is a
Dutch word (plural ) that literally translates to "upper-head", meaning "supreme
headman". The
Danish cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language.
Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
, which is a
calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
derived from a Danish pronunciation of the Dutch or
Low German
Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...
word, is also treated here. The standard
German cognate is .
In modern Dutch, remains in use for a native
tribal chief
A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribe, tribal society or chiefdom.
Tribal societies
There is no definition for "tribe".
The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of weste ...
, such as a ''
sachem
Sachems and sagamores are paramount chiefs among the Algonquians or other Native American tribes of northeastern North America, including the Iroquois. The two words are anglicizations of cognate terms (c. 1622) from different Eastern Alg ...
'' of
Native Americans. Despite the superlative etymology, it can be applied to several chiefs in a single native community. The derived Danish word also carries this same meaning.
However, this article is devoted to its more former, historical use as a
gubernatorial title, comparable to the English
chief factor, for the chief executive officer of a Dutch in the sense of trading post, as led by a factor, i.e. agent.
The etymologically cognate title of Danish (singular) had a similar gubernatorial use (sometimes rendered in English as
station chief), notably on the
Danish Gold Coast
The Danish Gold Coast ( or ''Dansk Guinea'') comprised the colonies that Denmark–Norway controlled in Africa as a part of the Gold Coast (region), Gold Coast (roughly present-day southeast Ghana), which is on the Gulf of Guinea. It was coloni ...
.
Dutch colonial ''opperhoofden''
In Asia
The factory established on 20 September 1609 at
Hirado by the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
(''Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie'', VOC), next in 1641, as the Dutch ''factorij'' was moved by order of the
shogunate thereto, on
Dejima (Desjima in purist Dutch, or
Latinized as Decima) Island, in
Nagasaki Bay. The trading post was maintained under the Dutch state after the 1795 end of VOC administration till on 28 February 1860 Dejima was abandoned.
In Africa
*The Dutch
Fort Patience, was established by the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( ; VOC ), commonly known as the Dutch East India Company, was a chartered company, chartered trading company and one of the first joint-stock companies in the world. Established on 20 March 1602 by the States Ge ...
in March 1721 as a naval support point at
Maputo Bay
Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
near the current nation of
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
's capital of
Maputo
Maputo () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed ov ...
.
It was subordinate to the
Dutch Cape colony. The Dutch abandoned the post on 27 December 1730.
*
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
, since 1638 a
Dutch colony under the
chartered VOC, was governed by an opperhoofd until it was abandoned on 17 February 1710. In September 1715, the island was claimed for France and renamed ''Île de France'' by the passing French sailor
Guillaume Dufresne d'Arsel.
See also
*
Captain-major
A donatary captain was a Portuguese colonial official to whom the Crown granted jurisdiction, rights and revenues over some colonial territory. The recipient of these grants was called a (donatary), because he had been given the grant as a (donat ...
Notes
References
* {{Cite book , last=Screech , first=Timon , title=Secret Memoirs of the Shoguns: Isaac Titsingh and Japan, 1779–1822 , date=2006 , publisher=Routledge , location=London , author-link=Timon Screech
Gubernatorial titles
Dutch East India Company
Danish Gold Coast