To a special racial type - the capoid race.

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  Traditionally, the Hottentots were divided into two large groups: the Nama and the Cape Hottentots, which 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)
    • kopers (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 under the name Genocide of the Herero and Nama tribes. 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 cocoin; kaphottentotten) - as a separate ethnic group does not currently exist. Inhabited coastal lands from Cape Good Nadezhda 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 (‘Peninsular’); !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

  The Hottentots are probably the most mysterious people of southern Africa. Currently, most of them live in South and Central Namibia.

  Separate groups also live in South Africa: Grikva, Korana and Nama groups (mostly immigrants from Namibia).

  The name comes from the Dutch hottentot, which means "stutter" (referring to the pronunciation of clicking sounds). Over time, the term "Hottentots" acquired a negative connotation and is now considered offensive in Namibia and South Africa, where it has been replaced by the term Khoekhoen (Khoi-Koin). In Russian, both terms are still used.

  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 ​​(the Chu-Khwe branch) at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. e. However, the place of the 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.

  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.

  The physical appearance of the Hottents and the Bushmen is quite similar (the Hottentots belong together with the Bushmen to a special racial type - the capoid race), but cultural and linguistic differences between them still persist. In particular, unlike the Bushmen, the Hottentots were engaged in nomadic cattle breeding, and some - also fishing, hunting for whales and sea animals.

  The originality of the Hottentots is also manifested in some physiological and anatomical features. So, it was found that some people from this nationality in the cold season can plunge into a state of stupor, similar to the suspended animation of some animals.

  No less curious are the anatomical features of the Hottentots. So, they have a relatively low growth - 150–160 centimeters. Their yellow-copper skin is also unusual: it ages rather quickly, becoming covered with numerous wrinkles on the face, neck, and knees. Therefore, even a relatively young Hottentot looks like an old man. The bones of the limbs are also peculiar: they are almost cylindrical.

  But the main feature of the representatives of the Khoi tribe is steatopygia: excessive development of the subcutaneous fat layer on the buttocks. Moreover, which is also no less surprising, the thickness of body fat in Hottentots varies depending on the season of the year.

  The Hottentots live in families in special settlements - kraals. This is a kind of village, in which round huts with a diameter of 3-4 meters are located in a circle. They are made of tightly interwoven rods, covered with animal skins on top. In turn, the entire settlement is fenced with thorny bushes.

  Previously, the clothing of the Hottentots consisted of a leather cape or hide; sandals were the main type of footwear. All the Khoi love jewelry, with men wearing ivory and copper bracelets and women wearing metal rings and eggshell necklaces.

  As for family and marriage, the Khoi used to have polygamy. However, already at the beginning of the last century, polygamy was replaced by monogamy. However, until now, the bride price - "lobola" continues to play an important role: it is based on livestock or money in an amount equal to the value of livestock.

  The Hottentots also retained a special attitude towards the woman in labor and the child: they, as before, are considered unclean. In order to become clean, they undergo a special rite, during which the child and mother are smeared with rancid fat, and since this rite forbids them to wash (due to the lack of water!), Over time, their skin becomes overgrown with a thick layer of dirt, which eventually falls off in pieces. . And all that's left is scraped off.

  Hottentot folklore was written down by scholars W. Bleek and I. Kronlein. Their works give an idea of ​​the characteristic features of the Hottentot legends, which V. Blik, not without reason, called the animal epic of the Hottentots. In them we get acquainted with the habits of a powerful but stupid lion, a cunning jackal, a greedy hyena, etc.
  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 fairy tales.

  The main characters of fairy tales 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.

  Sources: Bernatsky A.S. Mysterious tribes and peoples of the world. - M.: Veche, 2017. 272 ​​p.
  Wikipedia materials.

  
  South Africa South Africa

  Hottentot in a 1780s drawing.

