What race are the Hottentots. Hottentots - the fifth race of people

The Hottentots are the oldest tribe in South Africa. Its name comes from the Dutch hottentot, which means "stutterer", and was given for a special clicking kind of pronunciation of sounds. Since the 19th century, the term "Hottentot" has been considered offensive in Namibia and South Africa, where it has been replaced by the term Khoi-Koin, derived from the self-name of Nama. Together with the Bushmen, the Khoi belong to the Khoisan race, the most peculiar race on the planet. A number of researchers noted the ability of people of this race to fall into a state of immobility, similar to suspended animation, during the cold season. These people lead a nomadic life that white travelers in the 18th century considered dirty and rude.

The Hottentots are characterized by a combination of features of the black and yellow races with peculiar features, short stature (150-160 cm), yellow-copper skin color. At the same time, the skin of the Hottentots ages very quickly, and middle-aged people can become covered with wrinkles on the face, neck, and knees. This gives them a prematurely senile appearance. A special fold of the eyelid, protruding cheekbones and yellowish skin with a copper sheen give the Bushmen some resemblance to the Mongoloids. Their limb bones are almost cylindrical in shape. They are characterized by the presence of steatopygia - the position of the hip at an angle of 90 degrees to the waist. It is believed that this is how they adapted to the conditions of the arid climate.

Interestingly, body fat in Hottentots varies depending on the time of year. Women often have excessively developed long labia. This feature came to be called the Hottentot apron. This part of the body, even in low Hottentots, reaches 15–18 centimeters in length. The labia sometimes hang down to the knees. Even according to native concepts, this anatomical feature is disgusting, and from ancient times it was the custom of the tribes to remove the labia before marriage.

After missionaries appeared in Abyssinia and began to convert the natives to Christianity, a ban was introduced on such surgical interventions. But the natives began to oppose such restrictions, refused to accept Christianity because of them, and even raised uprisings. The fact is that girls with such body features could no longer find a groom. Then the Pope himself issued a decree by which the natives were allowed to return to the original custom.

Jean-Joseph Virey described this sign as follows. “The bushwomen have something like a leather apron hanging from the pubis, covering the genitals. In fact, this is nothing more than an extension of the small pudendal lips by 16 cm. They protrude on each side beyond the large pudendal lips, which are almost absent, and are connected at the top, forming a hood over the clitoris and closing the entrance to the vagina. They can be raised above the pubis, like two ears. He further concludes that this "...can explain the natural inferiority of the Negro race in comparison with the white."

The scientist Topinar, having analyzed the features of the Khoisan race, came to the conclusion that the presence of an “apron” does not at all confirm the proximity of this race to monkeys, since in many monkeys, for example, in a female gorilla, these lips are completely invisible. Modern genetic studies have established that among the Bushmen, the type of Y chromosome characteristic of the first people has been preserved. Which indicates that, perhaps, all representatives of the genus Homo sapiens descended from this anthropological type, and to say that the Hottentots are not people is at least unscientific. It is the Hottentots and related groups that belong to the main race of mankind.

Archaeologically it is recorded that already 17 thousand years ago the Khoisan anthropological type was noted in the area of the confluence of the White and Blue Nile. In addition, figurines of prehistoric women found in the caves of southern France and Austria, and some rock paintings clearly resemble women of the Khoisand race. Some dispute the correctness of this similarity, since the hips of the figures found protrude at an angle of 120 ° to the waist, and not 90 °.

It is believed that the Hottentots, as the ancient aboriginal population of the southern tip of the African continent, once settled and roamed with huge herds throughout southern and a significant part of East Africa. But gradually Negroid tribes forced them out of significant territories. The Hottentots then settled mainly in the southern regions of modern South Africa. They mastered the smelting and processing of copper and iron before all the peoples of southern Africa. And by the time the Europeans appeared, they began to move to a settled way of life and engage in agriculture.

Traveler Kolb described their method of metal processing. “Dig a square or round hole in the ground, about 2 feet deep, and kindle a strong fire there to inflame the earth. When, after that, they throw ore into it, they kindle a fire there again so that the ore melts and becomes fluid from the intense heat. To collect this molten iron, they make another one 1 or 1.5 feet deep next to the first pit; and as a trough leads from the first smelting furnace into another pit, liquid iron flows down it and cools there. The next day, they take out the smelted iron, break it into pieces with stones, and again, with the help of fire, make of it whatever they want and need.

At the same time, the measure of wealth of this tribe has always been cattle, which they protected and practically did not use for food. Cattle were owned by large patriarchal families, some of whose livestock reached several thousand heads. Caring for livestock was the responsibility of the men. Women cooked food and churned butter in leather bags. Dairy food has always been the basis of the tribe's diet. If they wanted to eat meat, they obtained it by hunting. Their entire life is still subordinate to the cattle-breeding way of life.

The Khoi-Koin live in camp sites - kraals. These parking lots are made in the form of a circle and surrounded by a fence of thorny bushes. Along the inner perimeter are round wicker huts covered with animal skins. The hut has a diameter of 3-4 m; the bearing poles fixed in the pits are fastened horizontally and covered with woven reed mats or skins. The only source of light in the dwelling is a low door (not higher than 1 m), covered with a mat. The main furniture is a bed on a wooden base with interlacing leather straps. Dishes - pots, calabash, tortoise shells, ostrich eggs. 50 years ago, stone knives were used, which are now replaced by iron ones. Each family occupies a separate hut. The chief with the clan members lives in the western part of the kraal. The leader of the tribe has a council of elders.

