1789–1793
Second Frontier War
From 1789 to 1793, renewed fighting in the Zuurveld involved Xhosa communities, frontier settlers and colonial commandos amid continuing disputes over cattle, settlement and authority.
View in timelineBetween 1789 and 1793, fighting resumed in the Zuurveld as Xhosa communities, frontier settlers and Cape commandos contested livestock, grazing, settlements and political authority. The conflict followed the unresolved First Frontier War and involved raids, commando expeditions, negotiations and shifting local alliances. The VOC's boundary proclamations did not prevent settlers from moving into contested areas or Xhosa communities from defending their access and authority.
Significance
The Second Frontier War extended the cycle of armed expansion, resistance and retaliation that shaped the eastern Cape frontier.
Why it matters
The war deepened the cycle of frontier violence and showed the limits of the VOC's boundary policy, as Xhosa political authority and settler expansion continued to overlap in the Zuurveld.
Disputed interpretations
The conflict's broad chronology is established, but its triggers, alliances, territorial outcome and the interpretation of competing land claims remain disputed.
Perspective notes
Colonial accounts describe cattle raids, commandos and frontier defence, while Xhosa communities pursued their own strategies of settlement, alliance and resistance. The surviving records do not support a single explanation for every clash or a simple final territorial outcome.