  Elderly Hottentot man

  Hottentots(koy-coin; self-name: khaa, khaasen listen)) is 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, Korana and Nama groups (mostly immigrants 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, which 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):
    • swartbooi (lhautsoan; swartbooi; ||khau-|gõan)
    • koper (khara-khoi, 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 (Tsoa-ts'aran; Afrikaaners; orlam afrikaners; |hôa-|aran), should not be confused with the Afrikaners (Boers).
    • lamberts (gai-tskhauan; lamberts, amraals; kai|khauan).
    • witboys (tskhobesin; witboois ('white guys'); |khobesin).
    • Betanians (kaman; bethaniërs; !aman).
    • bersebs (tsai-tskhauan; 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 (tsoho; smaal-wange, saldanhamans; |'oo-xoo, cochoqua)
    • huriqua (guriqua)
    • horinghaiqua (goringhaiqua, !uri-||'ae)
    • horahauqua (kora-lhau; gorachouqua (‘peninsular’); !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 (tsoang; 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(chona; 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.

  The Hottentots are one of the oldest tribes in Africa. These people have always been distinguished by unusual features, for example, when they pronounce words, their throats seem to click.

  However, in the 19th century, the term "Hottentots" began to be considered offensive for some reason. The name of the tribe has also changed and now it is Khoi-Koin.

  It is believed that the people of the tribe belong to the Khoisan race. What are its features and differences from other races that are still incomprehensible to scientists?

  Members of the Hottentot or Khoi tribe may fall into a state of immobility that resembles suspended animation.

  When did the Hottentots appear?

  Speaking about the age of the Hottentots, it is worth noting that archaeologists have found the remains of a man who is at least 17,000 years old.

  They were found in the Nile region. Some also say that the analysis of the remains showed the location of the hip of an ancient person at an angle of not 90, but 120 degrees.

  This may indicate that it was from the Hottentot tribe that other races began to develop. However, this theory is controversial.

  Recently, there has been a controversy between scientists, since some were inclined to believe that the Hottentots are not a human race, but having a different origin, while others insisted on a different point of view, which speaks of the origin of all people from the Hottentots.

  Disputable here are not only theories, but also facts: for example, in Europe, in ancient caves, the skeletons of women were found, whose hips were at an angle of 120 degrees. At the same time, women had no resemblance to the Hottentots in the rest.

  

  Hottentot tribe

  The tribe has a lot of characteristics and features. Among them:

  • the ability to fall into a state resembling suspended animation, and it is completely controlled by each person separately. It has nothing to do with hypnosis. The state is achieved in the cold season, when people simply want to "sit out" the cold;
  • The Hottentots lead a nomadic lifestyle. Many people who visited the tribe's habitat felt that it was unsanitary and excessively dirty;
  • Coin-coin is distinguished by its own . Members of the tribe have a yellowish-brown skin color that resembles the skin tone of the Mongols;
  • The Hottentots are aging rapidly. This is due to the peculiarities of their skin. Even middle-aged people are covered with wrinkles. First of all, the face, neck, chest area and hands age;
  • the growth of the representatives of the tribe does not exceed 160 centimeters. Sometimes it can be 140 centimeters, and for Koi-coins this is absolutely normal. The small stature is thought to be the result of adaptation to an arid climate;
  • the figure of the representatives of the tribe is unusual. Hips as if turned at an angle of 90 degrees forward.

  Life of the Hottentots

  

  Now the tribe is nomadic, but it was not always so. Some part of the exfoliated, forming settlements in South Africa.

  In the same place, people began to engage in agriculture, brought livestock. Animal husbandry has become one of the main sources of livelihoods. However, neither the first nor the second retained the name. At the same time, the Khoi-Koins are considered a nomadic tribe, true Hottentots.

  Modern Hottentots live in kraals - camp-type camps. Appearance dwellings are interesting - these are domes, which are surrounded on all sides by shrubs. Housing, although temporary, but quite comfortable. True, dirty.

  The development of the tribe is far behind. Just 50 years ago, sharpened stone legs were used here. Today, representatives of the tribe have already switched to iron utensils.

  Ostrich eggs, pots can be used as plates.

  Hottentot women love. Yes, men do the same. Noisy accessories are loved here, for example, bracelets on legs that beat against each other and make a sound.

