Adam Kok III (16 October 1811 – 30 December 1875) was a leader of the

Griqua people The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly-Xiri-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Comm ...

in South Africa.

Early life

The son of Adam Kok II, he was born in

Griqualand West Griqualand West is an area of central South Africa with an area of 40,000 km2 that now forms part of the Northern Cape Province. It was inhabited by the Griqua people – a semi-nomadic, Afrikaans-speaking nation of mixed-race origin, w ...

. Kok III was educated at the

Philippolis Philippolis is a town in the Free State province of South Africa. The town is the birthplace of writer and intellectual Sir Laurens van der Post, actress Brümilda van Rensburg and Springboks rugby player Adriaan Strauss. It is regarded as o ...

Mission School after his family and father's followers moved to the area after disputes with other groups. He was appointed as a member of the Griqua Council at a young age and would act as chief while his father was away. He succeeded his father as the ruler and leader of the Griqua in Philippolis after the death of his father in 1835. His older brother, Abraham, could have taken over as chief but Kok III's political experience impressed the Griqua elders and he was therefore deemed to be the preferred choice to replace his father.

Interaction with other groups

The Napier Treaty, signed in 1843 between

Moshoeshoe I Moshoeshoe I () ( – 11 March 1870) was the first king of Lesotho. He was the first son of Mokhachane, a minor Tribal chief, chief of the Bamokoteli lineage, a branch of the Koena tribe, Koena (crocodile) clan. In his youth, he helped his fat ...

and Adam Kok III – advised and assisted by the missionaries – Eugene Cassalis and John Philip on the one hand and the Cape governor Sir George Napier on the other hand – recognised Moshoeshoe's jurisdiction over his land between the

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

and Caledon rivers. Napier hoped that this treaty would keep peace in the area so that the British could carry on trading undisturbed. The treaty was immediately opposed by the

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

missionaries and chiefs on the grounds that it took away some of their lands. Kok III would lease some land to the Trekboere and, by 1836, more than 1,500 farmers had already settled in Griqua territory. He then passed a law in 1838 which forbade the sale of leased land to the Trekboere. In 1840, this was modified on condition that the Trekboer would have to recognise Kok III's jurisdiction and authority over the land from the Griquas. Although they were not allowed to sell, the Griquas allowed long leases with Europeans, in some instances longer than 40 years.

Griqualand East

In 1861, Kok III accepted a British offer to settle his people in the eastern section of the

Cape Colony The Cape Colony (), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope. It existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when it united with three ...

. He then led his people on a two-year trek across South Africa. During the trek, the Griqua lost most of their cattle and horses as they suffered through droughts and raids by the

Basotho The Sotho (), also known as the Basotho (), are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Southern Africa. They primarily inhabit the regions of Lesotho, South Africa, Botswana and Namibia. The ancestors of the Sotho people are believed to h ...

. In February 1863, they crossed the

Drakensberg The Drakensberg (Zulu language, Zulu: uKhahlamba, Sotho language, Sotho: Maloti, Afrikaans: Drakensberge) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, Southern Africa, Great Escarpment, which encloses the central South Africa#Geography, Sout ...

at Ongeluks Nek and descended along the banks of the Kenigha River on to Mount Currie (then known as Berg Vyftig) where they founded

Griqualand East Griqualand East (Afrikaans: ''Griekwaland-Oos''), officially known as New Griqualand ( Dutch: ''Nieuw Griqualand''), was one of four short-lived Griqua states in Southern Africa from the early 1860s until the late 1870s and was located between ...

. After settling down they worked on replenishing their herds and flocks. They also built structures using bricks and succeeded in setting up an efficient method of government and a legislature. They raised their revenue through tax, trading licenses and fines. In 1867, they printed their own currency, which, however, was only used in their jurisdiction. These coins and notes never reached full circulation and payments for levies were usually made in cattle, goats, sheep and grain. In 1874, Kok III assisted the British in a campaign against the

Hlubi The Hlubi people or AmaHlubi are an AmaMbo ethnic group native to Southern Africa, with the majority of population found in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa.https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document ...

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

. That same year, the Cape Colony placed Griqualand East under custodial government, effectively deposing Kok III.

Death

Kok III died without an heir on 30 December 1875 after being injured in a wagon accident. The Cape Colony formerly annexed Griqualand East in 1877 after the passing of the Griqualand East Annexation Act (Act 38 of 1877). The act was only promulgated on 17 September 1879, when four magistrates were set up, at

Kokstad Kokstad is a town in the Harry Gwala District Municipality of the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Kokstad is named after the Griqua chief Adam Kok III who settled here in 1863. Kokstad is the capital town of the East Griqualand region, ...

Matatiele Matatiele is a town located in the northern part of the Eastern Cape, Eastern Cape Province of Provinces of South Africa, South Africa. According to the South African National Census of 2011, its 12,466 residents (1,113.44 per km²) and 4,107 h ...

Mount Frere Mount Frere, officially KwaBhaca, is a town located in the Eastern Cape province, previously known as the Transkei region, of South Africa. KwaBhaca is situated between Kokstad and Mthatha along the N2 road about 100 km north east of Mthatha. It i ...

and

Umzimkhulu Umzimkhulu is a town in Harry Gwala District Municipality in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. The town lies 243 km north-east of Mthatha, 18 km south-west of Ixopo, and 108 km south south-west of Pietermaritzburg, the provi ...

References

External links