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DNA Mapping of the Slave Routes to Southern Africa

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Top Surnames

Basson, Bort, van Angola, van Balij and 16 others
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Profiles

  •
    Douglas James Roy Matthews (1921 - 2000)
    HUWELIK:
  • Maria Jacobs van Batavia, SM/PROG (bef.1665 - c.1717)
    All below added on 4/11/2014 : * Reference no.: MOOC10/1.78* Testator(s): Abraham de Veij* 28 April 1713 Vendu Rol der goederen naergelaten en met ’er dood ontruijmt bij den vrij Chinees Abraham de Vei...
  • Christijn Pietersz van de Caep (aft.1664 - aft.1719)
    Delia Robertson, compiler of "First Fifty Years - a project collating Cape of Good Hope records (FFY), has recently (2022) reviewed available material relating to this profile and states "I am now of t...
  • Rangton van Bali (1673 - 1720)
    [* ]Reference no.: MOOC10/2.14* Testator(s):* Rangton van Balij* 4 Maij 1720* J:s Cruse* Vendu rol van soodanige goederen als 'er met 'er doot sijn ontruijmt en nagelaten door Rangton van Balij, gewese...
  • Delila van Boegies (1779 - d.)
    Parket v: Macassar* Arend v: Mosambicque* Delila v: Boegies

This is a project I Sharon have been publicly talking about doing for a long long time. It's one of those niche areas of human research that you know someone is going to do a very significant inter-disciplinary PhD on - sometime in the near future. But, until then - it exists as a huge aporia that we need to fill in order to be able to work with the data we're garnering on Geni, in a way that renders it slightly more meaningful for the World tree...

To begin with, I'm slotting the Slave progenitors whose DNA we have provisionally extrapolated from their descendants' test results, under the place from which they are most likely to originate. Please come and help us

  1. Validate the the paper trails by adding Sources wherever we can, and prompting managers to make the profiles public.
  2. Discuss the accuracy of the purported places of origin.

Mapping the SA Slave Trade - Overview

www.geni.com/media/proxy?media_id=6000000204864201870&size=large

The Dutch Indian Ocean slave trade was primarily mediated by the Dutch East India Company, drawing captive labour from three commercially closely linked regions:

  1. the western, or Southeast Africa, Madagascar, and the Mascarene Islands (Mauritius and Reunion);
  2. the middle, or Indian subcontinent (Malabar, Coromandel, and the Bengal/Arakan coast); and
  3. the eastern, or Malaysia, Indonesia, New Guinea (Irian Jaya), and the southern Philippines.

The Dutch traded slaves from fragmented or weak small states and stateless societies in the East beyond the sphere of Islamic influence, to the company's Asian headquarters, the "Chinese colonial city" of Batavia (Jakarta), and its regional centre in coastal Sri Lanka. Other destinations included the important markets of Malacca (Melaka) and Makassar (Ujungpandang), along with the plantation economies of eastern Indonesia (Maluku, Ambon, and Banda Islands), and the agricultural estates of the southwestern Cape Colony (South Africa).

The historian Robert Shell has estimated that between 1652 and 1808, when the slave trade was abolished, an estimated total 63 000 slaves were imported to the Cape, from the African continent (26.4%), Indian sub-continent (25.9%), Madagascar (25.1%) and Indonesia (22.7%). The slaves that came to the Cape were brought here in three ways:

  • 1. Through voyages sponsored by the Dutch East India Company (VOC), which sent slave ships from the Cape, primarily to Madagascar and outlets on the south-eastern coast of Africa.
  • 2. Through VOC ‘return’ fleets sailing from Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and the East Indies back to the Netherlands, bringing a few personal slaves from that region with them.
  • 3.From foreign slavers en route to the Americas from Madagascar, Mozambique and East Africa who sometimes sold a few slaves in the Cape before heading off to the great slave markets of the Americas.