  Necklaces, rings, bandages are used. Jewelry is made from fabrics, leather, iron, stone, copper.

  Now, for the last 100 years, the Hottentots have not had polygamy. But before it was. Today every family is a husband and wife and their children who live in separate houses.

  Wedding customs of the Hottentots

  

  For those who plan to organize, it is worth saying that the women of the tribe look different.

  Flabby bodies and saggy breasts are not all. Even representatives of small stature have labia about 15-20 centimeters long.

  Why it happened so anatomically - no one knows, but the main pre-wedding rite of the Hottentots is to completely remove them.

  The history of the removal of the labia was particularly scandalous.

  The Pope officially allowed this to be done, but when the Hottentots began to be converted to Christianity, such operations were prohibited. And now women could not find a groom for themselves because of disgust for such a physiological nuance.

  As a result, the girls sacrificed Christianity so that they could have an operation and get married.

  Read also about with big eggs!

  The ancient history of South Africa is well known. In South Africa, archaeologists have found tools from the Paleolithic era.

  Bone finds ancient man, studied by paleanthropologists, prove that the entire southern tip of the mainland was inhabited by people already in the very ancient era. Stone tools found in abundance almost everywhere give a clear picture of the gradual development and improvement of stone tools up to Upper Paleolithic, and in some places the Neolithic.

  Bushmen

  By the time the first European settlers appeared in South Africa, the entire western part of the current Cape Province of South Africa was occupied by the Hottentot tribes, to the east of which the Bushmen tribes lived. Both of them, according to their anthropological type, constitute one race, called the Khoisan. However, the way of life and culture of these peoples were different. The Hottentots are warlike pastoral tribes. Culturally, they were far superior to their Bushmen neighbors. The Bushmen were hunters and led a very primitive life. They had no permanent huts; hiding for the night in the bushes, they arranged temporary huts from branches. Therefore, the first Dutch settlers called them Bushmen (“bush people”). The Bushmen themselves call themselves only by belonging to a tribe, without a common self-name.

  The material culture of the Bushmen was exceptionally poor. Their main hunting weapons were a small bow and arrows with stone tips. The study of the technique of making these points showed that they do not differ from the stone tools found by archaeologists and identified by them as tools of the Upper Paleolithic Wiltonian culture. With the advent of Europeans, the Bushmen began to make arrowheads from bottle glass, which they beat in the same way as a stone. They sometimes used iron tips, which they exchanged with their neighbors - the Hottentots and the Bantu tribes. All weapons of the Bushman hunter consisted of a bow and arrows, a small leather bag for the killed game and a strong stick. The only clothing was a leather loincloth. Bushmen had almost no household utensils. Water, much needed in the dry steppes of South Africa, they kept in vessels of ostrich eggs. Peculiar beads were made from the shells of these eggs, which were highly valued among them. The Bushmen were able to weave small bags, baskets, etc. from plant fibers.

  The men spent all their time hunting game. The only pet companion of the bushman hunter was a dog. In hunting, the Bushmen were very skillful and unusually hardy; there are cases when a bushman pursued an antelope for two or three days and, having overtaken it, killed it with the first stone that came to hand. Hunters used a wide variety of traps, and also rounded up big game. At the same time, women and children with branches and palm leaves in their hands lined up in two rows, cordoned off the hunting area and drove the game to the hunters.

  Bushmen also used various poisons, which poisoned arrowheads. The best known are strophanthus and juice secreted by the larva of one of the beetle species.

  On the rocks in the Dragon Mountains, drawings of Bushmen depicting dances, scenes of hunting life, etc. have been preserved. One of the most famous drawings depicts a hunter sneaking up on a group of ostriches. Drawings

  The social structure of the Bushmen has been studied very little. By the time the Europeans appeared, the Bushmen inhabited the areas of Griqualand in the basin of the river. Orange and areas to the east of it. From all these areas the Bushmen were ruthlessly expelled. The Dutch settlers really hunted them, slaughtering the men and women like wild animals. The Bushmen are now driven into the waterless regions of the Kalahari Desert, where they are doomed to extinction. Formerly numerous tribes now number several dozen people, others have been completely exterminated. The Cape Town Library has preserved records of the richest folklore of the Bushmen Hamka-Kwe, who once lived in the lower reaches of the river. Orange and now completely decimated. From these records one can judge their former tribal organization.

