Who is jan van riebeeck

The VOC had no desire for the conquest and administration of territory; their interest was to ensure the provision of vital supplies to their shipping fleets on their way to and from the East. Van Riebeeck's specific instructions were not to colonise the Cape but to build a fort, to erect a flagpole for signalling to passing ships, and to build pilot boats to escort them safely into the bay. A few months after their arrival, the Dutch Republic and England became engaged in a naval war and the speedy completion of the fort at the Cape became urgent.

Van Riebeeck established Fort Duijnhoop made of mud, clay and timber, with 4 corners , near what is now the middle of Adderley Street. They planted gardens to supply fruit and vegetables to passing ships, and bartered with the Khoikhoi who they called Goringhaikwa and later Kaapmans for meat.

In , he volunteered to undertake the command of the initial Dutch settlement in the future South Africa. Jan van Riebeeck is of cultural and historical significance to South Africa. Many of the Afrikaner population view him as the founding father of their nation. This was prevalent in that his image appeared on stamps and the South African currency from the s up until when the South African Reserve Bank changed the currency to an apolitical design of the fauna and flora of the region.

His image no longer features on any official currency or stamps, but statues of him and his wife remain in Adderley Street, Cape Town. When Van Riebeeck left the Cape in , the little settlement numbered officials, 35 free burghers, 15 women, 22 children, and slaves.

As a result of the rapid expansion of the settlement, more settlers and immigrants from all over Europe began immigrating to South Africa. In , a large group of French Huguenots fleeing religious persecution settled at the Cape. After that, he was promoted to Secretary to the Governor-general of the Dutch East Indies and served there from to He never returned to live in the Netherlands. His wife, Maria, died in Malacca, which is now part of Malaysia, on 2 November at the age of 35 - enroute to van Riebeeck's new assignment.

Van Riebeeck died in Batavia now Jakarta on the island of Java in The "company gardens" where vegetables were grown, is now a park in the middle of Cape Town.

In the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens in Cape Town, there is a wild almond hedge that was planted on van Riebeeck's orders as an outer barrier, and survives to this day. The initial fort was made of mud, clay, and timber, and had four corners, or bastions. The Castle was built between and ; several years after van Riebeeck left the Cape.

It has five bastions, and is made of brick, stone, and cement. Similarly to many other charted comets, it has not returned to earth's view. Publications Pages Publications Pages.

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