c. 1,652–1,989
South African History covers the interaction of African societies, Dutch and British settlement, frontier expansion and state formation from the seventeenth century to the present. It includes the rise of powerful African kingdoms as well as the creation of settler colonies and republics.
Diamond and gold discoveries transformed the region’s economy and intensified imperial rivalry, labour migration and racial control. The Anglo-Zulu and South African wars were followed by Union, segregation and apartheid, while resistance movements eventually forced a negotiated democratic transition.
This context provides a broad national framework. Books centred on individual conflicts should use the Anglo-Zulu War, First Boer War or Second Boer War as their specific relationships.