The archive
History, in depth
Long-form accounts of the Venda kingdom, the Boers of the Soutpansberg and the missions, built from the theses, archives and court records we have read, with honest notes where the sources disagree.
History
Tribute, land and the Boer state in the Soutpansberg, 1855 to 1898
From the 1850s to 1898 the Boer settlers of the Soutpansberg and the government of the South African Republic tried to turn Venda rulers…
History
The Soutpansberg war, 1863 to 1869
Between about 1863 and 1869 the Venda ruler Makhado and the Boers of the Soutpansberg fought a war that began inside the white community,…
History
The Ramabulana succession, 1864 to 1895
Twice in thirty years the Venda royal house of Ramabulana had to decide who would rule after a king’s death: in 1864, when Ramabulana…
History
Christian missions in Venda and the Spelonken, 1863 to 1895
Between 1863 and the early 1890s three missionary societies founded stations in the Soutpansberg: the Dutch Reformed Church in the west, the Berlin Missionary…
History
The Berlin Mission in Venda, 1872 to 1908
The Berlin Missionary Society worked among the Vhavenda from 1872 to well into the twentieth century. Its first converts were not made by the…
History
The Venda succession wars of the 1880s
In the 1880s three Venda territories fought over who should rule: Tsianda (1881 to 1885), Lwamondo (1883) and, longest of all, Dzimauli, the Rambuda…
History
The Buys people of the Soutpansberg: an overview
The Buys community of the Soutpansberg are a group of families who trace themselves to the frontiersman Coenraad de Buys and to three of…
History
Venda kingship disputes, 1890s to 2020s
For well over a century the question of who, if anyone, is king of all the Vhavenda has been fought over: by brothers in…
Know a story that isn't here yet?
A lot of this history still lives only in rondavels and in people's memories. If you know a clan praise, totem or story passed down around the fire, we want to add it, properly verified and credited to you.