In the early eighteenth century about half the slaves at the Cape came from India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and approximately a fifth came from South-East Asia. The remainder were primarily from Madagascar and the south-eastern corner of Africa. During the last decades of VOC rule however, most slaves came from Mozambique. - See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade#sthash.N... & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_India#:~:text=Between%201626%20and%201662%2C%20the,of%20the%20company's%20Asian%20headquarters.

AFRICA

WEST COAST OF AFRICA

The very first two shiploads of slaves to arrive at the Cape in 1658 come on board the Hasselt (28 March, 125 people) and the Amersfoort (6 May, 228 people): both from the West Coast of Africa, namely Benin (formerly called "Guinea"/Dahomey) and Angola. But these slave shipments were in fact, with the exception of a few individuals, the only West African slaves to be brought to the Cape during VOC rule. Of these, 92 Angolans & 80 Guineans are shipped on to Jakarta (Batavia). Of those who survive amongst the rest left at the Cape, eventually 3 men & 3 women of the Guineans; & 3 men & 5 women of the Angolans become manumitted free-blacks. These people assimilate into the free burgher communities & their genetics are well represented in the South African 'White' population today.

Dahomey / "Guinea" (Benin)

228 slaves purchased at Popo (now Grand Popo) brought on one VOC slaving voyage on the Amersfoort on 6 May 1658.

*Koddo van Guinea

*Ansela van de Caap (mother, a slave from Guinea) Haplogroup L0a1b2

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

*Regina van Rapenberg van Guinea Predicted Haplogroup L0a1b2a

Possible mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

Angola

The Angolan slaves who had arrived on the first slave shipment on 28 March 1658 - on the Hasselt, were taken from a Portuguese slaver captured off the South American coast. They had been obtained from the Mbundu tribes (Kasanje & Matamba) of Angola. By 1663 there are only 5 men & 12 women from Angola belonging to the Company.

*Maaij Claesje van Angola Predicted Haplogroup L4b2b

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

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EAST COAST OF AFRICA

Malagasy (Madagascar)

Until 1672 the Dutch trade with slaves in Madagascar had been only through the ports of Antongil Bay and St. Augustine Bay, the far more lucrative Boina Bay coast was being used by Portuguese and Arab slave traders. In 1673 however, the Dutch captured an English slaver, bringing its cargo of 184 Malagasy slaves to the Cape and revealing to the Dutch the secret of the Boina Bay slave-trade. For the next century the Dutch sent slavers quite regularly from the Cape to Boina Bay, and other Malagasy coasts and port, establishing a proper slave-trade route between Madagascar and the Cape.Between 1731 and 1765 more and more slaves were bought from Madagascar as the Company began to look for more lucrative slave markets that would sell them physically strong slaves that could do hard labour, rather than the household slaves from the Indies. In their search for slaves for hard labour the Company turned primarily to Madagascar, whose King’s were willing and eager to trade with the Company. Of the slaving trips specifically organised by Company ships for the explicit purpose of bringing slaves to the Cape, almost 66% of the slaves bought were Malagasy. 2820 slaves were brought from Madagascar on 33 VOC slave voyagers between 1652 & 1795 The Company, however, tended not to change the names of their slaves, particularly not those purchased in Madagascar, and so the Malagasy names, such as Leidzare, Lambo, Ratzi, Calle Mironde, Ignore and so forth, abound in the company books. The Malagasy slaves, although originally disliked, were soon seen as being very industrious and hardworking. Many Malagasy slaves were sent to work on the farms in the Hottentot-Hollands. - See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade#sthash.NdafiHEm.dpuf'''

*Lijsbeth Arabus Predicted Haplogroup L3b3

possible mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

Mozambique

During the last decades of VOC rule, most slaves came from Mozambique. 974 were slaves brought on 5 VOC slaving voyages between 1750-1795. The Mozambican slaves that were imported in the late eighteenth century were regarded highly as farm labourers.