Previously, the Hottentots dressed in cloaks made of dressed leather or skins, and wore sandals on their feet. They have always been great lovers of jewelry, and they are loved by both men and women. Men's jewelry is ivory and copper bracelets, while women prefer iron and copper rings, shell necklaces. Around the ankle they wore strips of leather that cracked as they hit each other. Since the Hottentots live in an extremely arid climate, they wash themselves in a very peculiar way: they rub the body with wet cow dung, which was removed after drying. Animal fat is still used instead of cream.

Previously, the Hottentots practiced polygamy. By the beginning of the 20th century, monogamy had replaced polygamy. But to this day, the custom of paying "lobola" - a bride price in cattle, or in cash in an amount equivalent to the cost of cattle, has been preserved. Before there was slavery. Prisoner-of-war slaves usually grazed and cared for cattle. In the 19th century, some of the Hottentots were enslaved, mixed with Malay slaves and Europeans. They formed a special large ethnic group of the population of the Cape Province of South Africa. The rest of the Hottentots fled across the Orange River. At the beginning of the 20th century, this part waged a fierce war with the colonialists. In an unequal struggle, they were defeated. 100,000 Hottentots were exterminated.

Only a few small Hottentot tribes survive today. They live on reservations and are engaged in pastoralism. Modern dwellings are usually small square houses of 1-2 rooms with an iron roof, sparse furniture and aluminum utensils. Modern clothes for men are standard European; women prefer clothes borrowed from the wives of missionaries of the 18th-19th centuries, using colored and bright fabrics.

The bulk of the Hottentots work in the cities, as well as on the plantations of farmers. Despite the fact that some have lost all the features of life and culture and adopted Christianity, a significant part of the Khoi-Koins retain the cult of their ancestors, revere the moon and sky. They believe in the Demiurge (the heavenly god-creator) and the hero Kheisib, they revere the deities of the cloudless sky Hum and the rainy one Sum. The mantis grasshopper acts as an evil principle.

The Hottentots consider the mother and child unclean. To make them clean, a strange and untidy rite of purification is performed on them, in which mother and child are rubbed with rancid fat. These people believe in magic and sorcery, amulets and talismans. Witches still exist. According to tradition, they are forbidden to wash, and over time they become covered with a thick layer of dirt.

An important role in their mythology is played by the moon, which is dedicated to dances and prayers on the full moon. If the Hottentot wants the wind to die down, then he takes one of the thickest skins and hangs it on a pole in the belief that, blowing the skin off the pole, the wind should lose all its strength and come to naught.

The Khoi have preserved rich folklore, they have many fairy tales and legends. During festivals they sing and dedicate their songs to deities and spirits. Their music is very beautiful, as these people are naturally musical. In the Khoi environment, the possession of a musical instrument has always been valued more than material wealth. Often the Hottentots sing in four voices, and this singing is accompanied by a trumpet.

The Hottentots are the oldest tribe in South Africa. Its name comes from the Dutch hottentot, which means "stutterer", and was given for a special clicking kind of pronunciation of sounds.

Since the 19th century, the term "Hottentot" has been considered offensive in Namibia and South Africa, where it has been replaced by the term Khoi-Koin, derived from the self-name of Nama. Together with the Bushmen, the Khoi belong to the Khoisan race, the most peculiar race on the planet. A number of researchers noted the ability of people of this race to fall into a state of immobility, similar to suspended animation, during the cold season. These people lead a nomadic life that white travelers in the 18th century considered dirty and rude.

The Hottentot Venuses, statues of women with excess fat deposits on their thighs, are attributed to the races that inhabited the south of France - from the Mediterranean coast to Brittany and Switzerland - in the Upper Paleolithic era. One Egyptian engraving dating from about 3000 BC shows two women with excess fat folds on their thighs, performing a ritual dance on the river bank next to two goats - the sacred animals of their tribe - on the arrival of a ship bearing the goat emblem. Apparently, these women are priestesses.
Figurines of prehistoric women found in caves in southern France and Austria, and some rock paintings indicate that steatopygia was previously widespread in primitive communities.
This development of the fatty layer is genetically incorporated in some peoples of Africa and the Andaman Islands.
Among the African peoples of the Khoisan group, protruding buttocks at an angle are a sign of female beauty.

Hottentots

A tribe of South Africa inhabiting the English colony of the Cape Colony and named so originally by Dutch settlers. The origin of this name is not entirely clear. The physical type of G., very different from the type of Negroes and representing, as it were, a combination of signs of a black and yellow race with peculiar features - an original language with strange, clicking sounds - a kind of life, basically nomadic, but at the same time extremely primitive, dirty, rude , - some strange customs and customs - all this seemed extremely curious and already in the 18th century caused a number of descriptions of travelers who saw in this tribe the lowest stage of humanity.

