Theme
Contact
Events involving contact.
Initial theme stub generated from temp/sa-history-16th-century-events.csv.
Events
c. 1480 (before Dias)Khoekhoe pastoral communities occupy the Cape before recorded Portuguese contact1488Bartolomeu Dias rounds the Cape1497–1499Vasco da Gama's fleet rounds southern Africa en route to India1503António de Saldanha enters Table Bay1 March 1510Khoekhoe forces defeat a Portuguese punitive expedition at Salt River1544Lourenço Marques surveys Delagoa Bay1552São João survivors pass through organised coastal societiesFrom 1552Shipwreck accounts begin documenting coastal chiefly authorityJune 1552São João wrecked on the south-eastern coastApril 1554São Bento wrecked near the Transkei coastMarch 1589São Thomé wrecked near the Natal coastLate sixteenth centuryThe Cape becomes a recurrent provisioning node on the route to Asia1 August 1591James Lancaster barters livestock with Khoekhoe at Table Bay24 March 1593Santo Alberto wrecked on the Pondoland coastFrom late March 1593Santo Alberto survivors record extensive contact with coastal communities4 August 1595Cornelis de Houtman's fleet reaches São Brás6 August 1595Claimed agreement between Dutch sailors and local Khoekhoe near Mossel Bay1601Joris van Spilbergen anchors in Table Bay1615Attempt to leave English convicts at the Cape failsJune 1620English captains proclaim Table Bay for King James I1630São Gonçalo wrecked at Plettenberg Bay1631Autshumato taken to Batavia and trained as an intermediary1647–1648Nieuwe Haerlem survivors maintain a temporary Cape campMarch 1647Nieuwe Haerlem wrecked in Table BayFrom 1652VOC begins sustained livestock barter with Khoekhoe communities6 April 1652Jan van Riebeeck arrives at Table Bay1657Doman sent to Batavia for interpreter training22 October 1657Abraham Gabbema explores the Berg River region31 January 1661Pieter Cruythoff reaches Namaqua territory1662Krotoa baptised into the Dutch Reformed Church1664Krotoa marries Pieter van Meerhof1668Hieronimus Cruse ordered to explore the south-east coast1677Cornelis Wobma surveys the west coast1682Olof Bergh undertakes a west-coast expeditionAugust 1685–January 1686Simon van der Stel leads an expedition to Namaqualand1686Stavenisse wrecked on the south-eastern coast4 January–10 April 1689Isaq Schrijver leads an expedition into the eastern interiorc. 1800Tsonga Delagoa Bay trade intensifies