Editing History of Namibia (section)

== Pre-colonial history ==
As early as 25 000 B.C., the first humans lived in the [[Huns Mountains]] in the South of Namibia. The painted stone plates that exist from that time not only prove that these settlements existed, they also belong among the oldest works of art in the world. A fragment of a hominoid jaw, estimated to be thirteen million years old, was found in the [[Otavi Mountains]]. Findings of [[Stone Age]] weapons and tools are further proof that a long time ago early humans already hunted the wild animals of the region.

In the [[Brandberg Mountains]], there are numerous rock paintings, most of them originating from around 2000 B.C. There is no reliable indication as to which ethnic groups created them. It is debatable whether the [[San people|San]] (Bushmen), who alongside the [[Damara people|Damara]] are the oldest ethnic group in Namibia, were the creators of these paintings.

The [[Nama people|Nama]] only settled in southern Africa and southern Namibia during the first century B.C. In contrast to the San and Damara, they lived on the livestock they bred themselves.

=== The north – the Ovambo and Kavango ===
The [[Ovambo people|Ovambo]], and the smaller and closely related group [[Kavango people|Kavango]], lived in northern Namibia, southern [[Angola]] and, in the case of the Kavango, western Zambia. Being settled people they had an economy based on farming, cattle and fishing, but they also produced metal goods. Both groups belonged to the [[Bantu peoples|Bantu]] nation. They rarely ventured south to the central parts of the country, since the conditions there did not suit their farming way of life, but they extensively traded their knives and agricultural implements.

=== Bantu Migration – the Herero ===
[[File:Herero.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Herero people|Herero]] circa 1910]]
During the 17th century the [[Herero people|Herero]], a [[pastoral]], nomadic people keeping cattle, moved into Namibia. They came from the east African lakes and entered Namibia from the northwest. First they resided in [[Kaokoland]], but in the middle of the 19th century some tribes moved farther south and into Damaraland. A number of tribes remained in Kaokoland: these were the [[Himba people]], who are still there today. During German occupation of [[South West Africa]] about one third of the population was [[Herero and Nama genocide|wiped out in a genocide]] that continues to provoke widespread indignation. An apology was sought in more recent times.

=== The Oorlams ===
In the 19th century white farmers, mostly [[Boer]]s, moved further north, pushing the [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] Khoisan peoples, who put up a fierce resistance, across the Orange River. Known as [[Oorlam]]s, these Khoisan adopted Boer customs and [[Oorlams|spoke a language]] similar to [[Afrikaans]].<ref name="JohnReader">{{cite book
|last=Reader
|first=John
|title=Africa: A Biography of a Continent
|url=https://archive.org/details/africabiographyo0000read
|url-access=registration
|year=1998
}}</ref>
Armed with guns, the Oorlams caused instability as more and more came to settle in Namaqualand and eventually conflict arose between them and the Nama. Under the leadership of [[Jonker Afrikaner]], the Oorlams used their superior weapons to take control of the best grazing land. In the 1830s Jonker Afrikaner concluded an agreement with the Nama chief [[Oaseb]] whereby the Oorlams would protect the central grasslands of Namibia from the Herero who were then pushing south. In return Jonker Afrikaner was recognised as overlord, received tribute from the Nama, and settled at what today is Windhoek, on the borders of Herero territory. The Afrikaners soon came in conflict with the Herero who entered Damaraland from the south at about the same time as the Afrikaner started to expand farther north from Namaqualand. Both the Herero and the Afrikaner wanted to use the grasslands of Damaraland for their herds. This resulted in warfare between the Herero and the Oorlams as well as between the two of them and the Damara, who were the original inhabitants of the area. The Damara were displaced by the fighting and many were killed.

With their horses and guns, the Afrikaners proved to be militarily superior and forced the Herero to give them cattle as tribute.

=== Baster immigration ===
[[File:BasterCouncil1872.jpg|thumb|200px|right|The first council of the [[Rehoboth, Namibia|Rehoboth]] [[Basters]] 1872, with the constitution lying on the table.]]

The last group of people today considered [[indigenous peoples|indigenous]] that arrived in Namibia were the [[Basters]]; descendants of Boer men and African women (mostly Khoisan). Being [[Calvinist]] and [[Afrikaans]]-speaking, they considered themselves to be culturally more "white" than "black".{{Citation needed|date=May 2017}} As with the Oorlams, they were forced northwards by the expansion of white settlers when, in 1868, a group of about 90 families crossed the [[Orange River]] into Namibia.<ref name="Baster">{{cite web
| url = http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/population/basters.htm
| title = The Rehoboth Basters of Namibia
| publisher = The Cardboard Box Travel Shop
| access-date = 30 September 2006
| archive-date = 19 October 2019
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191019183722/http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/population/basters.htm
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
The Basters settled in central Namibia, where they founded the city [[Rehoboth, Namibia|Rehoboth]]. In 1872 they founded the "Free Republic of Rehoboth" and adopted a constitution stating that the nation should be led by a "Kaptein" directly elected by the people, and that there should be a small parliament, or Volkraad, consisting of three directly elected citizens.<ref name="BasterConstitution">{{cite web
| url = http://www.rehobothbasters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=40
| title = Constitution of Rehoboth 1872
| publisher = Rehobothbasters.org
| access-date = 30 September 2006
| archive-date = 15 December 2018
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181215131155/http://rehobothbasters.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=40
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

