History of Southern Africa Great Kaffraria
1848-1865






History of the Xhosa, before 1848



Old maps refer to the Xhosa as the KAFFERS, to their country as KAFFRARIA. The Boers have used the word Kafirs in a derogatory sense, so that it is now regarded politically incorrect. The lands inhabited by the Xhosa have been dubbed TRANSKEI and CISKEI in Afrikaans, referring to the land beyond respectively on this side of the Kei (= stone) river, thus indicating that the settlers came from the west.
The Xhosa people had a common language and religion; their political structure was that of a tribal kingdom. The economy was primarily based on cattle herding.
With the arrival of white settlers (Boers) in the late 18th century, conflicts over land began, which continued after the hitherto Dutch Cape Colony changed into British hands in 1806/1815. In 1834 the land to the west of the Kei River was annexed by the British Cape Colony; in 1848 Great Kaffraria, the land to the east of the Kei River, was annexed by the British.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of the Transkei, from Infoplease
Introduction to the Xhosa Language, from South African Languages
The Xhosa People, from Suedafrika.net
History comes to a head - about 19th century Xhosa king Hintsa, from Daily Mail & Guardian
Article Kafirs, from Catholic Encyclopedia
DOCUMENTS Map of Southern Africa 1829, from Carte Generale de l'Afrique by Eustache Herisson, from the Perry Castaneda Library at UTexas, shows Caffres and Gouaquois (Griquas)
Map of Aethiopia Inferior from Blaeu 1635, from Yale Univ. Library. Map Collection; shows Caffraria in the region of what used to be Transkei
Map of Africa 1821 by William C. Woodbridge, from Yale Univ. Library, Map Collection; applied Caffraria to much of eastern and central South Africa
Map of Africa 1824 by Anthony Finley, from Yale Univ. Library, Map Collection; applied Caffraria to coastal stretch east of the Cape Colony
REFERENCE



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2001, last revised on November 7th 2004

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