Editing History of South Africa (section)

==Early history (before 1652)==
{{Main|Early history of South Africa}}

===Prehistory===
{{further|People of Africa}}
Scientists researching the periods before written historical records were made have established that the territory of what is now referred to generically as South Africa was one of the important centers of [[human evolution]]. It was inhabited by [[Australopithecine]]s since at least 2.5 million years ago. [[Anatomically modern humans|Modern human]] settlement occurred around 125,000 years ago in the Middle Stone Age, as shown by archaeological discoveries at [[Klasies River Caves]].<ref>Bert Woodhouse, ''The Rock Art of the Golden Gate and Clarens Districts'', Johannesburg: Waterman 1996, p.34 – (citing report by Professor C van Riet Lowe and Dr D J H Visser, published in 1955 by government Department of Mines). {{ISBN|1 874959 31 5}}</ref> The first human habitation is associated with a DNA group originating in a northwestern area of southern Africa and still prevalent in the indigenous [[Khoisan]] ([[Khoi]] and [[San people|San]]). Southern Africa was later populated by [[Bantu peoples|Bantu-speaking people]] who [[Bantu expansion|migrated from the western region of central Africa]] during the early centuries AD.

Professor [[Raymond Dart]] discovered the skull of a 2.51 million year old [[Taung Child]] in 1924, the first example of ''[[Australopithecus africanus]]'' ever found. Following in Dart's footsteps [[Robert Broom]] discovered a new much more robust hominid in 1938 ''[[Paranthropus robustus]]'' at [[Kromdraai]], and in 1947 uncovered several more examples of ''Australopithecus africanus'' at [[Sterkfontein]]. At the [[Blombos Cave|Blombos cave]] in 2002, stones were discovered engraved with grid or cross-hatch patterns, dated to some 70,000 years ago. This has been interpreted as the earliest example ever discovered of abstract art or symbolic art created by ''[[Homo sapiens]]''.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1753326.stm | work=BBC News | title='Oldest' prehistoric art unearthed | date=10 January 2002}}</ref>

Many more species of early hominid have come to light in recent decades. The oldest is [[Little Foot]], a collection of footbones of an unknown hominid between 2.2 and 3.3 million years old, discovered at Sterkfontein by [[Ronald J. Clarke]]. An important recent find was that of 1.9 million year old ''[[Australopithecus sediba]]'', discovered in 2008. In 2015, the discovery near Johannesburg of a previously unknown species of ''Homo'' was announced, named ''[[Homo naledi]]''. It has been described as one of the most important paleontological discoveries in modern times.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150912185149/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150910-homo-naledi-human-ancestor-species-reaction-science/ ''National Geographic'', "New Human Ancestor Elicits Awe—and Many Questions"], 10 September 2015. Accessed 20 September 2015</ref>

===San and Khoikhoi===
The descendants of the Middle Paleolithic populations are thought to be the aboriginal [[San people|San]] and [[Khoikhoi]] tribes. These are collectively known as the ''[[Khoisan]]'', a modern European portmanteau of these two tribes' names. The settlement of southern Africa by the Khoisan corresponds to the [[Early human migrations#Within Africa|earliest separation]] of the extant ''Homo sapiens'' populations altogether, associated in genetic science with what is described in scientific terms as matrilinear [[haplogroup L0]] (mtDNA) and patrilinear [[Haplogroup A (Y-DNA)|haplogroup A]] (Y-DNA), originating in a northwestern area of southern Africa.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Chen YS, Olckers A, Schurr TG, Kogelnik AM, Huoponen K, Wallace DC |title= mtDNA variation in the South African Kung and Khwe, and their genetic relationships to other African populations|doi=10.1086/302848|year=2000|journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics|volume=66|issue=4|pages=1362–83|pmid=10739760|pmc=1288201}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title= History of click-speaking populations of Africa inferred from mtDNA and Y chromosome genetic variation|pmid= 17656633|url= http://www.africandna.com/ScienPapers%5CHistory_of_Click-Speaking_Populations_of_Africa.pdf|year= 2007|last1= Tishkoff|first1= SA|last2= Gonder|first2= MK|last3= Henn|first3= BM|last4= Mortensen|first4= H|last5= Knight|first5= A|last6= Gignoux|first6= C|last7= Fernandopulle|first7= N|last8= Lema|first8= G|last9= Nyambo|first9= TB|last10= Ramakrishnan|first10= U.|last11= Reed|first11= F. A.|last12= Mountain|first12= J. L.|volume= 24|issue= 10|pages= 2180–95|doi= 10.1093/molbev/msm155|journal= Molecular Biology and Evolution|display-authors= 8|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110420053808/http://www.africandna.com/ScienPapers%5CHistory_of_Click-Speaking_Populations_of_Africa.pdf|archive-date= 20 April 2011|df= dmy-all|doi-access= free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Schlebusch CM, Naidoo T, Soodyall H |title=SNaPshot minisequencing to resolve mitochondrial macro-haplogroups found in Africa|doi=10.1002/elps.200900197|year=2009|journal=Electrophoresis|volume=30|issue=21|pages=3657–64|pmid=19810027|s2cid=19515426}}</ref>

