Editing History of South Africa (section)

===Griqua people===
{{Main|Griqua people}}
[[File:Nicolaas Waterboer - Griqua leader and politician of the Cape Colony.jpg|thumb|Nicolaas Waterboer, Griqualand ruler, 1852–1896]]
By the late 1700s, the Cape Colony population had grown to include a large number of mixed-race so-called "[[coloureds]]" who were the offspring of extensive interracial relations between male Dutch settlers, Khoikhoi women, and enslaved women imported from Dutch colonies in the East.<ref>Allison Blakely [https://books.google.com/books?id=zWoMfgmS8WkC&pg=PA19 ''Blacks in the Dutch World''], [[Indiana University Press]] 2001, pp. 18–19</ref> Members of this mixed-race community formed the core of what was to become the Griqua people.

Under the leadership of a former slave named Adam Kok, these "coloureds" or ''Basters'' (meaning mixed race or multiracial) as they were named by the Dutch—a word derived from ''baster'', meaning "bastard"<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Baster |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |date=21 January 2016 |last=Pauls |first=Elizabeth |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |location=Chicago, Illinois, U.S |id=topic/Baster/ |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Baster |access-date=14 March 2021 }}</ref>—started trekking northward into the interior, through what is today named Northern Cape Province. The trek of the Griquas to escape the influence of the Cape Colony has been described as "one of the great epics of the 19th century."<ref>Roger Webster, "Die Adam Kok-Trek", in ''Langs die Kampvuur: Waare Suider-Afrikaanse stories'', (Afrikaans, translated as "At the Campfire: True South African stories") New Africa Books, 2003, p84</ref>  They were joined on their long journey by a number of San and Khoikhoi aboriginal people, local African tribesmen, and also some white renegades. Around 1800, they started crossing the northern frontier formed by the Orange River, arriving ultimately in an uninhabited area, which they named Griqualand.<ref>Nigel Penn. ''The Forgotten Frontier''. Ohio University Press, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8214-1682-0}}.</ref>

In 1825, a faction of the Griqua people was induced by Dr [[John Philip (missionary)|John Philip]], superintendent of the [[London Missionary Society]] in Southern Africa, to relocate to a place called [[Philippolis]], a mission station for the San, several hundred miles southeast of Griqualand. Philip's intention was for the Griquas to protect the missionary station there against [[banditti]] in the region, and as a bulwark against the northward movement of white settlers from the Cape Colony. Friction between the Griquas and the settlers over land rights resulted in British troops being sent to the region in 1845. It marked the beginning of nine years of British intervention in the affairs of the region, which the British named Transorange.<ref>Karel Schoeman, ''The British Presence in the Transorange 1845–1854'', Human & Rosseau, Cape Town, 1992, p.11, {{ISBN|0-7981-2965-4}}</ref>

In 1861, to avoid the imminent prospect of either being colonised by the Cape Colony or coming into conflict with the expanding Boer Republic of [[Orange Free State]], most of the Philippolis Griquas embarked on a further trek. They moved about 500 miles eastward, over the Quathlamba (today known as the [[Drakensberg]] mountain range),  settling ultimately in an area officially designated as "Nomansland", which the Griquas renamed Griqualand East.<ref>Charles Prestwood Lucas et al. ''A historical geography of the British colonies''. Vol IV: South and East Africa. Clarendon Press. London: 1900. p.186</ref> East Griqualand was subsequently annexed by Britain in 1874 and incorporated into the Cape Colony in 1879.<ref>George McCall Theal, ''History of South Africa Since September 1795'', Cambridge University Press, 2010, p.99</ref>

The original Griqualand, north of the Orange River, was annexed by Britain's Cape Colony and renamed Griqualand West after the discovery in 1871 of the world's richest deposit of diamonds at Kimberley, so named after the British Colonial Secretary, Earl Kimberley.<ref>Brian Roberts, ''Kimberley, Turbulent City'', Cape Town: David Philips 1976 {{ISBN|0949968625}}</ref>

Although no formally surveyed boundaries existed, Griqua leader [[Nicolaas Waterboer]] claimed the diamond fields were situated on land belonging to the Griquas.<ref>George McCall Theal, "Discovery of diamonds and its consequences", in ''History of South Africa from 1795 to 1872'', Vol.IV, London: Allen & Unwin 1919, pp.331</ref> The Boer republics of [[South African Republic|Transvaal]] and the [[Orange Free State]] also vied for ownership of the land, but Britain, being the preeminent force in the region, won control over the disputed territory. In 1878, Waterboer led an unsuccessful rebellion against the colonial authorities, for which he was arrested and briefly exiled.<ref>EJ Verwey: ''New Dictionary of South African Biography'', Vol I, Human Sciences and Research (HSRC) Press, Pretoria: 1995</ref>