Later it turned out that this is not entirely true. Some researchers tend to consider the Hottentots and related groups to be one of the indigenous, or main, races of mankind.
Modern genetic studies in the field of inheritance along the Y chromosome have established that among the capoids the original (characteristic of the first people) A1 haplotype has been preserved, which indicates that, perhaps, the first representatives of the genus Homo sapiens belonged to this anthropological type.

The Hottentots (Khoi-Koin; self-name: ||khaa||khaasen) are an ethnic community in southern Africa. Now they inhabit South and Central Namibia, in many places living mixed with Damara and Herero. Separate groups also live in South Africa: Grikva, Koran and Nama groups (mostly immigrants from Namibia).
Despite the small number in the population of the modern Republic of South Africa (Hottentots - about 2 thousand people, Bushmen about 1 thousand), these peoples, and especially the Hottentots, played a significant role in history.
The name comes from the Dutch. hottentot, which means "stuttering" (referring to the pronunciation of clicking sounds). In the XIX-XX centuries. the term ‛Hottentots' has taken on a negative connotation and is now considered offensive in Namibia and South Africa, where it has been replaced by the term Khoekhoen (koi-koin), derived from the self-name of nama. In Russian, both terms are still used.
Anthropologically, the Hottentots, together with the Bushmen, unlike other African peoples, belong to a special racial type - the capoid race.
According to the hypothesis of the American anthropologist K. Kuhn (1904 - 1981) - this is a separate (fifth) large human race. Moreover, according to Kuhn, the origin of the capoid race was in North Africa.
In the past, the Khoisan peoples occupied most of the territory of South and East Africa and, judging by anthropological studies, also penetrated into North Africa.
It is archaeologically recorded that 17 thousand years ago the Khoisan anthropological type was noted in the area of the confluence of the White and Blue Nile.
Their presence in the north is evidenced by some "relic" peoples. These relics include some groups of Berbers in Morocco and Tunisia (the Mozabites of the island of Djerba and others). These groups are characterized by short stature, broad and flat face, yellowish skin color.
In Central Africa, live capoids, which have black skin, but nevertheless have characteristic Mongoloid features.

A distinctive feature of this race is low stature: for the Bushmen 140-150 cm, for the Hottents - 150-160 cm. the color of a dried yellowed leaf, tanned skin or walnut, and sometimes similar to the color of mulattos or yellow-dark Javanese.
The skin color of the Bushmen is somewhat darker and approaches copper-red. The skin of the Hottentots is characterized by a tendency to wrinkle, both on the face and on the neck, under the armpits, on the knees, etc., which often gives middle-aged people a prematurely senile appearance.
In addition to the yellowish skin color, the peoples of this race are united with the Mongoloids by a narrow slit of the eyes (the presence of epicanthus), wide cheekbones and poorly developed hair on the body.

The beard and mustache are barely noticeable, appear only in adulthood and remain very short, thick eyebrows. The hair on the head is short and even more curly than that of the Negroids: on the head it is short, finely curly and curling into separate small tufts the size of a pea or more (Livingston compared them with black pepper grains planted on the skin, Barrow - with bunches of a shoe brush, with the only difference is that these bundles are twisted spirally into balls).
Both the Bushmen and the Hottentots have a flat nose with broad wings.

The build is lean, muscular, angular, but in women (and partly in men) there is a tendency to deposition of fat on the back of the body (buttocks, thighs), or to the so-called steatopygia - the predominant deposition of fat on the buttocks.), which, according to some observations , is caused by increased nutrition at certain times of the year and is markedly reduced with more meager food.

Women of this race are characterized by a number of features that distinguish them from the rest of the world's population - in addition to steatopygia, there is also an "Egyptian apron" or "Hottentot apron" (tsgai), - hypertrophy of the labia ("Hottentot Venus" is described by Le Vaillant in a report on travels 1780 - 1785: “The Hottentots have a natural apron that serves to cover the sign of their gender ... They can be up to nine inches long, more or less, depending on the woman’s years or on the efforts that she uses for this strange decoration .. .").
A number of researchers (Stone) noted the ability of the Bushmen to fall into a state of immobility (similar to suspended animation) during the cold season.

The Bushmen, along with the Hottentots, are distinguished linguistically into the Khoisan race, and their languages into the Khoisan group of languages.
The name “Koisan” is conditional; this is a derivative of the Hottentot words “Khoi” (Khoi – “man”, Khoi-Khoin – the self-name of the Hottentots, meaning “people of people”, i.e. “real people”) and “san” (san is the Hottentot name for the Bushmen).
It is believed that the Bushmen and Hottentots, the ancient aboriginal population of the southern tip of the African continent, once settled throughout southern and a large part of East Africa, from where they were forced out by the tribes of the Negroid race, speaking the languages of the Bantu family, who subsequently settled all of East and most of South Africa. Among these pastoral and agricultural tribes of the Bantu, in the central part of Tanzania, the tribes of the Khoisan group still live today - these are the Hadzapi (or Kindiga), living south of Lake Eyasi, and located somewhat south of the Sandawe. Hadzapi and Sandawe are engaged in hunting and fishing.
The Hottentots once roamed with their huge herds of cattle throughout the western and southern regions of present-day South Africa. Before all the peoples of southern Africa, they mastered the smelting and processing of metals (copper, iron). By the time the Europeans appeared, they began to move to settled life and engage in agriculture.
Peter Kolb, a German traveler of the 18th century, speaking of the skills of the Hottentots to work metals, wrote: , no doubt, this circumstance will be very surprised.
The life of the Hottentots was subordinated to the pastoral lifestyle. Subsequently, he largely influenced the economic structure and life of immigrants from the north - the Bantu, as well as the life of European Afrikaners (Boers).
The measure of wealth was livestock, which was practically not used for food: the lack of meat food was made up for by hunting wild animals. Dairy food was the basis of nutrition. The bull was used as a riding animal.

