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List of battles in South Africa

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 9, 2025
Entity authorityQ6607368 ↗
Source-derived summary

List of battles in South Africa is a list of all military conflicts, wars or battles fought within the borders of South Africa.

Khoikhoi–Dutch Wars (1659–1677)

First Khoikhoi–Dutch War 1659–1660

Second Khoikhoi–Dutch War 1673–1677

Anglo-Dutch rivalry (1664–1804)

Bartolomeu Dias, a Portuguese navigator, discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. The Dutch settlement in the area began in March 1647. A Dutch expedition of 90 Calvinist settlers, under the command of Jan van Riebeeck, founded the first permanent settlement near the Cape of Good Hope in 1652. Cape Colony established in 1652.

31 December 1687 a community of Huguenots arrived at the Cape from the Netherlands. See also Huguenots in South Africa.

Occupation of Simon's Town by the British 14 June 1795

Capture of Cape Town by the British 14–16 June 1795

First Occupation of Cape Colony by the British 1795, relinquished control of the territory in 1803

Second Occupation of Cape Colony by the British from 19 January 1806 until incorporated into the independent Union of South Africa in 1910

Cape of Good Hope War (Cape Colony)

Battle of Muizenberg 1795

Battle of Blaauwberg, also known as the Battle of Cape Town 8 January 1806

Xhosa Wars

Also known as the Kaffir Wars or Cape Frontier Wars or Dispossession Wars

First war (1779–81)

Second war (1789–93)

Third war (1799–1803)

Fourth War (1811–12)

Fifth War (1818–19)

Sixth War (1834–36)

Seventh War (1846–1847)

Eighth War (1850–53)

Cattle Killings (1856–58)

Ninth War, Ngcayechibi's War or Fengu-Gcaleka War (1877–79)

Ndwandwe–Zulu War (1817–19)

Also known as the Zulu Civil War. The fallout from this war led to the catastrophe known as the Mfecane (Difaqane, Lifaqane, Mfeqane).

Battle of Gqokli Hill (1818)

Battle of Mhlatuze River (1819)

Battles between the Voortrekkers and Ndebele (1836–1837)

Voortrekkers under Andries Potgieter defeat the Ndebele at the Battle of Vegkop 1836

Voortrekkers under Andries Potgieter, Piet Uys and Gerrit Maritz, helped by Rolong and Griqua tribes, defeat Ndebele at Mosega 17 January 1837

Battles between the Voortrekkers and the Zulu (1838–40)

Battle of Italeni 9 April 1838

Battle of Blood River 16 December 1838

Battle of Maqongqe January 1840

Anglo-Pedi Wars (1876–1879)

Wars of Resistance (1838)

Sekhukhune Wars (1876–1879)

Natal (1842–1843)

Battle of Congella 1842

Transorangia (1845–1848)

Battle of Zwartkoppies between local Boer farmers and the Griqua people 1845

Battle of Boomplaats 1848

South African Republic (1854–1877)

The Boers defeat the Ndebele under chief Makopane at Makapansgat 1854

Campaign against Batlhaping (Batlapin) Bantu people under Gasibone and Mahura in West Transvaal 1858

Campaign against Bampelas in North Transvaal 1858

Campaign against Mabhogo and Maleo 1863

Campaign against people of Katlagter, Makopane, Mapela and Matshem 1865–1868

Campaign against Bantu chief Sekhukhune (Afrikaans: Sekoekoeni) 1876–1877

Zulu Succession (1856)

Battle of Ndondakusuka 2 December 1856

Free State–Basotho Wars (1858–1868)

Senekal's War 1858

Seqiti War which included two conflicts, in 1865−1866 and 1867−1868

Koranna War (1868)

The Koranna War breaks out along the Orange River.

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