Delagoa Bay (Maputo)

About 280 slaves imported by the VOC from here on several slaving journeys between 1700 & 1749. The slaves from Delagoa Bay were held in low esteem and were frequently documented as murderous and thievish. One diarist describes the ‘villainous slits’ that these slaves have cut into their faces, which made the settlers suspect of them. The dislike of the settlers for the Delagoa Bay slaves had the unfortunate consequence that these people were mostly housed in the basement of the company Slave Lodge and were given the dirtiest and meanest tasks. Even their deaths were recorded separately from those of other slaves. - See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade#sthash.NdafiHEm.dpuf'''

Zanzibar

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INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

In the early eighteenth century about half the slaves at the Cape came from India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Many of the Freeburghers personal and household slaves came from these regions on the Indian subcontinent and in South-East Asia.

On the Indian subcontinent, Arakan/Bengal, Malabar, and Coromandel remained the most important source of forced labour until the 1660s. The eastward expansion of the Mughal Empire, however, completed with the conquest of Chittagong in 1666, cut off the traditional supplies from Arakan and Bengal. Until the Dutch seizure of the Portuguese settlements on the Malabar coast (1658–63), large numbers of slaves were also captured and sent from India's west coast to Batavia, Ceylon, and elsewhere. After 1663, however, the stream of forced labour from Cochin dried up to a trickle of about 50–100 and 80–120 slaves per year to Batavia and Ceylon, respectively.

- See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade#sthash.NdafiHEm.dpuf''' & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_India#:~:text=Between%201626%20and%201662%2C%20the,of%20the%20company's%20Asian%20headquarters.

*Johanna Petronella Basson Haplogroup M66b

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

Goa

Bengal

Between 1626 and 1662, the Dutch exported on an average 150–400 slaves annually from the Arakan-Bengal coast. During the first thirty years of Batavia's existence, Indian and Arakanese slaves provided the main labour force of the company's Asian headquarters. Of the 211 manumitted slaves in Batavia between 1646 and 1649, 126 (59.71%) came from South Asia, including 86 (40.76%) from Bengal. Slave raids into the Bengal estuaries were conducted by joint forces of Magh pirates, and Portuguese traders (chatins) operating from Chittagong outside the jurisdiction and patronage of the Estado da India, using armed vessels (galias). These raids occurred with the active connivance of the Taung-ngu (Toungoo) rulers of Arakan.
www.geni.com/media/proxy?media_id=6000000204863046855&size=large
Bengal and Arakan in 1638 By Willem Blaeu - Novus Atlas, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=95411445''

*Anna Groothenning van Bengale Haplogroup M49c1

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

*Constantia van Bengale Haplogroup ?

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

*Rebekka van Bengal Haplogroup R30a1a

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

Coromandel Coast

A fairly constant source of slaves also came from what was called the Coromandel, the east coast of India, where the VOC had, very early on in the sixteenth century, established trading stations to trade in cotton. When there was war or famine in the Coromandel region the slave trade would boom as prisoners of war or excess family members were sold off into slavery. During one famine period in 1659-61, 8000 to 10 000 slaves were exported from the region to Ceylon, Batavia and Malacca by the VOC.

In contrast with other areas of the Indian subcontinent, Coromandel remained the centre of a sporadic slave trade throughout the seventeenth century. In various short-lived expansions accompanying natural and human-induced calamities, the Dutch exported thousands of slaves from the east coast of India. A prolonged period of drought followed by famine conditions in 1618–20 saw the first large-scale export of slaves from the Coromandel coast in the seventeenth century. Between 1622 and 1623, 1,900 slaves were shipped from central Coromandel ports, like Pulicat and Devanampattinam. Company officials on the coast declared that 2,000 more could have been bought if only they had the funds.