A characteristic type of settlement was a camp site - "kraal", which is a circle surrounded by a fence of thorny bushes. Along the inner perimeter, rounded wicker huts were built, covered with animal skins (each family had its own hut). In the western part of the circle were the dwellings of the leader and members of his clan). Under the leader of the tribe, there was a council of its oldest members.
The Hottentots practiced polygamy until the 19th century.
There was slavery: as a rule, prisoners of war became slaves. Their main task was to graze and care for livestock. Cattle were owned by large patriarchal families, some of whose livestock reached several thousand heads.

The so-called karossa served as clothing - a cape made of dressed leather or skins. They wore leather sandals.
The Hottentots loved jewelry: both men and women.
For men, these are bracelets made of ivory and copper, for women, iron and copper rings, shell necklaces. Strips of leather were worn around the ankles: when dry, they cracked and hit each other.
Water was not used often: due to the arid climate in most of the territory inhabited by the ancient Hottentots. The toilet consisted in abundant rubbing of the whole body with wet cow dung, which was removed after drying. To give the skin elasticity, the body was smeared with fat.

In 1651, the expansion of Europeans in southern Africa (near the Cape of Good Hope) began: the Dutch East India Company began the construction of Fort Kapstad, which later became the largest port and base on the route from Europe to India.
The first people the Dutch encountered in the Cape area were the Korakwa Hottentots. The leader of this tribe, the Kora, concluded the first Hottentot-European treaty with the commandant of Kapstad, Jan van Riebeek.
These were "years of cordial cooperation" when a mutually beneficial exchange between the Khoi and the "whites" was established.
The Dutch settlers in May 1659 violated the treaty by seizing land (the administration allowed them to farm). Such actions led to the first Hottentot-Boer War. During which the leader of the Hottentot tribe, Cora, was killed. This tribe immortalized the name of its leader in its own name, becoming known as the Koran. At the end of the 18th century, this tribe, together with the Grigrikva tribe, migrated to the north of the Cape Colony.
This war ended in a draw.
On July 18, 1673, the Boers killed 12 Kochokwa Hottentots. A second war began, manifested in constant raids against each other. In this war, the "whites" began to play on the differences between the Hottentot tribes, using one tribe against another.
In 1674, a raid against the Kochokwa: consisting of 100 Boers and 400 Chonaqua Hottentots. 800 cattle, 4,000 sheep and many weapons were captured.
In 1676, the Kochokwa launched 2 attacks against the Boers and their allies. As a result, they got back what they stole.
In 1677, the authorities made peace with the Hottentots, proposed by the supreme leader of the Hottentots, Gonnema.
In 1689, the Hottentots of the Cape Colony were forced to stop fighting against the seizure of their land by the Boers.
In the course of wars and epidemics, the number of Hottentots declined sharply: at the turn of the 18th century, the Boers already outnumbered the Hottentots in number, there were only about 15 thousand of them left. Many Hottentots died from smallpox epidemics in 1713 and 1755.

It is believed that in the pre-colonial period, the number of Khoi-Koin tribes could reach 200 thousand people.
During the 17th and 19th centuries, the Hottentot tribes that inhabited the southern tip of Africa were almost completely destroyed. So, the Khoi-Koin tribes that inhabited the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Cape Town disappeared - Kochokva, Goringaiikva, Gainokva, Hesekwa, Hantsunkva. At present, the Koran is the only Hottentot tribe living in South Africa (to the north of the Orange River, in the border areas with Botswana) and preserved to a large extent the traditional way of life.
A number of Koran Hottentots live in the southern regions of Botswana.

: Grikva, Korana and Nama groups (mostly settlers from Namibia).

Name

Story

By the arrival of Europeans, the Hottentots occupied the southwestern coast of Africa, from the Fish River in the east to the central highlands of Namibia in the north. How long the Hottentots lived in these places is not known exactly. We can only say with certainty that the Bantu tribes found them several centuries earlier already in these same places. According to lexicostatistics, the Khoi Khoi branch separated from other Central Khoisan languages (Chu-Khwe branch) at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. However, the place of initial settlement of their common ancestors (the Kalahari Desert region or the Cape region) and the ways of further migrations are still unknown. The Khoikhoy branch itself fell apart presumably in the 3rd century AD. e.

Unlike the Bushmen, the Hottentots practiced nomadic pastoralism.

Traditionally, the Hottentots were divided into two large groups: the Nama and the Cape Hottentots, who in turn were divided into smaller groups, and those into tribes (!haoti).

Folklore

An ironic attitude to the brute strength of a lion and an elephant and admiration for the mind and ingenuity of a hare and a turtle are manifested in all these tales.

Their main characters are animals, but sometimes the story is about people, but people - the heroes of fairy tales - are still very close to animals: women marry elephants and go to their villages, people and animals live, think, talk and act together.

