1657
Doman sent to Batavia for interpreter training
The VOC sent Doman, a Goringhaiqua leader, to Batavia to learn Dutch and observe the company’s colonial administration before returning him to the Cape as an interpreter.
View in timelineIn 1657 the VOC sent Doman, a Goringhaiqua leader and interpreter, from the Cape to Batavia. The journey was intended to strengthen his ability to communicate with Dutch officials and to make him more useful in negotiations with Khoikhoi communities. He encountered a major VOC colonial centre rather than simply receiving language instruction: Batavia displayed the company’s forts, administration, shipping and coercive power.
Doman returned to the Cape and was recorded as an interpreter by October 1657. His experience did not make him a permanent VOC ally. When company settlement and land use threatened Khoikhoi political and pastoral interests, he became an important critic and later leader in resistance during the First Khoikhoi–Dutch War.
Significance
The voyage exposed a Khoikhoi political intermediary to another VOC colony and later informed his negotiations and opposition to Dutch expansion at the Cape.
Why it matters
The voyage exposed a Khoikhoi political intermediary to another VOC colony and later informed his negotiations and opposition to Dutch expansion at the Cape.
Disputed interpretations
The surviving summaries differ over whether the journey is dated to April or more broadly to 1657 and over the precise training Doman received. Later accounts emphasise his observation of Dutch rule in Java; the contemporary record should distinguish what he personally saw from later interpretation.
Perspective notes
The evidence is largely preserved in Dutch administrative and missionary records. It presents Doman through the company’s need for interpreters and negotiation, while later evidence shows his own political interests could diverge sharply from VOC aims.