Hantam

The Hantam lies on the high western edge of the Karoo, where mountains and plateaus look out over dry plains. San hunters and Khoekhoe herders lived in this country before colonial farmers pushed north from the Cape. After about 1740, trekboers extended their livestock farms into the Hantam and neighbouring Roggeveld. Some Khoesan communities were driven away from springs, and mounting competition over water and pasture fed a cycle of resistance and violent reprisals.