Samuel Maharero
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Samuel Maharero (1856 – 14 March 1923) was a Paramount Chief of the
Herero people The Herero () are a Bantu people, Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. 178,987 Namibians identified as Ovaherero in the 2023 census. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there ...
in
German South West Africa German South West Africa () was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. German rule over this territory was punctuated by ...
(today
Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
) during their revolts and in connection with the events surrounding the
Herero and Nama genocide The Herero and Nama genocide or Namibian genocide, formerly known also as the Herero and Namaqua genocide, was a campaign of ethnic extermination and collective punishment waged against the Herero people, Herero (Ovaherero) and the Nama people, N ...
. Today he is considered a national hero in Namibia.


Life

Samuel Maharero was a son to Maharero, an important Herero warrior and cattle raider. He was baptised in 1869 and went to the local Lutheran schools, where he was seen as a potential priest. When his father died in 1890, he gained the chieftainship in the area of
Okahandja Okahandja is a city of 45,159 inhabitants in Otjozondjupa Region, central Namibia, and the district capital of the Okahandja electoral constituency. It is known as the ''Garden Town of Namibia''. It is located 70 km north of Windhoek on the B1 r ...
, although he did not gain much of his father's wealth and cattle according to Herero inheritance customs. Initially, he maintained fairly good relations with the German colonial administration under
Theodor Leutwein Theodor Gotthilf Leutwein (9 May 1849 – 13 April 1921) was a German military officer and colonial administrator who served as Landeshauptmann and governor of German Southwest Africa from 1894 to 1905. Life and career Leutwein was born i ...
. However, increasing problems, involving attacks by German farmers, economic difficulties and pests, and the use of Herero land for railroads, all led to diminished relations. Angered by the ill-treatment of the Herero people by German settlers and colonial administrators, who viewed the tribes as a cheap source of labor for cotton and other export crops, Maharero secretly planned a revolt with the other chiefs against the German presence, though he was well aware of the odds against him. In a famous letter to Hendrik Witbooi, the Nama chief, Maharero sought to build alliances with the other tribes, exclaiming "Let us die fighting!"


War against Germany

The initial attacks in the revolt, begun on January 12, 1904, were successful and involved the killings of 123 persons, mostly German landowners (Marero had issued an order to his forces to avoid harming Boers, English, missionaries, and other non-German whites). By January 14, mounted Herero raiders had reached Omarasa, and the Waldau and Waterberg post offices were destroyed. The Waterberg military station was occupied by Herero and all soldiers under the command of
Unteroffizier () is a junior non-commissioned officer rank used by the . It is also the collective name for all non-commissioned officers in Austria and Germany. It was formerly a rank in the Imperial Russian Army. Austria , also , is the collective name to ...
Gustav Rademacher were killed. Maharero allowed missionaries with a small number of German women and children free passage to Okahandja. They reached their destination on April 9, 1904. On January 16, Gobabis was besieged and a German military company was ambushed and destroyed near Otjiwarongo. After this loss, Leutwein was replaced as military leader by
Lothar von Trotha Adrian Dietrich Lothar von Trotha (3 July 1848 – 31 March 1920) was a German military commander during the European new colonial era. As a brigade commander of the East Asian Expedition Corps, he was involved in suppressing the Boxer Rebelli ...
, who brought 15,000 troops and created a bounty of 5,000 marks for the capture of Maharero. Herero forces were defeated by colonial forces using breech-loading artillery and 14 Maxim belt-fed machine guns at the Battle of Waterberg on August 11, 1904, and the remaining Hereros (including women, children, and the elderly) were driven into the deserts of the
Omaheke Region Omaheke (the Otjiherero word for sandveld) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, the least populous region. Its capital is Gobabis. It lies in eastern Namibia on the border with Botswana and is the western extension of the Kalahari Desert ...
. Tens of thousands of the Herero died of thirst, starvation, or disease. Those who attempted surrender were shot. After the extermination order was countermanded by Berlin, captured survivors were sent to a concentration camp at Shark Island. Maharero succeeded in leading around 1000 of his people to the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Bechuanaland Protectorate The Bechuanaland Protectorate () was a British protectorate, protectorate established on 31 March 1885 in Southern Africa by the United Kingdom. It became the Botswana, Republic of Botswana on 30 September 1966. History Scottish missionary ...
(today
Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...
). He remained leader of the exiled Herero, and became an important vassal of Sekgathôlê a Letsholathêbê, a chief in northern Bechuanaland. Samuel Maharero died there in March 1923, and his body was temporarily buried in Bechuanaland. On August 23, 1923, his body was returned to Okahandja and was ceremoniously reburied alongside his ancestors, an occasion that the
Herero people The Herero () are a Bantu people, Bantu ethnic group inhabiting parts of Southern Africa. 178,987 Namibians identified as Ovaherero in the 2023 census. They speak Otjiherero, a Bantu language. Though the Herero primarily reside in Namibia, there ...
still celebrate on
Herero Day Herero Day (also known as Red Flag Day and Red Flag Heroes' Day, ) is a gathering of the Herero people of Namibia to commemorate their deceased Tribal chief, chieftains. It is held in Okahandja in central Namibia annually on August 26, the day ...
.


Recognition

Samuel Maharero is one of nine national heroes of Namibia that were identified at the inauguration of the country's Heroes' Acre near
Windhoek Windhoek (; ; ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek, which ...
. Founding president
Sam Nujoma Samuel Shafiishuna Daniel Nujoma ( ; 12May 19298February 2025) was a Namibian revolutionary, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served three terms as the first president of Namibia, from 1990 to 2005. Nujoma was a founding member and t ...
remarked in his inauguration speech on 26 August 2002 that:
Chief Samuel Maharero ..started to make plans for an uprising against the German colonial authorities and white German settlers in the country. As a result, in January 1904 the uprising began and chief Maharero's forces surrounded the German colonial settlers at Okahandja, Omaruru, and the famous Battle of Ohamakari near the Waterberg Mountain. The strength of his forces compelled the German colonial troops to send in reinforcements under the notorious General Lotha von Trotha who carried out an extermination order to wipe out all women, children and elderly persons. ..To his revolutionary spirit and his visionary memory we humbly offer our honor and respect.
Maharero is honoured in form of a granite tombstone with his name engraved and his portrait plastered onto the slab.


References


Notes


Literature

* Harring, Sidney. "Herero." ''Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity''. Ed. Dinah Shelton. Vol. 1. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 436–438. 3 vols. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Thomson Gale.


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maherero, Samuel 1856 births 1923 deaths People of the Herero and Nama genocide People from Otjozondjupa Region Herero people Namibian chiefs National heroes of Namibia Namibian revolutionaries