Early history of South Africa

Part of a series on the
History of South Africa
Pre-colonial Middle Stone Age Late Stone Age Bantu expansion Kingdom of Mapungubwe Kingdom of Mutapa Kaditshwene
Dutch colonisation Dutch Cape Colony
Zulu Kingdom Shaka kaSenzangakhona Dingane kaSenzangakhona Mpande kaSenzangakhona Cetshwayo kaMpande Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo 1887 Annexation (British)
British colonisation Cape Colony Colony of Natal Transvaal Colony Orange River Colony
Boer Republics South African Republic Orange Free State Natalia Republic
Boer Wars First Boer War Jameson Raid Second Boer War
Union of South Africa World War I World War II
Apartheid Legislation South African Border War Angolan Civil War Bantustans Internal resistance Apartheid referendum
Post-apartheid Mandela presidency Mbeki presidency Motlanthe presidency Zuma presidency Ramaphosa presidency
Topic Economic history Inventions and discoveries LGBT history Military history Political history Religious history Slavery
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The Prehistory of South Africa (and, inseparably, the wider region of Southern Africa) lasts from the Middle Stone Age until the 17th century. Southern Africa was first reached by Homo sapiens before 130,000 years ago, possibly before 260,000 years ago.^[1] The region remained in the Late Stone Age until the first traces of pastoralism were introduced about 2,000 years ago. The Bantu migration reached the area now South Africa around the first decade of the 3rd century, over 1800 years ago.^[2] Early Bantu kingdoms were established in the 11th century. First European contact dates to 1488, but European colonization began in the 17th century (see History of South Africa (1652–1815)).