What did Jan van Riebeeck do in Cape Town?
Van Riebeeck was Commander of the Cape from 1652 to 1662; he was charged with building a fort, with improving the natural anchorage at Table Bay, planting cereals, fruit, and vegetables, and obtaining livestock from the indigenous Khoi people.
What was van Riebeeck told to do at the Cape?
But soon afterwards, the Dutch and English became engaged in a naval war, and van Riebeeck was instructed to urgently complete construction of a fort in the Cape. From this fort, the Dutch settlers farmed some food and bartered for meat from the local Khoisan people who lived in the area.
Why was Van Riebeeck sent to Cape of Good Hope?
In 1651, van Riebeeck was requested by the Dutch East India Company to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in South Africa. Van Riebeeck was therefore assigned the task of establishing a ship refreshment post at the Cape of Good Hope at the southern end of Africa.
Who is the real Jan van Riebeeck?
Jan van Riebeeck, in full Jan Anthoniszoon Van Riebeeck, (born April 21, 1619, Culemborg, Netherlands—died January 18, 1677, Batavia, Dutch East Indies [now Jakarta, Indonesia]), Dutch colonial administrator who founded (1652) Cape Town and thus opened Southern Africa for white settlement.
How old is Afrikaans?
Afrikaans language, also called Cape Dutch, West Germanic language of South Africa, developed from 17th-century Dutch, sometimes called Netherlandic, by the descendants of European (Dutch, German, and French) colonists, indigenous Khoisan peoples, and African and Asian slaves in the Dutch colony at the Cape of Good …
Did Jan van Riebeeck have guns?
Pistols and Revolvers When Jan van Riebeeck arrived at the Cape, his officers carried wheel-lock pistols. 33 It is known that during the Hottentot wars, the DEIC soldiers carried pistols and this practise was continued until 1865.
Who controlled the Cape before van Riebeeck?
Van Riebeeck’s party of three vessels landed at the cape on 6 April 1652. The Cape was under Dutch rule from 1652 to 1795 and again from 1803 to 1806.
Why did Jan van Riebeeck come to Cape Town?
The aim was to establish a refreshment station to supply the crew of the Company’s passing trading ships with fresh water, vegetables and fruit, meat and medical assistance.
Is Afrikaans a rare language?
With about seven million native speakers in South Africa, or 13.5% of the population, it is the third-most-spoken language in the country.
Who is the first black person in South Africa?
The Khoisan were the first inhabitants of southern Africa and one of the earliest distinct groups of Homo sapiens, enduring centuries of gradual dispossession at the hands of every new wave of settlers, including the Bantu, whose descendants make up most of South Africa’s black population today.
When did van Riebeeck join the Dutch East India Company?
Van Riebeeck joined the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-indische Compagnie; commonly called VOC) as an assistant surgeon and sailed to Batavia in April 1639. From there he went to Japan. In 1645 he took charge of the company trading station at Tongking (Tonkin; now in Vietnam).
Who is the statue of Maria van Riebeeck?
Over time, a large roundabout was developed at the site, once called Heerengracht, and in 1969, a statue of Maria van Riebeeck was laid to the right of her husband’s. There is no image that can be said to certainly depict the founder of the Cape refreshment station.
When did van Riebeeck ask the Heeren for slaves?
For Van Riebeeck, the incredibly cheap slaves were seen as the best way to deal with this issue, but the Heeren XVII refused his initial request for slaves. Two years later, in April 1654, after struggling to get the fledging settlement going Van Riebeeck once again wrote to the Heeren XVII asking for slave labour.
What did the Dutch do in the Cape of Good Hope?
The Company had been granted a monopoly to trade with Asia by the government of the Netherlands. Jan van Riebeeck, a representative of the VOC, established a station at the Cape of Good Hope, the southern tip of Africa, in 1652.