"..If the Papists are able to win great wealth from their African holdings with such great ease, I am convinced that we Dutch can do better. If we don't seize the moment before they wake up to the opportunities that lie in the Dark Continent, the King of Portugal will become master of a New Eden and we will be left with a few vegetable plots. Therefore, let us expand beyond the border that we ourselves have set. Let us mine those mighty mountains for gold. Let us hunt those vast herds for ivory. Let us colonise that land for the glory of God. Destiny awaits us, Mijnheers. Let us not let it pass us by. "
Pieter Van Hero, 1st June 1656
The crucible of was to become the most powerful state in Africa was the boardroom of the of the Dutch East Indies company, the VOC. Headed by Van Hero were those who wished to develop the Cape Colony beyond that of a simple replenishing station for ships. Opposing them, and including the chairman, were those who saw no need for the VOC to branch out into new businesses when the spice trade was so lucrative.
The chairman lost. Instead of the slow drip of colonists into the Cape, the board voted to finance a major colonisation programme "on the scale of America". The most prominent part of the plan was hunt elephants for ivory, but the VOC also planned to prospect for the gold that it was convinced lay somewhere in the Cape. It was paradoxical that diamonds, a resource that was to be key in the development of Dutch South Africa was not mentioned in the meeting.
A campaign to recruit indentured colonists was launched in the form of billposters put up in cities throughout the Netherlands. It was so successful the VOC ended up chartering a couple of non-company ships to carry some of them to their new home. In addition and not withstanding the longer voyage, a large number of "free" colonists elected to join the movement and emigrate to Africa instead of the New World. The expedition set sail in 1658.
The New Cape Colony
The first act of the VOC's new programme was the foundation of a trading post to the east of Capetown at a place called Stellenbosch. It was intended to act as the principal clearinghouse for the ivory which company elephant hunters would harvest. However, as the herds retreated into the hinterland, the VOC was obliged to place new posts further inland One of the free colonists (or burghers as they were called) who settled near the new trading post experimented with some vines that he shipped out without too many losses. Whilst the vintage produced was not up to European standards, it was still palatable and soon a lively trade developed between vineyards and the elephant hunters. In addition, it was traded with the Khoi for semi-precious stones.
Whilst not in the same league as Batavia, Capetown soon developed into a plum posting for VOC officials. This was mainly due to the more temperate climate and less disease-ridden environment. It was also favoured because the shorter distance between it and Europe: news arrived quicker and cargoes were less prone to being seized by pirates (not that that was common for VOC Indiamen).
Immigration to the colony was slower though than the Americas; the distance to travel to a new life for further and thus the cost higher. In addition, crossing the equator made the journey far less comfortable. In spite of the occasional group such as some French Huguenots in 1686, the VOC decided that it would have to look for sources of colonists beyond volunteers.
It quickly found them by brokering agreements with the Dutch government and a number of German states in which it took petty criminals off their hands in exchange for a small sum. To recoup the cost of transportation by the VOC, the convicts were forced to work on company plantations for the duration of their sentence (which could and often was increased for any infraction). In addition, senior company employees as well as some of the richer burghers recruited indentured servants from the poor in Europe. Whilst some terms of these were often equal to the length of the sentences of the convicts, the tasks that they performed were usually less arduous being domestic service, slave driving or working as craftsmen.
In any event and however they arrived and as long as they lived long enough, all colonists became free. Some continued to work for the company or their former master. Others joined the growing band of independent elephant hunters and prospectors who scavenged an existence of the edge of the white settled area. One group, the infamous Donkers Gang switched from honest labour to preying on farms, looting them for food and stealing women, guns etc. Then, exalted by their success, they started raiding VOC plantations and stores.
The governor reacted by raising a part-time mounted militia. To that date, the only troops in the Colony were the mixed race companies stationed in forts protecting the ports from European rivals such as the Portuguese and English. With the predations of the Dronkers Gang, it was obvious that some form of internal security force was also required and fast A former soldier was commissioned to form a regiment and he in turn recruited burghers who were already trained in shooting and living in the bush.
The regiment, or commando as it was called, was more than a match for the Donkers gang (thanks in part to its greater numbers). In a bloody shoot out many of the latter were killed. The survivors were taken to Stellenbosch and publicly hanged.
