CHAPTER ONE: THE PEOPLE OF SOUTH AFRICA.
1. (a) Who were the inhabitants of South Africa by 18007
The first people to settle in South Africa were the San also called the Bushmen, Roa or Twa. They were in South Africa before the appearance of Jesus.
The Khoikhoi (Hottentots) followed the San. Both the Sans and Khoikhoi belong to the Bushmanoid/ Khoisan family.
The Khoisan settled around the cape, Vaal and Orange Rivers and between the Atlantic Ocean and the Buffalo coast.
The Bantu followed the Khoisan from around the 13th century and came in four groups: -
- The Shona who settled in Southern Zimbabwe.
- The Sotho-Tswana who settled in Botswana and Lesotho.
- The Nguni - Tsonga who settled in the Natal area.
- The Ambo (Ovambo)-Herero who settled in Namibia (South West Africa).
The Dutch who came from Holland or Netherlands arrived in 1652 and settled at the cape. They later called themselves the Boers and Afrikaners.
The British joined the Dutch from 1795 and chased the Dutch away from the cape.
There is a sizeable number of coloureds (people of mixed blood) born out of intermarriages between the whites and blacks.
The French Protestants (Heugnots) arrived in 1668 running from the catholic persecution at home.
The Asians were also brought by the British To work on sugar plantations of Natal plantations.
THE SAN
1 Who were the San.
1. The San were the earliest inhabitants of South Africa.
2. They were also known as Bushmen, Roa Twa or hunters.
3. They belong to the Bushmanoid or Khoisan family.
4. They are characterized by yellow skins, short structures and a click sound.
5. Their settlement in South Africa followed that of the early man called Australopithecus.
6. They had a common origin with the Khoikhoi but the San arrived before the Khoikhoi.
7. Their migration began before 1000 years AD from East and Central Africa moving Southwards.
8. Evidence to all this is contained in the rock paintings found in East, Central and South Africa.
9. The San migrated because of social, political and economic reasons.
10. On arrival in South Africa the San first settled in Damarland and Batlapin.
11. They later spread to Griqualand west, Orange Free State, Transvaal and Transkei.
12. By the 19th Century the Bushmen were concentrated mainly in Namibia, Kalahari and Angola where the Dutch and Bantu had pushed them.
13. Some few sans remained in the northern parts of present Cope province.
14. Others remained spread in Orange Free State, Transvaal and Lesotho Mountains.
15. Others went and occupied the highlands of Brankstein, Winterberg and Drankensberg.
16. The rest were scattered along River orange and to the north of "-
17. To many people their migration and settlement is not clear i.e. is shrouded in mystery.
3 How did they live before 1800?
Their way of life can be described as follows:
1. They lived as hunters, gatherers and fisherman..
2. They practiced endogamous marriages i.e. married from the same clan.
3. They divided labour a long sex lines i.e. men hunted and fished but women gathered.
4. They had polygamous marriages.
5. They had little material culture and kept only a dog.
6. They married at an early age i.e. Girls of 7-8 years married boys of 14-15 years.
7. They lived in small groups of between 25-70 people.
8. They had a loose political organisation which was very weak.
9. Members of the same groups related through marriage lived together.
10. They had initiation ceremonies for boys which included a test on hunting skills.
11. They lived a nomadic life moving from one place to another.
12. They lived in temporary shelters, caves, tree shades etc.
13. They were great painters and artists drawing mainly animals they hunted.
14. They used bows and arrows for hunting small animals Sffid dug pits for the bigger animals.
15. Social affairs were decided by male elders.
16. After marriages the boy hunted for the in laws until production of the first kid.
17. Their females were not pronounced in society.
18. They worshipped a god called Kaggen the giver of wealth. He was symbolized by a praying mantis.
19. The new and full moon was celebrated in dance and prayers.
20. They celebrated important moments like birth, puberty, marriage and death.
THE KHOIKHOI
i) Who were the Khoikhoi?
1. The Khoikhoi were the second inhabitants of South Africa.
2. ,They migrated from east and central Africa.
3. By A.D 1000 they were already settled in South Africa.
4. They were Brown skinned with a click sound while speaking.
5. Once is South Africa they lived around the cape and between the buffalo coast and the Atlantic Ocean.
6. They called themselves the Khoikhoi, meaning men of men.
7. Later the Europeans called them Hottentots (an abusive word meaning primitive).
8. They belonged to the Bushmanoid family or Khoisan.
9. They were a little taller than the San.
10. They were mainly herders but did other economic activities.
ii) Describe their migration and settlement.