Nama

Self-name - namaqua. Before the arrival of Europeans, they were divided into two groups:

nama proper(large Nama; Great Nama) - by the arrival of Europeans, they lived north of the river. Orange (south of modern Namibia, Great Namaqualand). They were divided into the following tribes (listed from north to south, given in brackets: variants of the Russian name; name in Afrikaans; self-name):
- swartboys (lhautsoan; swartbooi; ||khau-|gõan)
- koper (khara-khoy, Frasmanns; kopers, fransmanne, Simon Kopper hottentot; !kharkoen).
- Roinasi (gai-lhaua, "red people"; rooinasie; gai-||xauan)
- hrotdoden-nama (lo-kai; grootdoden; ||ō-gain)
- feldshundrachers (labobe, haboben; veldschoendragers; || haboben).
- tsaibshi (kharo; tsaibsche, keetmanshopers; kharo-!oan).
- bondelswarts (kamichnun; bondelswarts; !gamiǂnûn).
- topnaars (chaonin; topnaars; ǂaonîn).
eagles(small nama; orlams, little nama; self-name: !gû-!gôun) - by the arrival of the Europeans, they lived south of the river. Orange to the river basin. Ulifants (west of modern South Africa, Lesser Namaqualand). Five Orlam-Nama tribes are known:
- the Afrikaner tribe (ts'oa-ts'aran; Afrikaaners; orlam afrikaners; |hôa-|aran), should not be confused with the Afrikaners (Boers).
- lamberts (gai-ts'khauan; lamberts, amraals; kai|khauan).
- witboys (ts'khobesin; witboois ('white guys'); |khobesin).
- Betanians (qaman; bethaniërs; !aman).
- bersebs (ts'ai-ts'khauan; bersabaers; |hai-|khauan).

They soon had a new common rival, Germany. In 1884, the territory north of the river. Orange was declared a German colony of South West Africa. Following this, land was taken from the Hottentots and other indigenous people, which was accompanied by many clashes and violence. In 1904-08, the Herero and Hottentots raised several uprisings, which were suppressed with unprecedented cruelty by the German troops and went down in history as the Herero and Nama genocide. 80% of the Herero and 50% of the Hottentots (Nama) were destroyed.

After the suppression of the uprisings, the Nama were settled in special reserves (home-lands): Berseba (Berseba), Bondels (Bondels), Gibeon (Gibeon, Krantzplatz), Sesfontein (Sesfontein), Soromas (Soromas), Warmbad (Warmbad), Neuhol (Neuhol ), Tses, Hoachanas, Okombahe/Damaraland, Fransfontein. The system of reserves was also supported by the South African administration, which controlled the territory of Namibia from to. Inside them, they still make up the majority of the population, but they also live outside: in cities and on farms - mixed with Bantu and whites. The division into tribal groups is preserved, which are now strongly mixed.

Cape Hottentots

(Cape Koikoin; kaphottentotten) - no longer exists as a separate ethnic group. They inhabited coastal lands from the Cape of Good Hope in the southwest to the basin of the river. Ulifants in the north (where they bordered on Nama) and up to the river. Fish (Vis) in the east (modern Western Cape and western Eastern Cape). Their number is estimated at 100 thousand or 200 thousand. At the beginning of the 17th century, they were divided into 2-3 groups, represented by at least 13 tribes.

Einikva(riviervolk; ãi-||'ae, einiqua). Perhaps they were closer to the Nama than to the Cape Hottentots.
Western Cape Hottentots
- karos-heber (kaross-heber; ǂnam-||’ae)
- kohokva (ts'oho; smaal-wange, saldanhamans; |'oo-xoo, cochoqua)
- huriqua (guriqua)
- horinghaiqua (goringhaiqua, !uri-||'ae)
- horahauqua (koora-lhau; gorachouqua (‘peninsula’); !ora-||xau)
- ubiqua (ubiqua)
- hainoqua (chainoqua; Snyer's volk; !kaon)
- hessequa (hessequa)
- attaqua
- auteniqua (lo-tani; houteniqua, zakkedragers; ||hoo-tani)
Eastern Cape Hottentots
- inqua
- damaqua, not to be confused with damara
- hunheikva (ts'oang; hoengeiqua; katte; |hõãn)
- harihurikva (hrihri; chariguriqua, grigriqua).

Most of the tribes were exterminated or assimilated by Europeans during the 18th and early 19th centuries, but by the beginning of the 18th century three new groups of mixed origin had formed: Gonaqua, Korakwa and Hrikwa, mainly outside the original Hottentot territory, to the east among the Bantu and among the Bushmen along the Orange River.