=== European influence and colonization ===
[[File:SouthernAfrica1707.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Detail of a map of Southern Africa from 1707, labelling the area as the [[Kaffir (racial term)|Kaffir]] Coast ({{langx|la|Costa de Caffares}}).]]
The first European to set foot on Namibian soil was the Portuguese [[Diogo Cão]] in 1485, who stopped briefly on the [[Skeleton Coast]], and raised a limestone cross there, on his exploratory mission along the west coast of Africa. The next European to visit Namibia was also a Portuguese, [[Bartholomeu Dias]], who stopped at what today is known as [[Walvis Bay]] and [[Lüderitz]] (which he named Angra Pequena) on his way to round the [[Cape of Good Hope]]. The inhospitable [[Namib Desert]] constituted a formidable barrier and neither of the Portuguese explorers went far inland.

The area was vaguely regarded as '''[[Cafreria]]'''<ref>{{citation |last= |first= |editor-last=Smellie |editor-first=William |editor-link=William Smellie |display-editors=0 |contribution=[[:File:EB1 Plate LXXXVII Fig. 2 World.png|Plate LXXXVII. Fig. 2. World.]] |title=[[:s:EB1|Encyclopaedia Britannica]] |edition=1st |volume=II |date=1771 |location=Edinburgh |publisher=[[Colin Macfarquhar]] }}.</ref> ("the land of the [[Kaffir (racial term)|kaffirs]]") and similar terms over the next few centuries.

In 1793 the [[Dutch colonial empire|Dutch authority]] in the Cape decided to take control of Walvis Bay, since it was the only good deep-water harbour along the Skeleton Coast. When the United Kingdom took control of the [[Cape Colony]] in 1805, they also took over Walvis Bay. But colonial settlement in the area was limited, and neither the Dutch nor the British penetrated far into the country.

One of the first European groups to show interest in Namibia were the [[missionaries]]. In 1805 the [[London Missionary Society]] began working in Namibia, moving north from the Cape Colony. In 1811 they founded the town [[Bethanie, Namibia|Bethanie]] in southern Namibia, where they built a church, which was long considered to be Namibia's oldest building,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.namibweb.com/bethanie.htm |title= Bethanie Village in Namibia|year=2017 |website= The Online Guide to Namibia & Travel Boutique|publisher=Elena Travel Services Namibia |location=Windhoek, Namibia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170629140854/http://www.namibweb.com/bethanie.htm |archive-date=29 June 2017 |access-date=11 April 2018 |quote= The Schmelenhaus was built the same year, long considered the oldest structure in Namibia.}}</ref> before the site at [[ǁKhauxaǃnas]] which pre-dates European settlement was recognised.

In the 1840s the German [[Rhenish Mission Society]] started working in Namibia and co-operating with the London Missionary Society.
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It was not until the 19th century, when European powers sought to carve up the African continent between them in the so-called "[[Scramble for Africa]]", that Europeans – Germany in the forefront – became interested in Namibia.

The first territorial claim on a part of Namibia came when Britain occupied [[Walvis Bay]], confirming the settlement of 1797, and permitted the Cape Colony to annex it in 1878. The annexation was an attempt to forestall German ambitions in the area, and it also guaranteed control of the good deepwater harbour on the way to the Cape Colony and other British colonies on Africa's east coast.<ref>http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10539/8533/ISS-95.pdf?sequence=1 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215123603/http://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10539/8533/ISS-95.pdf?sequence=1 |date=15 December 2018 }} {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.history.ukzn.ac.za/files/theses/hartman-honours.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=14 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209154519/http://www.history.ukzn.ac.za/files/theses/hartman-honours.pdf |archive-date=9 February 2014 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

[[File:Lüderitz in 1884.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Lüderitz]] in 1884.]]
In 1883, a German trader, [[Adolf Lüderitz]], bought [[Angra Pequena]] from the Nama chief [[Josef Frederiks II]]. The price he paid was 10,000 [[German gold mark|marks (ℳ)]] and 260 guns.<ref name="LuderitzPrice">{{cite web
| url = http://www.namibia-travel.net/namibia/history.htm
| title = History of Namibia. From Adolf Luederitz to Sam Nujoma.
| publisher = Namibia-travel.net
| access-date = 30 September 2006
| archive-date = 19 August 2017
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170819155836/http://www.namibia-travel.net/namibia/history.htm
| url-status = live
}}</ref>
He soon renamed the coastal area after himself, giving it the name Lüderitz. Believing that Britain was soon about to declare the whole area a protectorate, Lüderitz advised the German chancellor [[Otto von Bismarck]] to claim it. In 1884 Bismarck did so, thereby establishing [[German South West Africa]] as a colony (Deutsch-Südwestafrika in German).

A region, the [[Caprivi Strip]], became a part of German South West Africa after the [[Heligoland-Zanzibar Treaty]] on 1 July 1890, between the United Kingdom and Germany. The Caprivi Strip in Namibia gave Germany access to the [[Zambezi River]] and thereby to German colonies in East Africa. In exchange for the island of [[Heligoland]] in the North Sea, Britain assumed control of the island of [[Zanzibar]] in East Africa.