Cornelis Oasib

This article or the following section is not adequately provided with supporting documents ( e.g. individual evidence ). Information without sufficient evidence could be removed soon. Please help Wikipedia by researching the information and including good evidence.

Cornelis Oasib , actually !Na-khomab , (* 1800, † 1867 in Hoachanas ) was 1840-1867 Oberkaptein all Nama yet Kaptein of the Red Nation ( |Kaiǁkhaun designated) Nama company in Hoachanas in southwest Africa, now Namibia .

biography

After the death of his father Nanieb II around 1800, Ms. Games initially took over the responsibilities of the captain, as Oasib was still too young. Around 1840, Oasib succeeded him in the captaincy of the largest Nama tribe in southwest Africa. At that time, the Nama were in a long-term feud with the Herero from Okahandja , who were pushing against the tribal area from the north , as their ever-increasing herds of cattle could no longer find sufficient grazing ground after a long drought. In their need, Games had already secured the help of the Africans (( ǃGû-ǃgôun )) - an Orlam society of the Cape Province - who were moving into the country from the south ; In contrast to the Nama and Herero, this society was already armed with guns. With their superiority, supported by firearms, the Africans and Nama succeeded in pushing the numerically superior Herero back to the heights of Windhoek and in 1842 made peace with them (the so-called "Christmas Peace of Windhoek").

With the peace between Africans and Herero, however, a concentration of power had arisen in Windhoek, which ran counter to the Oasib's efforts to rule over the whole of southwest Africa. However, given the balance of power, Oasib could not afford a direct attack on the Africans; so he used the tribal tensions among the Herero in his favor and attacked the Herero tribe of the subordinate chief Kahitjene in 1844 , without the Jonker Afrikaner ( ǀHara-mûb ), who was actually allied with him, coming to their aid. Encouraged by initial successes, Oasib continued his raids for years, although he found the tolerance of the Africans, because the Herero had become too strong for them. The active participation of the Africans grew out of the toleration of the Nama actions against the Herero, but without a coordinated or even contractually regulated relationship between the Nama and the Africans. On the contrary: the successful advance of the Africans against the Herero made it clear to Oasib that it was no longer the Herero, but the Africans who opposed his dream of rule over the whole of Southwest Africa. Consequently, on May 19, 1854, Oasib dared an attack on the headquarters of the Africans - Windhoek. The attack was repelled and triggered counter-attacks by the Africans, as Jonker Afrikaner pursued a similar goal as Oasib. The reciprocal raids and raids, however, disrupted the copper ore mining occurring near Windhoek, which was equally disadvantageous for the Nama and Africans, as both peoples earned money from the mining taxes of the European mine operators. Following this insight, on November 24, 1855, Jonker Afrikaner and Oasib reached the “Peace on the Copper Mountain” (south of Windhoek). After this peace agreement, the Africans were able to devote themselves undivided to their campaign of destruction against the Herero and then bring the entire north of the country under their control. In the south, the Nama tribes, led by Oasib, ruled unchallenged. To consolidate and secure the areas of influence on both sides, the "Peace of Hoachanas" was concluded on January 9, 1858 between Jonker Afrikaner and Oasib; the Herero were involved in this peace agreement - but not as partners, but as "listeners requiring consent".

The balance of power between Africans and Nama was permanently disrupted by the almost simultaneous death of Jonker Afrikaner and Tjamuaha , the chief of the Herero, at the end of 1861: Jonker Afrikaner's successor was Christian Afrikaner ( ǀHaragab ) , who was weak in leadership, and Tjamuaha was succeeded by the powerful Maharero . The latter had suffered greatly from the Africans in his youth and now knew how to use the tribal tensions among the Africans in connection with the succession of the Captains to his benefit by attacking Christian Afrikaner and the Oasib, allied with him provoked new headquarters in Otjimbingwe . There, however, Maharero had secured the help of the Swedish entrepreneur Charles John Andersson and his well-armed private army, so that the attacking Africans and Nama were defeated on June 15, 1863. Christian Afrikaner fell, Oasib escaped.

In the battles that followed, the Africans lost more and more influence under their new captain Jan Jonker Afrikaner ( ǀHaramumab ), whereas the Herero regained their old strength. Another enemy arose in the south of the country: the Witbooi ( ǀKhowesin ) who immigrated from South Africa under their captain Kido Witbooi ( ǂA-ǁêib ). This Orlam Society had indeed settled in Gibeon in 1863 with the consent of Oasib , but caused some unrest there and gained strength in disputes with other Nama societies. Oasib tried to counter this new threat by a successful attack by the allied Nama on Gibeon in December 1864, but he had thus acquired a "second front" - in the north against the Herero and in the south against the Witbooi. Oasib countered this danger with the "separate peace" with Maharero of June 1866, and then on September 25, 1866, to proceed with his entire force in the south against the Witbooi. The attack, however, did not have the desired effect and triggered a determined counterattack by the Witbooi. In the decisive battle of the Orlam War of 1866/67, the allied Nama and Africans were defeated at Rehoboth . Oasib managed to escape to Hoachanas, where he fell seriously ill and died in 1867. The exact date of death and the burial place are not known.

annotation

1. ↑ Note: This article contains characters from the alphabet of the Khoisan languages spoken in southern Africa . The display contains characters of the click letters ǀ , ǁ , ǂ and ǃ . For more information on the pronunciation of long or nasal vowels or certain clicks , see e.g. B. under Khoekhoegowab .

predecessor	Office	successor
ǃNa-khom Gamab	Cape of the Red Nation ( Cape of the Nama )	Goraxab ǁOasmab