The second expansion in the export of Coromandel slaves occurred during a famine following the revolt of the Nayaka Indian rulers of South India (Tanjavur, Senji, and Madurai) against Bijapur overlordship (1645) and the subsequent devastation of the Tanjavur countryside by the Bijapur army. Reportedly, more than 150,000 people were taken by the invading Deccani Muslim armies to Bijapur and Golconda. In 1646, 2,118 slaves were exported to Batavia, the overwhelming majority from southern Coromandel. Some slaves were also acquired further south at Tondi, Adirampatnam, and Kayalpatnam.

A third phase in slaving took place between 1659 and 1661 from Tanjavur as a result of a series of successive Bijapuri raids. At Nagapatnam, Pulicat, and elsewhere, the company purchased 8,000–10,000 slaves, the bulk of whom were sent to Ceylon while a small portion were exported to Batavia and Malacca. A fourth phase (1673–77) started from a long drought in Madurai and southern Coromandel starting in 1673, and intensified by the prolonged Madurai-Maratha struggle over Tanjavur and punitive fiscal practices. Between 1673 and 1677, 1,839 slaves were exported from the Madurai coast alone. A fifth phase occurred in 1688, caused by poor harvests and the Mughal advance into the Karnatak. Thousands of people from Tanjavur, mostly girls and little boys, were sold into slavery and exported by Asian traders from Nagapattinam to Aceh, Johor, and other slave markets. In September 1687, 665 slaves were exported by the East India Company from Fort St. George, Madras. Finally, in 1694–96, when warfare once more ravaged South India, a total of 3,859 slaves were imported from Coromandel by private individuals into Ceylon.[155] [156] [157][158]

The volume of the total Dutch Indian Ocean slave trade has been estimated to be about 15–30% of the Atlantic slave trade, slightly smaller than the trans-Saharan slave trade, and one-and-a-half to three times the size of the Swahili and Red Sea coast and the Dutch West India Company slave trades.[159]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_India#:~:text=Between%201626%20and%201662%2C%20the,of%20the%20company's%20Asian%20headquarters.

An important early progenitrix / stammoeder from Coromandel is: Catharina "Groote Catrijn" van Paliacatta, SM/PROG

DNA results from her direct descendent show rare mtDNA LOa2a2aa1, linked specifically to a rare Indian lineage found in the Dawoodi Bohra population of Tamil Nadu and in Western Yemen, likely evidence of a migration of a Shia sect of Islam from Yemen that might have migrated due to persecution by the Sunni majority of Yemen sometime after the 12th century AD. There is compelling DNA evidence that this branch was involved in the transatlantic slave trade, because the same marker shows up in Mexico and Dominica (see discussion: https://www.geni.com/discussions/170428?msg=1204632&page=1.

Mansell notes (http://www.e-family.co.za/ffy/RemarkableWriting/UL14CapeMothers.pdf): "Especially relevant to Groote Catrijn’s situation is a second short-lived boom in the export of Coromandel slaves which occurs during a famine following the revolt of the Nayaka Hindu rulers of South India (Tanjavur, Senji & Madurai) against Vijayanagara overlordship (1645) and the devastation of the Tanjavur countryside by the Bijapur army. Indigenous informants recount more than 150,000 people being taken by the invading Deccani Muslim armies to Bijapur and Golconda so that 2,118 slaves are exported to Batavia (1646) – the overwhelming majority from southern Coromandel. Some slaves are also acquired further south at Tondi, Adirampatnam and Kayalpatnam."

In the extract of her sentencing Catharina van Paliacatta is described as a Moorish slave girl (sic. Moorse slavinne).

