Undated
North-western Namibia and southern Angola
Kaoko was a pastoral region and political zone in north-western Namibia whose communities experienced intensified raiding and displacement during the nineteenth century. Jonker Afrikaner’s forces attacked Kaoko after campaigning in Ovambo territory, while Swartbooi and Topnaar commandos based in southern Kaoko continued raids until the 1890s. Communities responded through flight, foraging, migration into Angola, wage labour, and collaboration with armed groups.
Continue exploring
The Story
Kaoko entered the nineteenth-century cycle of armed competition through attacks by commandos equipped with horses and firearms. After Jonker Afrikaner’s forces turned toward the north-west, they began raiding the people of Kaoko. Although Afrikaner military and political supremacy had declined by 1870, Swartbooi and Topnaar commandos based in southern Kaoko continued raids whose effects were remembered into the 1890s.
Pastoral communities responded in several ways. Some fled into the mountains of northern Kaoko and survived largely through foraging, eventually adopting a “Tjimba” identity. Others crossed the Kunene into Angola, retaining pastoral practices but with smaller herds. A further group, led by Kakurukouje, also known as Kasupi, cooperated with the Swartboois.
The disruption continued after cattle disease struck communities that had migrated from Kaoko into Angola. Many people turned to wage labour for the Portuguese, and between 1895 and 1906 participated in expeditions against the Nkhumbi, Ngambwe, or Ovambo peoples. When Portuguese policy changed, some former auxiliaries became bandits, while Vita Tom and other leaders later served as Portuguese police. The passage also records that the Kwambali king Himarwa fought the Portuguese in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.
Undated
North-western Namibia and southern Angola
Kaoko was a pastoral region and political zone in north-western Namibia whose communities experienced intensified raiding and displacement during the nineteenth century. Jonker Afrikaner’s forces attacked Kaoko after campaigning in Ovambo territory, while Swartbooi and Topnaar commandos based in southern Kaoko continued raids until the 1890s. Communities responded through flight, foraging, migration into Angola, wage labour, and collaboration with armed groups.
Continue exploring
The Story
Kaoko entered the nineteenth-century cycle of armed competition through attacks by commandos equipped with horses and firearms. After Jonker Afrikaner’s forces turned toward the north-west, they began raiding the people of Kaoko. Although Afrikaner military and political supremacy had declined by 1870, Swartbooi and Topnaar commandos based in southern Kaoko continued raids whose effects were remembered into the 1890s.
Pastoral communities responded in several ways. Some fled into the mountains of northern Kaoko and survived largely through foraging, eventually adopting a “Tjimba” identity. Others crossed the Kunene into Angola, retaining pastoral practices but with smaller herds. A further group, led by Kakurukouje, also known as Kasupi, cooperated with the Swartboois.
The disruption continued after cattle disease struck communities that had migrated from Kaoko into Angola. Many people turned to wage labour for the Portuguese, and between 1895 and 1906 participated in expeditions against the Nkhumbi, Ngambwe, or Ovambo peoples. When Portuguese policy changed, some former auxiliaries became bandits, while Vita Tom and other leaders later served as Portuguese police. The passage also records that the Kwambali king Himarwa fought the Portuguese in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century.