  Now the Bushmen live in small groups of 50-150 people, usually relatives on the paternal side. Each of them has a certain territory, the right to hunt which belongs only to her. In the dry, hungry season, these groups are divided into small cells of 10-12 people. and led by experienced hunters roam the scorched steppe in search of food. The Bushmen now do not have any tribal organization, and only the language binds the members of the tribe. There are up to 20 Bushman languages ​​in total. The total number of Bushmen is now estimated at about 7 thousand people.

  Hottentots

  The Hottentots constitute a special group of tribes, close in some respects to the Bushmen.

  The basis for combining them are some anthropological features. In addition, linguists note many common features in the Bushman and Hottentot languages ​​in the field of both phonetics and grammatical structure and vocabulary. Combining the Hottentots and the Bushmen into one group, anthropologists speak of the Khoisan race, or racial type, linguists speak of the Khoisan group of languages. The name is conditional and is made up of the words koi + san. Koi in the language of the Hottentots means "man", and the Hottentots call themselves "Koi-koin" ("people of people", that is, real people). The second part of the conditional name is dignity. The Hottentots call their Bushmen neighbors the San, which seems to be a contemptuous name.

  Although the Hottentots and the Bushmen belong to the same group, they are nevertheless completely different peoples. In the middle of the 17th century, i.e., by the time the first Dutch colonists appeared in South Africa, the Hottentots inhabited the entire southern tip of Africa - the Cape of Good Hope to the river. Kei. The Ottentots at that time represented a large group of pastoral tribes. Huge herds of cattle were their main wealth. In addition, they raised sheep and goats. External life and customs of the Hottentots at the very beginning of the 18th century. beautifully described by the Dutchman Peter Kolb. The Hottentots lived in round wicker huts covered with skins on top. The huts were arranged in a circle, inside which cattle were driven. The first Dutch colonists called such settlements kraals; 300-400 people lived in each of them. The kraals were temporary; when there was not enough pasture in the vicinity, the population moved to new places.

  Cattle were owned by large patriarchal families, some of which had several thousand heads. Caring for livestock was the responsibility of the men. Women cooked food and churned butter in leather bags. Dairy food was the basis of nutrition. Concerned about the preservation of livestock, the Hottentots avoided slaughtering cattle, and hunting brought them meat food. Animal skins were used for clothes, utensils, etc., huts were covered with skins, bags and raincoats were sewn from them.

  The weapons were spears with iron tips, bows and arrows, long throwing clubs - kirri. All the necessary iron tools were made by the Hottentots themselves. They knew how not only to process iron, but also to smelt it from ore. Kolb describes the ironworking technique as follows:

  “The way in which they smelt iron from ore is, briefly, as follows. They 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. A hard stone replaced their anvil, the hammer was stone, and on the stone they polished the finished object. “Anyone,” says Kolbe, “who knows their arrows and assegai, will be surprised that they were made without the help of a hammer, tongs and other tools, and will leave any thought of considering the Hottentots stupid and ignorant, at the sight of these testimonies. their beautiful common sense."

  The Hottentots were divided into many tribes, each of which spoke its own special language. At the head of the tribe was the leader, who directed all affairs, with him there was a council of the oldest members of the tribe. There was already considerable wealth inequality among the Hottentots. Along with the rich, who owned huge herds, there were the poor, who had one or two bulls and a few sheep or goats. Slavery also existed among the Hottentots; prisoners captured in the war were not killed; slaves, along with the poor, grazed the cattle of the rich.

  There is every reason to believe that the Bushmen and Hottentots once inhabited the entire southern and significant part of East Africa: tribes whose languages ​​are close to those of the Bushmen and Hottentots still live on the territory of Tanganyika. Obviously, these tribes are the remnants of the former population of Tanganyika. Later, the whole of East and most of South Africa was settled by tribes of the Negroid race, speaking the Bantu languages.