The commando did not stop there. Other bands of bandits were tracked down and eliminated. Then, with the brigand threat heavily reduced if not quite gone, the financially conscious VOC paid the troops off and the member of the commando went back to their old trades.
Over the next decade, this raising part-time troops was employed on a number of occasions, mainly to wipe out brigands, but also to strike at Khoi tribes who had raided the Colony. Unlike other VOC holdings, it was a cost-effective manner in which to protect the colony, there being no hostile native potentates or European settlements near it. This however changed just before the start of the new century.
The Scottish Incursion
In imitation of England and the Netherlands mercantile corporations, the Company of Scotland was launched in Edinburgh in 1695 by a group of Scottish merchants. Originally it was planned that colonial interests should be established in South America (in the Spanish claimed territory of Darien to be exact; this was what was attempted in OTL). However an influential director managed to change the destination to southern Africa on the grounds that Scottish colonists would thrive better in the colder clime. In addition, he claimed that the colony could be used as a springboard into the Far East and the lucrative spice trade.
Had New Glasgow been established further to the east, say at the site where the British later established Port Natal, it is doubtful that there would have been any conflict between the settlement and the VOC. Such a location would have been far beyond what the VOC regarded as its sphere of interest and given that the Scottish were not a maritime nation, would not have been seen as a potential nest of pirates ready to pounce on the Indiamen returning home laden with spices. On the other hand, siting a colony in this region would have been more risky, the more aggressive Bantus being a greater threat to any European colony than the less sophisticated Khoi.
All that though is hindsight. In 1697 New Glasgow was established the mouth of the Sundays River. It was situated in a natural harbour with abundant natural resources in country inhabited by pretty inoffensive natives, an almost perfect combination. It was also just down the coast from Vrying Pan (Port Elisabeth on OTL), an important VOC trading post and port.
At first the colony thrived. Farmers planted crops and merchants began to trade with the Khoi. Also, a number of hunters began to harvest the herds of elephants in the region. That brought them into direct conflict with their Dutch neighbours. Elephant numbers were starting to noticeably dwindle and competition by strangers was not welcome. Soon there were skirmishes across the veldt between the two colonies.
The loss of ivory trade hit the income of the factor at Vrying Pan, which did not endear him to the Scottish colonists. However, what really made him really irate was that New Glasgow was trading arms to the Khoi. Whilst there was no law against it, neither the VOC nor any of the free burghers had sold guns to the natives; after the predations of the Dronkers and other gangs the last thing they needed was dangerous neighbours. The Scottish colonists had fewer qualms. With the ivory trade in trouble, the sort off trade in spices slow in developing and and desperate for profits, they imported a shipload of arquebuses and exchanged them for precious stones and hides.
The first that the VOC learned of the trade was when one commando pursing a band of Khoi raiders was badly mauled. Without waiting for orders from Capetown, the factor assembled a new commando which first wiped up the raiders (although not without losses) then burned some New Glaswegian farms.
Without the numbers for a serious strike back yet strong in the belief that they were in the right, the CoS factor sent emissaries to London and the English East India Company factory at Madrid asking for support against the VOC. Not withstanding that the latter had used force to drive English merchants out of the Spice Islands and that Scotland and England were both under the same crown, the English declined to provide any. The Dutch were now nominal allies and neither the Crown nor the English East India Company saw any benefit in squabbling over Africa. Not withstanding that there was serious money in the ivory trade, as far as they were concerned the big profits was to be made elsewhere.
When he learned of its factor's action, the VOC governor was not particularly amused either. Unaware that the English was not going to assist their smaller ally's company, he was worried that the situation would escalate into full-scale war. He thus sent his own emissary to New Glasgow offering to allow the Scots to stay if they stopped trading guns to the natives and paid a small tribute to the VOC each year. He also proposed a delineation of hunting areas for Scots and burghers.
The town elders of New Glasgow agreed and thus saved the CoS from certain ruin. Whilst there were still clashes between colonists, there were far less than before. On the other hand, the Scottish colonists were able to take advantage of the higher prices that Vrying Pan merchants with their better access to European markets were prepared to pay.
