Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony

During the long nineteenth century, European colonists, in among others Asia and Africa, were often confronted with self-proclaimed prophets who predicted an apocalyptic uprising which would bring about a new era of peace and independence from European control. The Dutch colonial world has known se...

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Main Author: Anne Marieke van der Wal
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: openjournals.nl 2023-12-01
Series:BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review
Online Access:https://bmgn-lchr.nl/article/view/9746
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author Anne Marieke van der Wal
author_facet Anne Marieke van der Wal
author_sort Anne Marieke van der Wal
collection DOAJ
description During the long nineteenth century, European colonists, in among others Asia and Africa, were often confronted with self-proclaimed prophets who predicted an apocalyptic uprising which would bring about a new era of peace and independence from European control. The Dutch colonial world has known several of such ‘prophets of rebellion’, as millenarian beliefs flourished particularly in times of distress. This article focuses on the Khoikhoi uprising of 1788 and their revealed prophet the ‘liewe heer’ Jan Paerl, in the Dutch Cape Colony, and seeks to break with patterns in the current study of apocalyptic prophecies and messianic, anticolonial uprisings that approaches these phenomena from a religious radicalisation perspective. Instead, this article aims to reassess whether the religious dimension of this uprising was indeed seen as the most threatening to Dutch colonial authorities at the time, as well as the most appealing and convincing component for its followers.
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spelling doaj.art-3f49ce0a6db74774b68c8dea564835742023-12-21T09:57:23Zengopenjournals.nlBMGN: Low Countries Historical Review0165-05052211-28982023-12-01138410.51769/bmgn-lchr.9746Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape ColonyAnne Marieke van der Wal0Leiden University During the long nineteenth century, European colonists, in among others Asia and Africa, were often confronted with self-proclaimed prophets who predicted an apocalyptic uprising which would bring about a new era of peace and independence from European control. The Dutch colonial world has known several of such ‘prophets of rebellion’, as millenarian beliefs flourished particularly in times of distress. This article focuses on the Khoikhoi uprising of 1788 and their revealed prophet the ‘liewe heer’ Jan Paerl, in the Dutch Cape Colony, and seeks to break with patterns in the current study of apocalyptic prophecies and messianic, anticolonial uprisings that approaches these phenomena from a religious radicalisation perspective. Instead, this article aims to reassess whether the religious dimension of this uprising was indeed seen as the most threatening to Dutch colonial authorities at the time, as well as the most appealing and convincing component for its followers. https://bmgn-lchr.nl/article/view/9746
spellingShingle Anne Marieke van der Wal
Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony
BMGN: Low Countries Historical Review
title Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony
title_full Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony
title_fullStr Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony
title_full_unstemmed Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony
title_short Reinterpreting Millenarian Sentiments at the Dutch Cape Colony
title_sort reinterpreting millenarian sentiments at the dutch cape colony
url https://bmgn-lchr.nl/article/view/9746
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