Orlam
Quick Summary
The term "Orlam" refers to a group of people who arrived in Namibia in the early 19th century from the Cape. They were a mixed-heritage community, often of Nama and European descent, who adopted Afrikaner military tactics, including the use of horses and firearms.12
The Orlam, led by figures like Jonker Afrikaner, came to dominate the resident Nama and Damara peoples in central Namibia. They established a kingdom near Windhoek, which became a center of conflict between the southward-moving Herero and the northward-migrating Nama. The Orlam's military prowess and organizational structure, modeled after the Afrikaners, significantly influenced the region's power dynamics before European colonization.12
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Southern AfricaIncreasing violence in other parts of Southern AfricaKorana, Bergenaars, and Oorlams, competed for land and water with the Tswana and Nama communities and traded for or raided their ivory and cattle in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By the 1800s the extension of the firearms frontier was disrupting the Orange River valley and…
Read MoreKorana, Bergenaars, and Oorlams, competed for land and water with the Tswana and Nama communities and traded for or raided their ivory and cattle in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. By the 1800s the extension of the firearms frontier was disrupting the Orange River valley and…
Read More- Southern AfricaGermans in South West Africa
…displaced communities of Khoekhoe and Oorlams from the Cape had made their way into South West Africa, competing for the sparse water and grazing land. At first they settled peacefully on land granted them by the local populace, some of them establishing mission communities. The advent in the 1830s of…
Read More…displaced communities of Khoekhoe and Oorlams from the Cape had made their way into South West Africa, competing for the sparse water and grazing land. At first they settled peacefully on land granted them by the local populace, some of them establishing mission communities. The advent in the 1830s of…
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NamibiaIndependence before the conquest…the 19th century, of the Oorlam-Nama from the Cape. Their military technology (which included horses, guns, and a small mobile commando organizational pattern) was modeled on that of the Afrikaners. They came to dominate the resident Nama (Red Nation) and Damara. In the middle of the 19th century, a kingdom…
Read More…the 19th century, of the Oorlam-Nama from the Cape. Their military technology (which included horses, guns, and a small mobile commando organizational pattern) was modeled on that of the Afrikaners. They came to dominate the resident Nama (Red Nation) and Damara. In the middle of the 19th century, a kingdom…
Read More