The San and Khoikhoi are essentially distinguished only by their respective occupations. Whereas the San were hunter-gatherers, the Khoikhoi were pastoral herders.<ref>Area Study – South Africa, US Library of Congress [http://countrystudies.us/south-africa/2.htm ''The Earliest South Africans'']</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Barnard|first=Alan|title=Anthropology and the Bushman|year=2007|publisher=Berg|location=Oxford|isbn=9781847883308|pages=4–7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e3MihaaJ314C}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Who are the San? – San Map|url=http://www.wim-sa.org/about-the-san/who-are-the-san|publisher=WIMSA|access-date=13 January 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140113052634/http://www.wim-sa.org/about-the-san/who-are-the-san|archive-date=13 January 2014|url-status=usurped|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The initial origin of the Khoikhoi remains uncertain.<ref>[[Karim Sadr]], [http://www.karimsadr.com/resources/Sadr%202008%20SAH.pdf ''Invisible Herders: The Archaeology of Khoekhoe Pastoralists,''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151120051616/http://www.karimsadr.com/resources/Sadr%202008%20SAH.pdf |date=20 November 2015 }} [[University of the Witwatersrand|University of Witwatersrand]], South Africa</ref><ref>C. Garth Sampson, [http://www.nieu-bethesda.com/images/stories/history/prehistoricherders.pdf ''Prehistoric Livestock Herders in the Upper Seacow River Valley'']{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Archaeological discoveries of livestock bones on the [[Cape Peninsula]] indicate that the Khoikhoi began to settle there by about 2000 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Arthur | first = Charles | title = The archaeology of indigenous herders in the Western Cape of South Africa | journal = Southern African Humanities | volume = 20 | pages = 205–220 | location = Pietermaritzburg | date = December 2008 | url = http://www.sahumanities.org/ojs/index.php/SAH/article/viewFile/235/194 | access-date = 22 January 2017 | archive-date = 5 February 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170205014500/http://www.sahumanities.org/ojs/index.php/SAH/article/viewFile/235/194 }}</ref>
In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, Portuguese mariners, who were the first Europeans at the Cape, encountered pastoral Khoikhoi with livestock.
Later, English and Dutch seafarers in the late 16th and 17th centuries exchanged metals for cattle and sheep with the Khoikhoi.
The conventional view is that availability of livestock was one reason why, in the mid-17th century, the Dutch East India Company established a staging post where the port city of Cape Town is today situated.

The establishment of the staging post by the [[Dutch East India Company]] at the Cape in 1652 soon brought the Khoikhoi into conflict with Dutch settlers over land ownership. Competition between Dutch and Khoikhoi pastoralists over grazing land led to livestock theft and conflict.<ref>{{cite web |title=How Indigenous South Africans Resisted The First European Intruders |url=https://www.africarebirth.com/how-indigenous-south-africans-resisted-the-first-european-intruders/ |website=Africa Rebirth |date=24 October 2023 |access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref> The Khoikhoi were ultimately expelled from the peninsula by force, after a succession of wars. The first Khoikhoi–Dutch War broke out in 1659, the second in 1673, and the third 1674–1677.<ref name="sahistory">{{cite web |publisher= sahistory.org.za |date= 21 November 2006 |title= Chronology of the 1600s at the Cape |url= http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/general/1600.htm |access-date= 18 April 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110606163252/http://www.sahistory.org.za/pages/chronology/general/1600.htm |archive-date= 6 June 2011 }}</ref> By the time of their defeat and expulsion from the Cape Peninsula and surrounding districts, the Khoikhoi population was decimated by a [[smallpox epidemic]] introduced by Dutch sailors against which the Khoikhoi had no natural resistance or indigenous medicines.<ref>SA History Online, [http://www.sahistory.org.za/dated-event/smallpox-epidemic-strikes-cape Smallpox epidemic strikes Cape]</ref>

