How our city was ‘discovered’ and dubbed Durban.
How well do you know the city you live in? As a matter of fact, how well do any of us know the heritage of Durban city?
Why not wow the crowd at your next social gathering or work event with this captivating story of Durban’s ‘discovery’.
If you know anything about how our city was ‘discovered’ and acquired its name, Vasco Da Gama may be the first person that pops into your head. However, there is more to the story than the Portuguese explorer landing up on the shores of Natal.
In 1497 a Portuguese seafarer Vasco Da Gama set sail on a journey to discover what was believed by many to be the impossible, a sea route leading from Portugal to India.
At this stage, there was no evidence of any other seas being connected to the Indian Ocean. So, Da Gama and his crew of brave hearts set out on an epic journey to cross the Atlantic ocean in the hopes of reaching India.
After four grueling months since the crew had seen land, the explorers reached the Cape of South Africa where they engaged with the Khoikhoi tribes.
From this, it can be clarified that Vasco Da Gama only discovered South Africa on a ‘finders keepers’ basis.
To be more factually correct one would say that Da Gama and his sea crew arrived on the shores of South Africa as the land was technically home to the Khoikhoi tribes who were already natives inhabiting the area. Da Gama merely used South Africa as a stop-off during his main journey to India.
During his time spent in South Africa, a life threatening situation arose from a misunderstanding between the Portuguese explorers and the Khoikhoi, forcing the Portuguese to relocate to a new destination for the crew to rest and repair damages to their ships. This new location would now be what we call Durban.
It was on Christmas eve that same year in 1497 that Da Gama and his men arrived and named the new land ‘Terra do Natal’. Da Gama was not interested in settling here as the main purpose of his journey was to discover the sea route leading to India.
Then, hundreds of years later in 1824 proper settlement in South Africa began with the British settlers arriving. Slowly but surely the area was then deemed ‘Port Natal’ and was built up into a little harbour town with a trading station.
Sir Benjamin D’Urban was the Cape Governor in 1835 and it was during this time that the small harbour town was named after the Cape Govenor and is now known as our very own golden coast, Durban.
We hope you enjoyed this write up and find this information of our city’s heritage entertaining. Write back to us and let us know your thoughts on this article. Would you use this story to wow the crowd at the next dinner party you go to? Send your responses to siren@bluesecurity.co.za
Sources
Southafrica-travel.net. (2019). History of the City of Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. [online] Available at: http://www.southafrica-travel.net/kwazulu/edurban1.htm.
Grierson, S. (2019). Round the Cape 514 years ago!. [online] Cape Point Route. Available at: https://www.capepointroute.co.za/blog/attraction/round-the-cape-514-years-ago/.
South African History Online. (2011). Vasco da Gama’s Voyage of ‘Discovery’ 1497. [online] Available at: https://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/vasco-da-gamas-voyage-discovery-1497.