Griqua

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Griqualand West on a map from 1885

Griqua ( Afrikaans Griekwa ) is a collective name for societies in southern Africa that developed from the connection of Khoikhoi or Nama and Buren ( Baster and Orlam ). During the apartheid period , they were included in the “ Colored ” category . In 1813 Reverend John Campbell of the London Missionary Society (LMS) is said to have introduced the name for a group of Chariguriqua (Khoikhoi from the Cape region), Basters (also Bastaards ), Koranna and Tswana . However, the name De Groote Griegriequas can already be found on a map by Isaak Tirion from 1730.

You traditionally speak Xiri .

history

Griqua-Captain Jager Afrikaner
Migration movements of the Griqua
Coins from Griqualand East

From the relationships of the Khoikhoi and Nama with the European immigrants , family clans initially formed, who stayed in the vicinity of their Boer relatives and often learned not only their language but also reading and writing there; They were quite familiar with the way of life of the European colonists, were often Christianized and knew how to handle firearms. All of this gave the Orlam and Baster a certain superiority over the Khoikhoi and Nama in the colonial context of the time and encouraged a separation from them. The family clans gradually formed larger independent units, most of which - based on the Dutch model - were headed by an elected captain (captain) and under whose (Boer) name they also found their way into South African history. The societies of this origin include the Africans under their captain Jager Afrikaner and the Witbooi under their captain Kido Witbooi . Both moved north across the Orange River in the course of the 19th century and determined the historical development in South West Africa for decades .

A large settlement area was Griqualand West around Kimberley . This is where Adam Kok I led a number of Griqua in the late 18th century. In 1813 they were Christianized. Several spin-offs formed in the 1820s. A group under Adam Kok II migrated eastwards to Philippolis and founded another "Griqua State" there. From there they carried out raids on the Basotho under Moshoeshoe I , who thereupon not only copied the raid techniques, but, like the Griqua, sought help from European missionaries . In 1833 the first French missionaries came to the Basotho from Philippolis. The Bergenaars were Griqua who lived in the mountains in the south of today's Lesotho and were known for their cattle theft.

A large group of Griqua migrated from Philippolis under Adam Kok III. from 1861 through the land of the Basotho and the Drakensberg in the "No Man's Land", later Griqualand East , and founded their own community there, which among other things issued its own coins. In 1877, Griqualand West and Griqualand East were incorporated into the Cape Colony by law .

The Griqua were a significant part of the population, especially in the 19th century, but many gradually lost their ethnic identity, so that they no longer play the role they once played. Today, attempts are occasionally made to strengthen the identity of the Griqua again and to get them recognized as an indigenous people .

In South Africa in the 19th century, similar to the simultaneous Boer republics, several griqua states emerged, each ruled by a captain. The most important were Griqualand West, Griqualand East and Philippolis.

Today the Griqua live mainly in the Northern Cape province in the area around Griekwastad and in the Eastern Cape province around Kokstad , but also scattered all over South Africa.

Today Griquas is also the name of a rugby team in South Africa.

literature

  • Horst Drechsler: South West Africa under German colonial rule. Akademie Verlag, Berlin (GDR) 1984

Web links

Commons : Griqua  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.places.co.za/html/griekwastad.html www.places.co
  2. ↑ http://www.tanap.net/content/activities/documents/resolutions_Cape_of_Good_Hope/landkaart.htm there north-western Cape region, below the lettering "Hottentots"
  3. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 110.
  4. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 111.
  5. ^ Scott Rosenberg, Richard W. Weisfelder, Michelle Frisbie-Fulton: Historical Dictionary of Lesotho. Scarecrow Press, Lanham, Maryland / Oxford 2004, ISBN 978-0-8108-4871-9 , p. 44.
  6. ^ Coins in Griqualand East , accessed on March 6, 2013
  7. ^ Jeroen G. Zandberg: Rehoboth Griqua Atlas. 2005, ISBN 90-808768-2-8 .