Answer to Question #241357 in History for Lungile

Question

Different ways in which the khoekhoe lost their livestock between the 1650 and 1690

Answer 1

It was due to the first and the second war with the Dutch settlers. Rising tensions over the loss of pastures between 1654 and 1659 exploded into open conflict in the first Khoi-Dutch war from 1659-60. Angered by the colonists increasing cultivation and restrictions to prime grazing land, a group of Khoikhoi men led by Doman seized seven of the company’s draught oxen. The Khoikhoi hoped the colonists would desist from farming activities and thus open up grazing land. An armed militia was organized by the company and sent to recover the cattle while some settlers fled to seek refuge at the fort. Doman, who led the assault on the Dutch, attacked them on rainy days when the gunpowder on their muskets would not ignite. The war continued until the Dutch concluded a peace treaty with the Goringhaiqua and the Goarchoqua (groups of Khoikhoi who were at the forefront of the resistance) around April and May 1660. After the war, Khoikhoi lost more land to Dutch settlers. Doman returned to the Table Bay area and died in December 1663. The Khoikhoi were also restricted in their movement as they were forced to walk designated footpaths and to use designated gates when entering the fortified area.

In the 1670s the Khoikhoi were defeated by the Dutch in numerous armed confrontations in the Saldanha Bay and Boland regions. For instance, in 1673 the Council of Policy (the governing authority of the Cape Colony) sent a punitive expedition to the Cochoqua marking the start of the second Khoi-Dutch War. After the war, the VOC claimed the land by conquest and allocated seized land to farmers. Successive defeats of the Khoikhoi resulted in their loss of independence and pushed them into servitude where they began to work alongside slaves on farms.

The loss of land to the Dutch settlers made them lose their livestock due to a lack of adequate grazing areas.

Establishment of the Cape. The refreshment station at the Cape was to provide fresh supplies of vegetables, fruit, and meat for VOC ships on their way to the East Indies. The vegetable garden also failed to thrive and produce enough food, while reluctance by the Khoikhoi to barter with Dutch settlers deprived them of fresh meat which meant they had to oppress Khoikhoi to get cattle for meat.