  Bantu

  Bantu migration dates back to a very remote time. In any case, more than a thousand years ago, the Bantu inhabited the eastern shores of Africa right up to Natal. Undoubtedly, throughout East Africa there were constant movements of tribes, caused by a variety of reasons.

  Some Bantu tribes moved south from what is now Northern Rhodesia. On this basis, some historians of South Africa are trying to "prove" that the indigenous African population of the Bantu of South Africa are the same conquerors as the Dutch and the British, who, as you know, appeared in South Africa one in the 17th, others in the 19th century. Thus, Professor Brooks, who "represented" the "interests of the native population" in the South African Senate, brazenly declared that "the Bantu are the same conquerors, the same foreigners in South Africa as the Europeans" 1 . Such statements by the ideologues of South African imperialism arouse indignation even among bourgeois scholars who study the history of Africa and the languages ​​and culture of the Bantu peoples. The author of the Basotho grammar E. Jacote, for example, writes: “The Basotho tribes have inhabited this country for centuries. Now, however, it is customary in so-called histories to claim that the Basotho were only people who invaded their own country. Soon it will probably be argued that the Europeans arrived there before them and that the Basotho, and not the Boers of the Orange Republic, were the aggressors. This is not a history book, and we are not going to deal with wars between whites and blacks. But we want to take this opportunity to protest against the falsification of the history of South Africa, which is now in full swing and which can be found even in school textbooks ... We are well aware of what cause these are helping ” 1 .

  By the time the Europeans appeared in South Africa (mid-17th century), the Bantu inhabited all of South Africa, excluding the western part of the current Cape Province of South Africa, where the Bushmen and Hottentots lived. Along the entire southeast coast of the river. Great Fish to the current Portuguese colony of Mozambique, bounded from the north by the Dragon Mountains, lived numerous tribes that had developed by the beginning of the 20th century. into two nationalities - the Xhosa and the Zulu. In the depths of the country, on the other side of the Dragon Mountains, lived groups of Basuto and Bechuana tribes that inhabited the entire country between the Orange and Vaal rivers and further north, to the valley of the river. Limpopo, as well as the entire modern Bechuanaland. In the northern part of the current Transvaal, the Bavenda tribe lived, and to the north of it, a group of Masona tribes: Makaranga, Vazezuru, Wandau and many others. They inhabited the plains of present-day Southern Rhodesia and the adjacent part of Mozambique right down to the ocean. The Watsonga lived in the rainforests of Mozambique; they constituted three groups, each of which included many separate tribes.

  The Kalahari Desert separated this southern group of Bantu tribes from a small group of tribes living to the west of this desert. These included the Herero tribes - Ovagerero, Ovambandieru, and others, the tribes of Ovambo, Ovakuanyama, Ovandonga, and others close to them in language. Small groups of mountain ladies (or mountain Damaras) lived among them; they spoke the languages ​​of the Hottentots, but in their physical type they were close to the peoples of the Bantu.

  The Bantu tribes at the beginning of European colonization were at a much higher level of development than the Bushmen and even the Hottentots. Cattle breeding was the main means of subsistence. Along with cattle breeding, the Bantu tribes knew a developed hoe farming. Of all the South African Bantu tribes, only the Herero were limited to pastoralism and did not engage in agriculture.

  As with the Bantu tribes living in other areas, the collection of wild fruits and hunting served as a great help in the economy. The hunter's armament consisted of a throwing spear, an ax, a club, and, in some tribes, a bow and arrows with iron tips. Traps and snares were used to catch small animals and birds. Elephants, buffaloes, rhinoceroses, etc. were organized by a collective hunt, a raid by the forces of the entire village, clan, or even an entire tribe. For the raid, two long palisades were built, converging at an angle, an exit was left in the corner, behind which a long deep pit was dug. Wild animals, driven into a narrow passage formed by palisades, rushed to the remaining free exit and fell into a pit. Sometimes on animal paths leading to a watering place, trapping pits were arranged, they were slightly covered with brushwood and grass, and sharp poisoned stakes were placed at the bottom.

