1779–1781
First Frontier War
Armed conflict developed in the eastern Cape between Xhosa groupings, frontier settlers and colonial commandos amid cattle raiding, settlement and competing claims in the Zuurveld.
Armed conflict developed in the eastern Cape between Xhosa groupings, frontier settlers and colonial commandos amid cattle raiding, settlement and competing claims in the Zuurveld.
Significance
Foundational conflict on the eastern frontier involving Xhosa groups, settlers, and colonial commandos.
Why it matters
Foundational conflict on the eastern frontier involving Xhosa groups, settlers, and colonial commandos.
Disputed interpretations
The war's chronology is established, but historians differ over causation, the status of settlement and land use, and whether particular actions were retaliatory or expansionist.