''Calwer Missionsblatt'' in 1855, and then in the ''Church Missionary intelligencer'' in 1856.
The map was reproduced with commentary in other publications.
The reports of snow on mounts
Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
and
Kenya
)
, national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"()
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital = Nairobi
, coordinates =
, largest_city = Nairobi
, ...
, near to the equator, caused considerable controversy.
The map caused the British government and the Royal Geographical Society to hire
Richard Francis Burton
Sir Richard Francis Burton (; 19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, writer, orientalist scholar,and soldier. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, as well as his extraordinary kn ...
and
John Hanning Speke
Captain John Hanning Speke (4 May 1827 – 15 September 1864) was an English explorer and officer in the Indian Army (1895–1947), British Indian Army who made three exploratory expeditions to Africa. He is most associated with the search ...
to investigate the great lake, or lakes, and determine if they were the source of the Nile.
The map came to be known as the "slug map" from the shape of the Uniamesi or Niassa inland sea. Burton called it the Mombas Mission Map.
Erhardt worked in India from 1856 to 1891. He died on 14 August 1901 in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
.
Jakob-Erhardt-Straße carries his name in Boennigheim.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erhardt, Johann Jakob
1823 births
1901 deaths
German Anglican missionaries
German explorers
German explorers of Africa
Anglican missionaries in Tanzania
Anglican missionaries in Kenya