Gradually, over the years, the CoS slowly became a subsidiary of the VOC as New Glasgow became more dependent on the Cape Colony for its prosperity. The process was facilitated by the Presbyterian Scots finding common accord with the Calvinism of the Dutch. However, the port retained its roots: the architecture mirrored that in its homeland and Gaelic remained a common language for many decades.
(to be continued)
Pieter Van Hero, 1st June 1656
The crucible of was to become the most powerful state in Africa was the boardroom of the of the Dutch East Indies company, the VOC. Headed by Van Hero were those who wished to develop the Cape Colony beyond that of a simple replenishing station for ships. Opposing them, and including the chairman, were those who saw no need for the VOC to branch out into new businesses when the spice trade was so lucrative.
The chairman lost. Instead of the slow drip of colonists into the Cape, the board voted to finance a major colonisation programme "on the scale of America". The most prominent part of the plan was hunt elephants for ivory, but the VOC also planned to prospect for the gold that it was convinced lay somewhere in the Cape. It was paradoxical that diamonds, a resource that was to be key in the development of Dutch South Africa was not mentioned in the meeting.
A campaign to recruit indentured colonists was launched in the form of billposters put up in cities throughout the Netherlands. It was so successful the VOC ended up chartering a couple of non-company ships to carry some of them to their new home. In addition and not withstanding the longer voyage, a large number of "free" colonists elected to join the movement and emigrate to Africa instead of the New World. The expedition set sail in 1658.
The New Cape Colony
The first act of the VOC's new programme was the foundation of a trading post to the east of Capetown at a place called Stellenbosch. It was intended to act as the principal clearinghouse for the ivory which company elephant hunters would harvest. However, as the herds retreated into the hinterland, the VOC was obliged to place new posts further inland One of the free colonists (or burghers as they were called) who settled near the new trading post experimented with some vines that he shipped out without too many losses. Whilst the vintage produced was not up to European standards, it was still palatable and soon a lively trade developed between vineyards and the elephant hunters. In addition, it was traded with the Khoi for semi-precious stones.
Whilst not in the same league as Batavia, Capetown soon developed into a plum posting for VOC officials. This was mainly due to the more temperate climate and less disease-ridden environment. It was also favoured because the shorter distance between it and Europe: news arrived quicker and cargoes were less prone to being seized by pirates (not that that was common for VOC Indiamen).
Immigration to the colony was slower though than the Americas; the distance to travel to a new life for further and thus the cost higher. In addition, crossing the equator made the journey far less comfortable. In spite of the occasional group such as some French Huguenots in 1686, the VOC decided that it would have to look for sources of colonists beyond volunteers.
It quickly found them by brokering agreements with the Dutch government and a number of German states in which it took petty criminals off their hands in exchange for a small sum. To recoup the cost of transportation by the VOC, the convicts were forced to work on company plantations for the duration of their sentence (which could and often was increased for any infraction). In addition, senior company employees as well as some of the richer burghers recruited indentured servants from the poor in Europe. Whilst some terms of these were often equal to the length of the sentences of the convicts, the tasks that they performed were usually less arduous being domestic service, slave driving or working as craftsmen.
In any event and however they arrived and as long as they lived long enough, all colonists became free. Some continued to work for the company or their former master. Others joined the growing band of independent elephant hunters and prospectors who scavenged an existence of the edge of the white settled area. One group, the infamous Donkers Gang switched from honest labour to preying on farms, looting them for food and stealing women, guns etc. Then, exalted by their success, they started raiding VOC plantations and stores.
The governor reacted by raising a part-time mounted militia. To that date, the only troops in the Colony were the mixed race companies stationed in forts protecting the ports from European rivals such as the Portuguese and English. With the predations of the Dronkers Gang, it was obvious that some form of internal security force was also required and fast A former soldier was commissioned to form a regiment and he in turn recruited burghers who were already trained in shooting and living in the bush.
The regiment, or commando as it was called, was more than a match for the Donkers gang (thanks in part to its greater numbers). In a bloody shoot out many of the latter were killed. The survivors were taken to Stellenbosch and publicly hanged.
The commando did not stop there. Other bands of bandits were tracked down and eliminated. Then, with the brigand threat heavily reduced if not quite gone, the financially conscious VOC paid the troops off and the member of the commando went back to their old trades.