"Groote Catrijn’s Death Sentence & Pardon – Extracts from Sentence Book at Batavia CAPE ARCHIVES (CA): COURT OF JUSTICE (CJ) 281, no. 44 (16 November 1656) Alsoo Catharina geboortich van Paliacatte out na aensien omtrent 25 jaeren en Moorse slavinne van Maria Magdalena vrije vrou ende jinwoorten desen stede ..." (p.139 Cape Mothers by M. Upham)

Malabar Coast

The main agrestic slave castes in Malabar were Pulayars, Parayars, Kuruvars, Cherumas. The principal Collector estimated that the Pulayars and Cherumars constituted about half of the slave population. Buchannan in 1801 stated that almost all cultivators were slaves. He stated that the slaves were primarily used for field labouring and the degree of slavery was the worst among the Parayars, Pulayans and Kuravans who were made to work like beasts. Cheruvans and Pulayans were brought to the towns to be bought and sold. The slave population increased by 65 percent in 36 years from 1806 to 1842. Children born to slaves were also made slaves.[160] According to Dr. Francis Buchanan's estimate in 1801 AD, 41,367 people were slaves in the Malabar's south, central, and northern divisions, out of a total population of 292,366. Travancore had 164,864 slaves in 1836, out of a total population of 1,280,668. During the middle of the nineteenth century, Kerala had an estimated 4.25 lakh (425,000) slaves.[161]

Social oppression was also part of slavery. They were not allowed to wear clean clothes and were to keep away from the roads of their masters who were Brahmin and Nairs. Major Walker stated that they were left out to nature and abandoned when they suffered from diseases and some times made to stand in rice fields for hours which gave them Rheumatism, Cholera and other diseases.[160] The slaves belonged to the lower castes and were employed only for feudal work, and the stigma that they should be kept away from their masters was strictly followed. Samuel Mateer, noted that even in the working fields the slaves were supervised from a distance.[161] The caste system kept them as untouchables and divided into numerous sub-castes. The condition of the Cherumars was no different in 19th century, the Kerala Patrike in 1898 wrote that the Cherumar slaves had high regards for their masters because the higher castes convinced them that they were obliged at birth to serve the Higher castes.[160]

Between 1871 and 1881, an estimated 40,000 slaves converted to Islam, according to the 1881 census. During this time, many slaves in Cochin and Travancore converted to Christianity. It was stated at the 1882 Christian Mission Conference that the population of Muslim Mapillas was rapidly expanding due to conversions from the lower strata of Hindu society, and that the entire west coast could become Muslim in such a phase.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_India#:~:text=Between%201626%20and%201662%2C%20the,of%20the%20company's%20Asian%20headquarters.
(There is also a Malabar in Java, Indonesia. – I haven’t been able to work out if it was so named during the slave trade [Sharon])

*Catharina van Malabar Confirmed Haplogroup U2c1

[Confirmed U2c1 by triangulation of Fanie van Heerden, Reginald Horne and Shirley Bihl Paladin's genetic test results]

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

Ceylon (Sri Lanka)

In the early eighteenth century about half the slaves at the Cape came from India and Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

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SOUTH-EAST ASIA

After the 1660s however, more and more slaves were being imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, where local slave traders would acquire slaves through warfare and raiding expeditions and sell them on to the Dutch. Macassar, in Sulawesi, became a very prominent place from which slaves were taken to the Cape, making it a region that was strongly represented in Cape slave society. Many of the Freeburghers personal and household slaves came from these regions on the Indian subcontinent and in South-East Asia. In the early eighteenth century, approximately a fifth of the SA slaves came from South-East Asia. - See more at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/early-cape-slave-trade#sthash.NdafiHEm.dpuf'''

Java

Batavia (Jakarta)

*Maria Jacobs van Batavia De Veij Predicted Haplogroup U2b

-slave owned by the VOC

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

Celebes (Sulawesi)

Macassar

(There is also a Macassar in Mozambique – I haven’t been able to work out if it was so named during the slave trade [Sharon])

Bougies (Bugis)

Timor

*Inabe van Timor Haplogroup N

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

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Extrapolated DNA of Slave ancestors brought to Southern Africa - unsure from where they or their parents came:

*Jannetje Bort Haplogroup M30c

mtDNA Descendants on Geni:

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Resources PLEASE ADD!

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