===The Bantu people===
{{Main|Bantu peoples of South Africa}}
[[File:Makuleke1.JPG|thumb|Looking out over the floodplains of the Luvuvhu River (right) and the Limpopo River (far distance and left)]]
The [[Bantu expansion]] was one of the major demographic movements in human prehistory, sweeping much of the African continent during the 2nd and 1st millennia BC.<ref>''Molecular Biology and Evolution'' [https://web.archive.org/web/20110416143255/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/26/7/1581.abstract "Genetic and Demographic Implications of the Bantu Expansion: Insights from Human Paternal Lineages"] (Abstract). Oxford Journals. 30 March 2009. Accessed 11 July 2015</ref> Bantu-speaking communities reached southern Africa from the [[Congo basin]] as early as the 4th century BC.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=The archaeological evidence for the appearance of pastoralism and farming in southern Africa|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=13|issue=6|pages=e0198941|language=en|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0198941|pmid=29902271|pmc=6002040|year=2018|last1=Lander|first1=Faye|last2=Russell|first2=Thembi|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1398941L|doi-access=free}}</ref> 
Some groups, ancestral to today's [[Nguni people]]s (the [[Zulu people|Zulu]], [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]], [[Swazi people|Swazi]], and [[Ndebele people (South Africa)|Ndebele]]), preferred to live near the eastern coast of what is present-day South Africa.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Queen Victoria's Enemies 1: Southern Africa|url=https://archive.org/details/queenvictoriasen02knig|url-access=limited|last=Knight|first=Ian|publisher=Osprey|year=1989|isbn=085045901X|editor-last=Windrow|editor-first=Martin|location=Great Britain|pages=[https://archive.org/details/queenvictoriasen02knig/page/n3 3]–4}}</ref> Others, now known as the [[Sotho–Tswana]] peoples ([[Tswana people|Tswana]], [[Pedi people|Pedi]], and [[Sotho people|Sotho]]), settled in the interior on the plateau known as the [[Highveld]],<ref name=":0" /> while today's [[Venda people|Venda]] and [[Tsonga people]]s made their homes in the north-eastern areas of present-day South Africa.

The Kingdom of [[Mapungubwe]], which was located near the northern border of present-day South Africa, at the confluence of the Limpopo and Shashe rivers adjacent to present-day [[Zimbabwe]] and [[Botswana]], was the first indigenous kingdom in southern Africa between AD 900 and 1300. It developed into the largest kingdom in the sub-continent before it was abandoned because of climatic changes in the 14th century. Smiths created objects of iron, copper and gold both for local decorative use and for foreign trade. The kingdom controlled trade through the east African ports to [[Arabia]], [[India]] and [[China]], and throughout southern Africa, making it wealthy through the exchange of gold and ivory for imports such as Chinese porcelain and Persian glass beads.<ref>United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco), [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1099 Mapungubwe Cultural Landscape]. Accessed 18 June 2015</ref>

Specifics of the contact between Bantu-speakers and the indigenous [[Khoisan]] ethnic group remain largely unresearched, although [[Linguistics|linguistic]] proof of assimilation exists, as several southern [[Bantu languages]] (notably [[Xhosa language|Xhosa]] and [[Zulu language|Zulu]]) are theorised in that they incorporate many [[click consonant]]s from the [[Khoisan languages]], as possibilities of such developing independently are valid as well.

===Colonization===

====Portuguese role====
{{See also|Portugal in the Age of Discovery|Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India|l2=Discovery of the sea route to India|Bartolomeu Dias|Vasco da Gama|Portuguese Empire}}
[[File:Bartolomeu Dias, South Africa House (cut).JPG|thumb|right|Statue of Bartolomeu Dias at the High Commission of South Africa in London. He was the first European navigator to sail around the southernmost tip of Africa.]]
The Portuguese mariner [[Bartolomeu Dias]] was the first European to explore the coastline of South Africa in 1488, while attempting to discover a trade route to the Far East via the southernmost cape of South Africa, which he named ''Cabo das Tormentas'', meaning [[Cape of Storms]]. In November 1497, a fleet of Portuguese ships under the command of the Portuguese mariner [[Vasco da Gama]] rounded the Cape of Good Hope. By 16 December, the fleet had passed the [[Great Fish River]] on the east coast of South Africa, where Dias had earlier turned back. Da Gama gave the name [[Early history of Natal|Natal]] to the coast he was passing, which in Portuguese means Christmas. Da Gama's fleet proceeded northwards to Zanzibar and later sailed eastwards, eventually reaching [[India]] and opening the [[Cape Route]] between Europe and Asia.<ref>Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, ''Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration'', New York: Norton 2006, pp. 177–178.{{ISBN|0-393-06259-7}}</ref> Many Portuguese words are still found along the coast of South Africa including Saldanha, Algoa, Natal, Agulhas, Benguela and Lucia.

====Dutch role====
{{Expand section|date=May 2017}}
{{See also|:Category:Dutch exploration in the Age of Discovery|l1=Dutch Republic in the Age of Discovery|:Category:Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company|l2=Maritime history of the Dutch East India Company|Dutch East India Company|l3=Dutch East India Company (VOC)|First Dutch Expedition to Indonesia|Second Dutch Expedition to Indonesia|Brouwer Route|Jan Huyghen van Linschoten}}
[[File:Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie spiegelretourschip Amsterdam replica.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Replica of an [[East Indiaman]] of the [[Dutch East India Company]]/[[United East Indies Company]] (VOC). The Dutch East India Company was a major force behind the [[:Category:Dutch exploration in the Age of Discovery|Golden Age of Dutch exploration]] (c. 1590s–1720s) and [[Golden Age of Netherlandish cartography|Netherlandish cartography]] (c. 1570s–1670s).]]