A ship’s infected laundry brought smallpox to the Cape station. The epidemic devastated Khoikhoi communities, while also killing enslaved people and settlers. As communities fled and died, settler farmers moved into land they had previously occupied. The evidence comes largely through colonial records and later histories, so mortality estimates remain uncertain.
Log in to like or bookmark this story.
🔖 Bookmark
No images or videos for this event yet.
Related Events
Who suffered the greatest losses in the 1713 Cape smallpox epidemic?
Khoikhoi communities were devastated by the 1713 smallpox epidemic.
🎉😄
😢
Explanation
SA History Online describes especially severe losses among Khoikhoi.