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British Conquest of the Cape Colony
1806 CE
A British expedition landed near Cape Town in January 1806 and defeated Batavian forces at Blaauwberg. The colony’s harbour and position on the route to India made it strategically important.
British occupation began a new colonial period while local Dutch settlers, enslaved people, Khoisan communities and frontier societies faced changing authority.
Conquest sends Kydd with the expedition and then beyond the initial seizure of Cape Town. Naval operations become part of the effort to hold and extend a fragile colonial victory.