1. Their migration and settlement are not clear.
2. They were the second inhabitants of South Africa
3. They were also called Hottentots / herders.
4. They belonged to the Bushmanoid family or Khoisan Family.
5. They were characterized by a yellow brown skin, short structure and click sound.
6. They had a common origin with the San in East Africa.
7. Their migrated started from the 9th -13th centuries.
8. Evidence from their rock and East cave paintings found in East, Central and South Africa prove these things.
9. They moved south wards from east or Central Africa.
10. Their origin, migration and settlement are not very clear.
11. They split into three groups with Nama moving west wards along R. Orange until they reached the coast.
12. The Gona move East wards led the rest into fish valley.
13. The cochoqua led the rest south wards into the cape .
14. The Portuguese in the 15th century found them living around the Saldhana bay , Table bay and Mossel bay.
15. Also from some Portuguese accounts the Khoikhoi had at first settled between the Atlantic coast and Buffalo coast.
16. By the 17th the Khoikhoi were widely spread in cape colony and along plus parts of Natal and Namibia.
17. Today they are living in the desert areas of Namibia (Kalahari)
Show their way of life.
1. They lived a pastoral life and kept fat tailed sheep, goats and cattle
2. They hunted, gathered caterpillars, butterflies and also fished.
3. They had larger political structures than the San.
4. They practiced exogamous marriages i.e. married from out side one's clan.
5. They had chiefs of camps who had limited powers.
6. Clan leaders assisted chiefs to settle other problems.
7. They never had a permanent trained professional army.
8. Power and authority of leaders was based on customs and tradition.
9. Camps or groups were loose and could break up very easily.
10. Difference between members of different clans were settled by chiefs of the same camp.
11. This was because different clans gathered together and lived in one camp.
12. Difference within one clan were always solved by the clan leaders-
13. Cattle was very important in the material culture of the Khoikhoi.
14. Cattle was used for rituals, bride wealth, food and a sign of prestige.
15. They were polygamous and patrilineal.
16. They had cultural ceremonies to remember clan founders.
17. Married couple stayed with parents until they produced first l, kid.
18. When married couple were moving to their home they carried many presents from parents.
19. They practiced some ancestor worship.
20. They worshipped Twisgoab the rain giver.
21. Twisgoab was represented by a praying mantis, which was a symbol of wealth and fortune.
22. They danced at the sight of the full and half moon.
23. They were taller than the San but still short. They had a brown / yellow skin with a click sound.
24. They traded with the Bantu and whites.
25. They lived in larger groups of between 600-2000.
26. They sacrificed for rain, when celebrating death, marriage and / other important ceremonies.
27. Khoikhoi boys were circumcised as part of the initiation ceremonies.
Bantu expansion
At about this time, Bantu-speaking peoples also began arriving in South Africa. Originally from the Niger Delta area in west Africa, they had started to make their way south and eastwards in about 1000 BC, reaching present-day KwaZulu-Natal Province by 500 AD. The Bantu-speakers not only had domestic animals, but also practiced agriculture, farming wheat and other crops. They also displayed skill in working iron, and lived in settled villages. The Bantu arrived in South Africa in small waves rather than in one cohesive migration. Some groups, the ancestors of today's Nguni peoples (the Zulu, Xhosa, Swazi, and Ndebele), preferred to live near the coast. Others, now known as the Sotho-Tswana peoples (Tswana, Pedi, and Basotho), settled in the Highveld, while today's Venda, Lemba, and Shangaan-Tsonga peoples made their homes in the northeastern areas of South Africa.
Bantu-speakers and Khoisan mixed, as evidenced by rock paintings showing the two different groups interacting. The type of contact remains unknown, although linguistic proof of integration survives, as several Bantu languages (notably Xhosa and Zulu) incorporated the click consonant characteristic of earlier Khoisan languages. Archaeologists have found numerous Khoisan artifacts at the sites of Bantu settlements.
THE BANTU
- The Bantu are people with the root word 'Ntu' Nduu referring to people.
- They make up over 70% of South Africa's population.
- They were a well-built tall race that came from West Africa.
- They rested in Congo from where they dispersed to South African.
- Four groups of Shona, Sotho- Tswana, Nguni - Tsonga and Ovambo Herero entered South Africa.
Outline the causes of the Bantu migration.
1. They had a want for adventure.
2. They were faced by misfortunes believed to be sent by bad spirits.
3. They lacked enough land for their animals and Agriculture.
4. They faced Natural calamities like floods, earthquakes etc.
5. They had internal conflicts among the various Bantu groups.
6. They had poor leadership, which led to their migration.
7. They had a desire to export their iron working culture.
8. There was drought and famine in their land, which led to their migration.
9. Presence of vast areas of unoccupied land in South Africa.
10. External threats from the Luo.
11. Diseases, pests that attacked them and their animals e.g. Nagana, sleeping sickness.
ORGANISATION OF THE BANTU
The Bantu were mainly divided into two groups i.e. the Nguni -Tsonga and the Sotho-Tswana.
The Nguni-Tsonga
(a) Who were the Nguni?
(b) How were they organized before I800?
1. The Nguni were part of Bantu speakers of South Africa.
2. They have a click sound in their language. .
3. They belonged to the Southern Bantu who moved from Congo between the 13th and 16th Centuries.
4. They include the Xhosa, Zulu, Ngwane, Ndwandwe, and Thembu.
5. They occupied the larid between the Indian Ocean and the Drankensberg Mountain.
6. Specifically they occupied the fertile areas of the Natal East of the Cape.
7. They had similar characteristics with other Bantu and they were the most war like group of the Bantu to settle in South Africa.