Over the next decade, this raising part-time troops was employed on a number of occasions, mainly to wipe out brigands, but also to strike at Khoi tribes who had raided the Colony. Unlike other VOC holdings, it was a cost-effective manner in which to protect the colony, there being no hostile native potentates or European settlements near it. This however changed just before the start of the new century.
The Scottish Incursion
In imitation of England and the Netherlands mercantile corporations, the Company of Scotland was launched in Edinburgh in 1695 by a group of Scottish merchants. Originally it was planned that colonial interests should be established in South America (in the Spanish claimed territory of Darien to be exact; this was what was attempted in OTL). However an influential director managed to change the destination to southern Africa on the grounds that Scottish colonists would thrive better in the colder clime. In addition, he claimed that the colony could be used as a springboard into the Far East and the lucrative spice trade.
Had New Glasgow been established further to the east, say at the site where the British later established Port Natal, it is doubtful that there would have been any conflict between the settlement and the VOC. Such a location would have been far beyond what the VOC regarded as its sphere of interest and given that the Scottish were not a maritime nation, would not have been seen as a potential nest of pirates ready to pounce on the Indiamen returning home laden with spices. On the other hand, siting a colony in this region would have been more risky, the more aggressive Bantus being a greater threat to any European colony than the less sophisticated Khoi.
All that though is hindsight. In 1697 New Glasgow was established the mouth of the Sundays River. It was situated in a natural harbour with abundant natural resources in country inhabited by pretty inoffensive natives, an almost perfect combination. It was also just down the coast from Vrying Pan (Port Elisabeth on OTL), an important VOC trading post and port.
At first the colony thrived. Farmers planted crops and merchants began to trade with the Khoi. Also, a number of hunters began to harvest the herds of elephants in the region. That brought them into direct conflict with their Dutch neighbours. Elephant numbers were starting to noticeably dwindle and competition by strangers was not welcome. Soon there were skirmishes across the veldt between the two colonies.
The loss of ivory trade hit the income of the factor at Vrying Pan, which did not endear him to the Scottish colonists. However, what really made him really irate was that New Glasgow was trading arms to the Khoi. Whilst there was no law against it, neither the VOC nor any of the free burghers had sold guns to the natives; after the predations of the Dronkers and other gangs the last thing they needed was dangerous neighbours. The Scottish colonists had fewer qualms. With the ivory trade in trouble, the sort off trade in spices slow in developing and and desperate for profits, they imported a shipload of arquebuses and exchanged them for precious stones and hides.
The first that the VOC learned of the trade was when one commando pursing a band of Khoi raiders was badly mauled. Without waiting for orders from Capetown, the factor assembled a new commando which first wiped up the raiders (although not without losses) then burned some New Glaswegian farms.
Without the numbers for a serious strike back yet strong in the belief that they were in the right, the CoS factor sent emissaries to London and the English East India Company factory at Madrid asking for support against the VOC. Not withstanding that the latter had used force to drive English merchants out of the Spice Islands and that Scotland and England were both under the same crown, the English declined to provide any. The Dutch were now nominal allies and neither the Crown nor the English East India Company saw any benefit in squabbling over Africa. Not withstanding that there was serious money in the ivory trade, as far as they were concerned the big profits was to be made elsewhere.
When he learned of its factor's action, the VOC governor was not particularly amused either. Unaware that the English was not going to assist their smaller ally's company, he was worried that the situation would escalate into full-scale war. He thus sent his own emissary to New Glasgow offering to allow the Scots to stay if they stopped trading guns to the natives and paid a small tribute to the VOC each year. He also proposed a delineation of hunting areas for Scots and burghers.
The town elders of New Glasgow agreed and thus saved the CoS from certain ruin. Whilst there were still clashes between colonists, there were far less than before. On the other hand, the Scottish colonists were able to take advantage of the higher prices that Vrying Pan merchants with their better access to European markets were prepared to pay.
Gradually, over the years, the CoS slowly became a subsidiary of the VOC as New Glasgow became more dependent on the Cape Colony for its prosperity. The process was facilitated by the Presbyterian Scots finding common accord with the Calvinism of the Dutch. However, the port retained its roots: the architecture mirrored that in its homeland and Gaelic remained a common language for many decades.
(to be continued)