Cape Colony

The Cape Colony was a part of South Africa under British occupation during the 19th century. It stretched from the Atlantic Ocean eastwards: the final eastern boundary, after several wars against the Xhosa, stood at the Fish River. In the north, the Orange River, also known as the Gariep River, served for a long time as the boundary, although some land between the river and the southern boundary of Botswana was later added to it.

The history of Cape Colony started in 1652 with the founding of Cape Town by the Dutch commander Jan van Riebeeck, working for the Dutch East India Company, also known as Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (VOC).

Napoleon occupied the mother country of the Dutch East India Company, the Seven Provinces of the Netherlands, in 1795.

Britain occupied the territory in 1795 as a tactic in the Napoleonic Wars. VOC transferred its territories and claims to the Batavian Republic in 1798 and ceased to exist in 1799. The British handed Cape Colony back to the Batavian Republic in 1803.

In 1806, the Cape, now nominally controlled by the Batavian Republic, was occupied again by the British in the Battle of Blauberg, to keep Napoleon out of the Cape, and to control the Far East trade routes.

They set up a British colony on January 8, 1806. Cape Colony remained under British rule until the formation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, when it became the Cape of Good Hope Province (better known as the Cape Province).

Cape Colony

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