Gonaqua(chon; gonaqua; ǂgona) - formed at the beginning of the 18th century east of the river. Cay (centre of the Eastern Cape) based on the Xhosa-influenced Eastern Cape Hottentots. Part moved to Betelsdorp (near Port Elizabeth). Disappeared to ser. XIX century.
Koran(!ora, korakva; koraqua; !ora) - formed as a result of contacts with the Dutch and the significant movements and reorganizations of the local Hottentot tribes caused by them in the late 17th - early 18th centuries. Lived along the river Orange from the border with Namibia to the vicinity of Kimberley (Northern Cape; western Free State), among the Bushmen. By the end of the 20th century, more than 10 thousand Korans lived in the vicinity of Douglas, Priska, Campbell and Griquatown (South Africa, north of the middle reaches of the Orange River). They speak Afrikaans.
grikva(hrikva, qhiri; griqua;! xiri) - a mixed group, formed in the area of the city of Kokstad (East Grikvaland), southeast of Lesotho (south of the modern province of KwaZulu-Natal). At the beginning of the 19th century, some moved to Griekwastad (modern Northern Cape) and southeast Namibia (near Karasburg), where small groups remain to this day. They speak Afrikaans.

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Notes

Literature

Elphick. Khoikhoi and the founding of White South Africa. second edition. Ravan Press. Johannesburg, 1985
Wilson M.H. The hunters and herders. // Wilson M.H. & Thompson L.M. (eds.) The Oxford history of South Africa, vol. 1: to 1870. Oxford, 1969.

An excerpt characterizing the Hottentots

Napoleon turned to him cheerfully and tugged him by the ear.
- You hurried, very glad. Well, what does Paris say? he said, suddenly changing his previously stern expression to the most affectionate.
- Sire, tout Paris regrette votre absence, [Sir, all Paris regrets your absence.] - as it should, answered de Bosset. But although Napoleon knew that Bosset should say this or the like, although he knew in his clear moments that it was not true, he was pleased to hear this from de Bosset. He again honored him with a touch on the ear.
“Je suis fache, de vous avoir fait faire tant de chemin, [I am very sorry that I made you drive so far.],” he said.
– Sir! Je ne m "attendais pas a moins qu" a vous trouver aux portes de Moscou, [I expected no less than how to find you, sovereign, at the gates of Moscow.] - Bosse said.
Napoleon smiled and, absently raising his head, looked to his right. The adjutant came up with a floating step with a golden snuffbox and held it up. Napoleon took her.
- Yes, it happened well for you, - he said, putting an open snuffbox to his nose, - you like to travel, in three days you will see Moscow. You probably did not expect to see the Asian capital. You will make a pleasant journey.
Bosse bowed in gratitude for this attentiveness to his (hitherto unknown to him) propensity to travel.
- A! what's this? - said Napoleon, noticing that all the courtiers were looking at something covered with a veil. Bosse, with courtly agility, without showing his back, took a half-turn two steps back and at the same time pulled off the veil and said:
“A gift to Your Majesty from the Empress.
It was a portrait painted by Gerard in bright colors of a boy born from Napoleon and the daughter of the Austrian emperor, whom for some reason everyone called the king of Rome.
A very handsome curly-haired boy, with a look similar to that of Christ in the Sistine Madonna, was depicted playing a bilbock. The orb represented the globe, and the wand in the other hand represented the scepter.
Although it was not entirely clear what exactly the painter wanted to express, imagining the so-called King of Rome piercing the globe with a stick, but this allegory, like everyone who saw the picture in Paris, and Napoleon, obviously, seemed clear and very pleased.
“Roi de Rome, [Roman King.],” he said, pointing gracefully at the portrait. – Admirable! [Wonderful!] - With the Italian ability to change the expression at will, he approached the portrait and pretended to be thoughtful tenderness. He felt that what he would say and do now was history. And it seemed to him that the best thing he could do now was that he, with his greatness, as a result of which his son in bilbock played with the globe, so that he showed, in contrast to this greatness, the simplest paternal tenderness. His eyes dimmed, he moved, looked around at the chair (the chair jumped under him) and sat down on it opposite the portrait. One gesture from him - and everyone tiptoed out, leaving himself and his feeling of a great man.
After sitting for some time and touching, for what he did not know, with his hand until the rough reflection of the portrait, he got up and again called Bosse and the duty officer. He ordered the portrait to be taken out in front of the tent, so as not to deprive the old guard, who stood near his tent, of the happiness of seeing the Roman king, the son and heir of their adored sovereign.
As he expected, while he was breakfasting with Monsieur Bosset, who had been honored with this honor, enthusiastic cries of officers and soldiers of the old guard were heard in front of the tent.
- Vive l "Empereur! Vive le Roi de Rome! Vive l" Empereur! [Long live the Emperor! Long live the king of Rome!] – enthusiastic voices were heard.
After breakfast, Napoleon, in the presence of Bosset, dictated his order to the army.
Courte et energique! [Short and energetic!] - Napoleon said when he himself read the proclamation written without amendments at once. The order was:
"Warriors! Here is the battle you have been longing for. Victory is up to you. It is necessary for us; she will provide us with everything we need: comfortable apartments and a speedy return to the fatherland. Act as you did at Austerlitz, Friedland, Vitebsk and Smolensk. May later posterity proudly remember your exploits in this day. Let them say about each of you: he was in the great battle near Moscow!
– De la Moskowa! [Near Moscow!] - repeated Napoleon, and, having invited Mr. Bosse, who loved to travel, to his walk, he left the tent to the saddled horses.
- Votre Majeste a trop de bonte, [You are too kind, your Majesty,] - Bosse said to the invitation to accompany the emperor: he wanted to sleep and he did not know how and was afraid to ride.
But Napoleon nodded his head to the traveler, and Bosset had to go. When Napoleon left the tent, the cries of the guards in front of the portrait of his son intensified even more. Napoleon frowned.
“Take it off,” he said, pointing gracefully at the portrait with a majestic gesture. It's too early for him to see the battlefield.
Bosse, closing his eyes and bowing his head, took a deep breath, with this gesture showing how he knew how to appreciate and understand the words of the emperor.

