Maharero
Maharero (actually Maharero and others Tjamuaha , * 1820 ; † October 7, 1890 in Okahandja , German South West Africa ) was a Namibian traditional leader of the Herero (1861 to 1890). Maharero (also known as Kamaharero ) was the keeper of the sacred ancestral fire and father of Samuel Maharero .
biography
Maharero was a son of Tjamuaha († 1859), one of the great leaders of the Herero. The Herero were the most powerful people in Southwest Africa in the first half of the 19th century and were in constant struggle for new grazing grounds with their southern neighbors, the Nama of Hoachanas (Red Nation). The latter came to the aid of the Orlam tribe of Africans, who immigrated from the Cape Province , so that these two tribes succeeded in losing battles to push the Herero back to about the height of today's city of Windhoek . In the so-called Christmas Peace of Okahandja on December 24, 1842, the hostilities were ended and Tjamuaha moved with his son to his former opponent Jonker Afrikaner in Windhoek to underline the seriousness of the peace agreement . Maharero was instructed there by Jonker Afrikaner, together with his son Jan Jonker Afrikaner , who was about the same age, in the handling of firearms and then, as field captain, was given the command of the young Herero warriors who were also based in Windhoek - albeit under the supervision of Jonker Afrikaner.
In this function, the young Maharero took part in numerous raids and conquests of the Africans - also against other Herero tribes - and thus contributed to their successes. However, Maharero had to endure the sometimes bad moods of his commander and was - especially when Jonker Afrikaner became addicted to alcohol - he was mistreated in the worst possible way. Maharero, however, submitted to his fate and even stayed by Jonker Afrikaner's side when his father Tjamuaha fled Windhoek in 1849 for fear of African attacks and returned to Okahandja. The "Okahandja bloodbath" in August 1850 showed that this fear was not unfounded; Although Tjamuaha itself was spared, since the attack was against the tribe of the Kaptein Kahitjene, but Tjamuaha's tribe also suffered great losses in human life and cattle. Kahitjene was killed a short time later, so that his tribe was leaderless; the other Herero leaders transferred the command of this tribe to Maharero, so that since 1851 it was leader of a tribe himself. Maharero continued to submit to the command of Jonker Afrikaner and supported him so effectively in the subsequent raids against other Herero tribes that the well-known Africa researcher Dr. Heinrich Vedder was able to determine later in 1858: "As far as we know, the Herero people ceased to exist" ( Vedder, Das Alte Südwestafrika, p. 369 ). Accordingly, the Hoachanas peace treaty concluded between the Africans and the Nama on January 9, 1858, marked the absolute low point in the tribal history of the Herero.
This only changed when, at the end of 1861, both Jonker Afrikaner and Tjamuaha died in quick succession as a result of serious illnesses and Christian Afrikaner and Maharero were appointed successors of the two chapters. Maharero knew how to increase the tension between the two brothers Christian and Jan Jonker Afrikaner, and to convince Christian Afrikaner that there was a secret agreement between him, Maharero, and his childhood friend Jan Jonker about the removal of Christian Afrikaner from the office of leader would be. Christian Afrikaner tried to counter this on June 15, 1863 with a provoked attack on the Maharero, who had fled to Otjimbingwe . However, there was no success; Christian Afrikaner was killed, so that now Jan Jonker Afrikaner became the new leader of the Afrikaner. Maharero had thus won a first and for the self-esteem of the Herero extremely important victory against the Africans in a long time. Maharero was appointed head of all Herero tribes in 1863 and initially broke his close ties to Africans by relocating his tribal seat to Otjimbingwe. There he met the Swedish adventurer and entrepreneur Karl Johan Andersson , who ran a large trading company and a profitable copper mine in Otjimbingwe. To protect both of them, Andersson maintained a well-equipped private army to be able to fight off the occasional raids by the Africans. Maharero had a similar interest. He therefore allied himself with Andersson and appointed him in 1863 to the "regent and military commander of all Herero for life". With this financial and military support in his back, Maharero managed to regain strength and, as a result, by 1870, a complete submission of the Orlam Africans ( 10 years of peace in Okahandja ): the Herero became the recognized rulers of Hereroland again and granted the Africans an almost "gracious grace "Right of residence in Windhoek. Jan Jonker Afrikaner was demoted to sub-leader of the Herero and thus placed under the complete control of Maharero. Maharero knew how to let the Africans feel his power and how to tame and humiliate Jan Jonker Afrikaner whenever the opportunity arose.
So it was not surprising that in 1880 a small pasture dispute was enough to violently discharge the tensions between Africans and Herero that had built up over the years of humiliation. Maharero took this incident as an opportunity to order the murder of all Africans who happened to be in Okahandja on August 23, 1880 - exactly 30 years after the Okahandja bloodbath committed by the Africans. Among them were relatives of Jan Jonker Afrikaner. Two days later he ordered the destruction of Windhuk. Jan Jonker was able to flee and tried in the following years to counter the rage of the Herero with new alliances. However, all these attempts failed because of the strength and determination of the Herero and ultimately hastened the downfall of the Africans.
Since 1876, the English ruling in the Cape Province tried to extend their domain to the European farmers and traders settling in Southwest Africa and therefore to gain a foothold in Hereroland. The Englishman Palgrave also succeeded in reaching an initial agreement with Maharero on jurisdiction over the Europeans and in return to have large parts of South West Africa recognized as a "government reserve". However, Palgrave lacked the necessary backing from the Cape government to enforce this agreement.
Almost 10 years later, the same thing happened to the representatives of the Germans who were now gaining a foothold in South West Africa. The first German governor Heinrich Ernst Göring succeeded in concluding a protection treaty with Maharero on October 21, 1885. But this was revoked soon afterwards because the Germans were unable to strengthen their claim to leadership due to the lack of a military. In 1888, the German colonial administration based in Otjimbingwe had to put up with being expelled to Walvis Bay by Maharero because of an arms trade ban imposed by the Germans. This only changed with the landing of the first protective troops in June 1889 under the leadership of Captain Curt von François : in May 1890 he made a convincing appearance in front of Maharero and with it the re-enforcement of the protection treaty of 1885. Maharero also allowed the Germans to build a fortified one Branch in Windhoek , which meant the contractual foundation stone for the re-establishment of the place.
A short time later, on October 7, 1890, Maharero died in Okahandja. His son Samuel Maharero succeeded him in the same year.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Heinrich Vedder: The old South West Africa. Verlag Martin Warneck, Berlin 1934, page 399.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Tjamuaha et al. Tjirue | Traditional Maharero Leader ( Traditional Herero Leader ) |
Samuel Maharero |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Maharero |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kamaharero |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Kaptein (1861–1890) of the South West African tribe of the Herero |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1820 |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 7, 1890 |
| Place of death | Okahandja , South West Africa |