Leonardville, Namibia
|
Leonardville Naosanabis Wesley Vale |
|
|---|---|
| Village | |
 Leonardville
|
|
| Coordinates: 23°30′S 18°48′E / 23.500°S 18.800°E | |
| Country |
 Namibia
|
| Region | Omaheke Region |
| Constituency | Aminuis Constituency |
| Time zone | South African Standard Time (UTC+1) |
| Climate | BWh |
Leonardville is a village in Omaheke Region in eastern Namibia. It belongs to the Aminuis electoral constituency. The place normally receives an annual average rainfall of 236 millimetres (9.3 in), although in the 2010/2011 rainy season 530 millimetres (21 in) were measured.
Leonardville was the main settlement of the Kaiǀkhauan (Khauas Nama) subtribe of the Oorlam people until their military defeat against Imperial Germany's Schutztruppe soldiers in 1894 and 1896.
The area around Leonardville was inhabited by the Taa-speaking subtribe of the San people until the Khaiǁkhaun (Red Nation), who called the place Naosanabis, occupied their land. Around 1840 the group around Amraal Lambert, first Kaptein of the Kaiǀkhauan Orlam, moved into the area. They had been granted residence and pasture in the land of the Red Nation against an annual fee. In 1843 the Wesleyan Missionary Society established a missionary station here; its first missionaries were Joseph Tindall and his son Henry. They named the settlement Wesley Vale. In 1855 the Rhenish Missionary Society took over the operations. They bought the existing buildings—the church, the pastor's house, and the forge—and began to run a school for 60 to 80 children. Amraal Lambert's group, however, searched for a different place to settle. They moved to Gobabis in 1855 or 1856.
Amraal Lambert and most of his family died from smallpox in 1864. Some time after that the Kaiǀkhauan, now under the leadership of Amraal's grandson Andreas, moved back to Naosanabis. From here they controlled important trade routes. Using their technological advantage of commanding firearms and horses they were waylaying and robbing merchants. In the 1880s the Kaiǀkhauan were considered a powerful and dangerous force.
...
Wikipedia