Economic organisation
1. They gathered and hunted animals and did some fishing.
2. They cultivated and grew millet, beans, yams and sorghum etc.
3. They practiced pastoralism and kept cattle sheep and goats.
4. The practiced iron working from which iron implements were made?
5. They traded with whites based at Natal?
6. They raided their neighbours for wealth.
7. Cattle were important as a sign of wealth and sign of prestige.
8. Cattle were also used as food, bride wealth and in others cultural functions.
9. Land was owned collectively though people got rights to use it.
10. The clan elders ensured that land was used and maintained properly.
Social and Political Organisation
1. The family was the most important and smallest unit of social organisation and had a father wives and children.
2. The Nguni however had extended families including grand parent's aunts and uncles.
3. Marriages were often polygamous though monogamy was there.
4. Elders played an important role in social and political affairs.
5. Elders presided over cultural matters within their clans.
6. Elders presided over clan councils and settled disputes.
7. Elders settled land disputes and gave cattle to those who had reached maturity.
8. The Nguni practiced initiation ceremonies for boys.
9. Initiation ceremonies were important bonds of cultural unity since boys circumcised together belonged to the same age group.
10. A tribal chief headed each tribe.
11. The clan elders worked hand in hand with the chief.
THE SOTHO- TSWANA AND THE OTHER BANTU
(a) Who where the Sotho Tswana?
1. The Sotho- Tswana were part of the Bantu speakers.
2. They had similar characteristics with the other Bantu.
3. They were the second group of Bantu into South Africa moving from Congo between the 13th and 16th.
4. They are mainly made up of the Sotho and Tswana.
5. Other groups include the Basuto the Kwena and the Bechuana.
6. They claimed to have originated from the ancestry of the Mangope.
(b) Describe their way of life.
1. They were cultivators growing their own food which included yams. Millet, beans. Sorghum e.t.c.
2. They practiced pastoralism keeping animals like cattle goat and sheep.
3. Cattle were used for food prestige bride wealth etc.
4. They carried out iron smelting.
5. They carried out barter trade with fellow Africans and whites.
6. They hunted gathered and fished.
7. Marriages were often polygamous and monogamy was rare.
8. They were also patrilineal society.
9. Initiation ceremonies were carried out for the boys.
10. Land was communally owned.
11. They raided neighbours for wealth especially cows.
12. Elders settled land disputes and gave cattle to those who had reached maturity.
13. A tribal chief headed each tribe.
14. The central clan and central family provided the chief.
15. Their political organs were bigger.
Effects of Bantu Migration on the Khoisan.
1. They intermarried especially with the Khoikhoi producing new tribes like the Thembu.
2. The Khoisan copied the art of iron smelting and produced stronger spears dropping the weak ones made out of stones and bones.
3. The Khoikhoi strengthened their political organisation copying from the Bantu.
4. They traded with the Bantu.
5. The Khoisan were detribalized (lost their culture) and were isolated/ absorbed by the Bantu.
6. The Khoisan were pushed into the Kalahari desert were conditions were harsh.
7. Many Khoisans lost their lives during wars leading to depopulation.
8. The Khoisan were displaced from their original home land.
9. The Khoisan suffered misery and famine.
10. The Bantu raided the Khoisan leading to poverty.
11. The Khoisan were defeated and conquered by the Bantu.
12. The Khoikhoi lost their animals.
13. The Bantu invasion created insecurity destroying the social political and economical organisation of the Khoisan.
14. The Khoisan were introduced to new crops like pumpkins, millet and beans.
15. The Khoisan lost their independence.
16. The Khoisan were enslaved by the Bantu.
17. The Khoikhoi leaders lost much of their political powers.
Relationship between the Khoisan And The Bantu
At first, the relationship between the Khoisan and the Bantu was good. We see this in the following ways;
1. The Khoisan and the Bantu intermarried and due to this, tribes like the Tembu sprang up.
2. Secondly, the Khoisan learnt the art of iron smelting from the Bantu and they started producing implements like strong spears.
3. The Khoisan started carrying out trade with the Bantu.
4. The Khoisan were introduced to new crops like millet, beans etc by the Bantu.
5. The Khoikhoi learnt agriculture and lived settled lives.
6. The Khoikhoi strengthened their political organisation which they had coped from the Bantu.
7. Later, the relationship between the Khoisan and the Bantu became bad in the following ways.
8. The Khoisan were de-tribalised and were absorbed by the Bantu.
9. The Khoisan were pushed into the Kalahari desert by the Bantu where they suffered misery and famine.
10. The Bantu raided the Khoisan leading to poverty.
11. The Khoisan were defeated and conquered by the Bantu.
12. The Khoikhoi lost their animals.
13. The Bantu invasion created insecurity destroying the social political and economical organisation of the Khoisan.
14. The Khoisan lost their independence.
15. The Khoisan were enslaved by the Bantu.
16. The Khoikhoi leaders lost much of their political powers.
1) Why did the Bantu conquer the Khoisan so easily?
2) What factors forced the Khoisan migration into South Africa?