All that day, August 25, as his historians say, Napoleon spent on horseback, surveying the area, discussing the plans presented to him by his marshals, and personally giving orders to his generals.
The original line of disposition of the Russian troops along the Kolocha was broken, and part of this line, namely the left flank of the Russians, was driven back as a result of the capture of the Shevardinsky redoubt on the 24th. This part of the line was not fortified, no longer protected by the river, and in front of it alone there was a more open and level place. It was obvious to every military and non-military that this part of the line was to be attacked by the French. It seemed that this did not require many considerations, it did not need such care and troublesomeness of the emperor and his marshals, and it did not need at all that special higher ability, called genius, which Napoleon is so fond of ascribed to; but the historians who subsequently described this event, and the people who then surrounded Napoleon, and he himself thought differently.
Napoleon rode across the field, peered thoughtfully at the terrain, shook his head approvingly or incredulously with himself, and, without informing the generals around him of the thoughtful move that guided his decisions, conveyed to them only final conclusions in the form of orders. After listening to the proposal of Davout, called the Duke of Eckmuhl, to turn around the Russian left flank, Napoleon said that this should not be done, without explaining why it was not necessary. On the proposal of General Compan (who was supposed to attack the fleches) to lead his division through the forest, Napoleon expressed his consent, despite the fact that the so-called Duke of Elchingen, that is, Ney, allowed himself to remark that moving through the forest was dangerous and could upset the division .
After inspecting the area opposite the Shevardinsky redoubt, Napoleon thought for a while in silence and pointed to the places where two batteries were to be arranged by tomorrow for action against the Russian fortifications, and the places where field artillery was to line up next to them.
Having given these and other orders, he returned to his headquarters, and the disposition of the battle was written under his dictation.
This disposition, about which French historians speak with delight and other historians with deep respect, was as follows:
“At dawn, two new batteries, arranged in the night, on the plain occupied by Prince Ekmülsky, will open fire on two opposing enemy batteries.
At the same time, the chief of artillery of the 1st Corps, General Pernetti, with 30 guns of the Compan division and all the howitzers of the Desse and Friant division, will move forward, open fire and bombard the enemy battery with grenades, against which they will act!
24 guards artillery guns,
30 guns of the Kompan division
and 8 guns of the Friant and Desse divisions,
In total - 62 guns.
The chief of artillery of the 3rd corps, General Fouche, will place all the howitzers of the 3rd and 8th corps, 16 in total, on the flanks of the battery, which is assigned to bombard the left fortification, which will total 40 guns against it.
General Sorbier must be ready at the first order to take out with all the howitzers of the guards artillery against one or another fortification.
In continuation of the cannonade, Prince Poniatowski will go to the village, into the forest and bypass the enemy position.
General Kompan will move through the forest to take the first fortification.
Upon entering the battle in this way, orders will be given according to the actions of the enemy.
The cannonade on the left flank will begin as soon as the cannonade of the right wing is heard. The riflemen of Moran's and Viceroy's divisions will open heavy fire upon seeing the right wing attack begin.
The viceroy will take possession of the village [Borodin] and cross his three bridges, following at the same height with the divisions of Moran and Gerard, who, under his leadership, will move towards the redoubt and enter the line with the rest of the army.
All this must be carried out in order (le tout se fera avec ordre et methode), keeping the troops as far as possible in reserve.

Africa is the most ancient and mysterious continent of our planet, and the most ancient peoples of this continent, according to scientists, are the Bushmen and Hottentots. Currently, their descendants live in the Kalahari Desert and nearby areas of Angola and South West Africa, where they retreated under the onslaught of the Bantu peoples and Dutch settlers.

The Hottentots today are an extremely small nation, there are no more than fifty thousand people. But until now they have retained their own customs and traditions.

The language of nature

The name of the Hottentot tribe comes from the Dutch word hottentot, which means "stutterer", and was given for a special clicking kind of pronunciation of sounds. For European people, this was reminiscent of the speech of monkeys, and therefore they concluded that this people is almost a transitional link between the world of primates and humans. According to this theory, the attitude of Europeans towards this people was akin to the attitude towards domestic or wild animals.

However, modern genetic studies have established that among this people the Y-chromosome type characteristic of the first people has been preserved. This indicates that perhaps all members of the genus Homo sapiens are descended from this anthropological type. It is the Hottentots and related groups that belong to the main race of mankind.

We find the first information about the Hottentots from the traveler Kolben, who described them shortly after the establishment of the Dutch colonies in their country. The Hottentots at that time were still a numerous people, divided into many tribes under the leadership of leaders or elders; they led a nomadic pastoral life, in groups of 300 or 400, and lived in mobile huts made up of stakes covered with mats. Their clothes were sheepskins sewn together; weapons were bows with poisoned arrows and darts or assegai.

The traditions of this people and some etymological indications give the right to conclude that at one time the distribution of the Hottentots was incomparably more extensive. Memories of this are still retained in the Hottentot names of rivers and mountains. They once owned all of South West Africa.