  Domestic industry before the European conquest had reached a significant development, and the first steps towards the separation of handicraft from agriculture were already outlined. Bantu made tools and household items from iron and wood, sewed clothes from animal skins, and made shields. They did not know weaving.

  Iron was smelted in extremely primitive, small-sized smelting pits, where the ore was placed together with charcoal. Air was supplied by hand bellows. Each fur was a bag; a wooden tube was firmly attached to one end of it, without gaps; the other end, open, ended with two planks, which, when the bag was squeezed, tightly closed the hole. A person sat between two furs and, opening or closing them one by one, created a constant flow of air. Pure iron cannot be obtained immediately in this way. Usually, the smelting was repeated and quite pure iron was obtained. Hammers and pincers were made of iron. The iron hammer was used only for light work; a stone hammer was used to forge large kriegs, a strong stone served as an anvil. Hoes, axes, knives, spear and arrowheads, jewelry (wrists, etc.) and even needles without ears were made from iron. They also smelted copper, which was used mainly for making jewelry (bracelets, necklaces). Not everyone possessed the art of melting metal, and not everyone could acquire the necessary devices and tools. A few were engaged in metal smelting and blacksmithing, and they were considered noble members of society.

  The potter's wheel was not yet known to the southeastern Bantu. Pottery was made starting from the bottom by building up clay rings; then it was burned on a fire, laying dry grass in the middle. After firing, the surface of the dishes was covered with layers of red ocher and graphite and polished to a shine. Handles for metal implements and tools, spoons, cups, etc. were made of wood. Wooden items, especially cups and goblets, were decorated with rich geometric patterns. The Bechuans and some other tribes gave the handles of spoons the appearance of figures of various animals, especially giraffes.

  Mats, mats, granaries, baskets and many other household items were woven from grass and reeds.

  The Bantu achieved great skill in the processing of skins and the manufacture of clothing from them. Men and women wore kaross - a kind of cloak or cape made of skins, which they also covered themselves at night 1 . Nakarossa shish skins of antelopes, gazelles, silver jackals and other animals, less often a bull. The skin taken from the slaughtered animal was dried, cleaned of the mezra with crushed sandstone and kneaded with greased hands until the skin became soft and elastic, like silk. The fresh skin of a bull was dressed in a slightly different way: it was stretched on the ground, dried and then cleaned with a scraper from fat and meat; it was kneaded by a group of men to the sound of a choral song. Sometimes a geometric ornament was applied to the skin. Karosses of the tribal and tribal nobility were made from the skins of lions, panthers and jackals; wearing these skins was a privilege of the nobility and distinguished it from ordinary members of the community. Kaross was worn with fur inside and fastened on the shoulder with ties made of leather straps.

  In addition to kaross, they wore leggings and aprons, usually made of lambskin. The man's gaiter was a triangular piece of skin, the long corner of which passed between the legs and was attached to the belt at the back. Women wore an apron - a short rectangular piece of skin. The same piece of skin, only with a long slit in the middle, was attached at the back. Sandals and bags for storing and carrying food were made from animal skins, and in addition, Bechuans made capacious vessels for delivering milk from distant pastures.

  Strings of beads, hand, foot and neck rings made of iron or copper, various pendants, bracelets and headbands served as decorations. They wore fur caps on their heads, and sometimes conical hats woven from grass.

  The South African Bantu tribes were subsistence farmers before the European conquest. The division of labor was still mainly gender and age. Men were engaged in cattle breeding, hunting and production of iron and wood products. Farming was the work of women, but the virgin soil was raised by men. On the shoulders of the woman lay almost all the chores around the house. She carried water, prepared fuel, grinded millet on grain grinders, cooked food, brewed beer, maintained order and cleanliness in the hut. She collected wild fruits, made pottery, mats, etc. During the construction of the hut, the men erected the skeleton, and all other work was left to the women. Teenagers grazed cattle, helped their fathers or older brothers, and girls, under the guidance of adult women, did housework.