Not black, not white

The Hottentots are characterized by a combination of features of the black and yellow races with peculiar features. Representatives of this tribe are low - no more than one and a half meters tall. Their skin has a yellow-copper hue.

At the same time, the skin of the Hottentots ages very quickly. A short moment of flowering - and after twenty years their face, neck and body are covered with deep wrinkles, which gives them the appearance of deep old men.

Interestingly, body fat in Hottentots varies with the seasons. Women of this nationality have anatomical features that the Europeans called the "Hottentot apron" (enlarged labia minora).

Until now, no one can explain the origin of this natural anatomy. But the sight of this "apron" was disgusting not only among Europeans - even the Hottentots themselves considered it unaesthetic, and therefore from ancient times the tribes had a custom to remove it before marriage.

"Venus of the Hottentots" - women of this nation had unusual forms

And only with the arrival of the missionaries introduced a ban on this surgical intervention. But the natives resisted such restrictions, refused to accept Christianity because of them, and even raised uprisings. The fact is that girls with such body features could no longer find suitors for themselves. Then the pope himself issued a decree by which the natives were allowed to return to their original custom.

However, such a physiological oddity did not prevent the Hottentots from practicing polygamy, which developed into monogamy only by the beginning of the 20th century. But even to this day, the custom of paying "lobola" - a ransom for the bride in cattle or money in an amount equivalent to its value, has been preserved.

But the men of this tribe have a tradition of amputating one of their testicles, which defies scientific logic - this is done so that twins are not born in the family, the appearance of which is considered a curse for the tribe.

Nomads and artisans

In ancient times, the Hottentots were nomads. They moved with huge herds of cattle throughout the southern and eastern parts of the continent. But gradually they were forced out of their traditional territories by Negroid tribes. The Hottentots then settled mainly in the southern regions of modern South Africa.

Livestock was the main measure of the wealth of this tribe, which they guarded and practically did not use for food. Wealthy Hottentots had several thousand cows. Caring for livestock was the responsibility of the men. Women cooked food and churned butter in leather bags. Dairy food has always been the basis of the tribe's diet. If the Hottentots wanted to eat meat, they obtained it by hunting.

Representatives of this race built houses from twigs of African trees and animal skins. The technology of construction was simple. They first fixed the carrying poles in special pits, which were then tied horizontally, and covered the walls with either reed mats or animal skins.

The huts were small - 3 or 4 meters in diameter. The only source of light is a low door covered with a mat. The main furniture is a bed on a wooden base with interlacing leather straps. Dishes - pots, calabash, tortoise shells, ostrich eggs. Each family occupied a separate hut.

Hygiene of the Hottentots from the position of modern man seems monstrous. Instead of daily bathing, they rubbed the body with wet cow dung, which was removed after drying.

Despite the hot climate, the Hottentots mastered the production of clothing and jewelry. They wore cloaks made of dressed leather or skins, and sandals on their feet. Hands, neck and legs were decorated with all kinds of bracelets and rings made of ivory, copper, iron and walnut shells.

The traveler Kolben described their method of metal processing as follows: “They dig a quadrangular or round hole in the ground about 2 feet deep and make a strong fire there to heat the earth. When, after that, they throw ore into it, they kindle a fire there again so that the ore melts and becomes fluid from the intense heat. To collect this molten iron, they make another one 1 or 1.5 feet deep next to the first pit; and as a trough leads from the first smelting furnace into another pit, liquid iron flows down it and cools there. The next day, they take out the smelted iron, break it into pieces with stones, and again, with the help of fire, make of it whatever they want and need.

Under white oppression

In the middle of the 17th century, the expansion of Europeans to southern Africa (to the area of the Cape of Good Hope) began: the Dutch East India Company began the construction of Fort Kapstad, which later became the largest port and base on the way from Europe to India.

The first people the Dutch encountered in the Cape area were the Korakwa Hottentots. The leader of this Kora tribe concluded the first treaty with the commandant of Kapstad, Jan van Riebeeck. These were "years of cordial cooperation" when a mutually beneficial exchange was established between the tribe and the white aliens.

The Dutch settlers in May 1659 violated the treaty by seizing land (the administration allowed them to farm). Such actions led to the first Hottentot-Boer War, during which the leader of the Hottentot tribe Kora was killed.

In 1673, the Boers killed 12 Kochokwa Hottentots. The second war began. In it, the Europeans played on the differences between the Hottentot tribes, using one tribe against another. As a result of these armed clashes, the number of Hottentots was sharply reduced.

And the smallpox epidemic, which the Europeans brought to the Black Continent, almost completely wiped out the indigenous people. During the XVII-XIX centuries, the Hottentot tribes that inhabited the southern tip of Africa were almost completely destroyed.

Only a few small tribes survive today. They live on reservations and are engaged in cattle breeding. Despite the fact that some have lost all the features of life and culture and adopted Christianity, a significant part of them retain the cult of their ancestors, honor the moon and sky. They believe in the Demiurge (heavenly creator god) and worship the deities of the cloudless sky - Huma - and the rainy - Sum. They have preserved a rich folklore, they have many fairy tales, legends, in which memories of their former greatness still live.