  Economic ties were expressed in mutual assistance, in the organization of collective hunting and in the intertribal exchange of household products: blacksmith's crafts, earthenware and wooden utensils, jewelry, weapons, grain and livestock. The Bantu did not know the production for the market, there were no bazaars. The exchange was exclusively local, random. There was no universal equivalent, but certain proportions were already established: as much grain was given for a clay pot as it could fit in it; odinassegai was equated with a bull.

  Intertribal exchange was more significantly developed. It was led mainly by the tribal nobility, in whose hands a large number of cattle, skins and various products of the domestic industry accumulated; ivory and the skins of some animals were the exclusive property of the tribal leaders, and only they could exchange them. Ordinary members of the tribe conducted external exchange only with the permission of the leader and with the payment of a certain share to him.

  A lively exchange was maintained between the Bantu tribes on the one hand, and the Hottentots and Bushmen on the other. In the area along the middle course of the river. Orange there was something similar to the annual fairs, where the Bechuans and Hottentots met. The Bechuans “when the rainy season crossed the desert separating them from the Khoi and brought with them tobacco, spoons and ivory wrists, copper rings and bracelets, copper and iron necklaces, iron-tipped axes and spears, fine leather karosses and exchanged all this for livestock" 1 . The Hottentots served as intermediaries between the Bantu tribes and the Bushmen, exchanging ostrich feathers and eggs, skins of wild animals and horns from the latter. An equally lively exchange took place between the Zulus and the Basotho. The Basotho offered leopard skins, ostrich feathers, crane wings, and received cattle, hoes, spearheads, copper rings, and necklaces.

  A strong impetus to the development of exchange was given by the appearance of the Portuguese in Mozambique, the Boer colonists in the Cape Peninsula, the English merchants in Natal and the penetration into the hinterland of hunters and ivory buyers, merchants, missionaries and travelers who delivered the products of European industry. The English missionary R. Moffat reports that although the Matabele had the right to trade with foreigners and whites belonged to the leader - Moselekatse, women secretly brought him milk and other products to exchange European curiosities; as you can see, the monopoly of the leader was already shy and was gradually undermined. European goods were just beginning to penetrate the matabele. On September 17, 1857, Moffat wrote to his wife that he had seen the first matabele in European costume - an old jacket and short trousers; it was one of the generals close to Moselekatse who had ridden out to meet Moffat. Moselekatse showed Moffat two large baskets filled with European goods: checkered fabrics, printed cotton, handkerchiefs, window curtains. All this lay unused; Moselekatse's wives were not interested in textile goods, and he himself was primarily concerned with acquiring guns to protect against the Boers, and vans, since he did not have any vehicles.

  The main form of settlement for most of the tribes was the kraal, in which, as a rule, one large family lived. All kraals had almost the same circular layout: in the center of the kraal there is a barnyard, fenced with a palisade, wattle fence, stone or adobe fence. There were huts around the barnyard in a certain order: closer to the exit from the barnyard - the hut of the first wife or mother, then the hut of the second wife, the third, the children's hut, etc. Near each hut - an extension for cooking and sometimes another extension - a pantry . Grain was stored in special granaries - in pits, the walls of which were coated with clay, or in huge domed baskets on the scaffolds.

  The Bechuans adopted a different form of settlement - large settlements, numbering up to a thousand or more huts. In essence, these are the same kraals, but arranged in a heap. This was due to the lack of water sources in the country of the Bechuans, and the population was grouped around a few reservoirs.

  The dwelling of the South African Bantu was round at the base of the hut. They were built in the following way: long, thin perches were buried in the ground in a circle, their tops were bent, twisted and tied; a layer of grass tied in bunches was applied to the resulting hemispherical frame. This frame was supported by one or more pillars; a hearth was arranged in the center of the hut, and a chimney was built in the roof above it. Beds, tables, chairs were replaced by mats, grass mats. The Bantu did not know wooden buildings. Some tribes, like the Bechuans, had stone huts and adobe stoves.