1846 Tjamuaha settles at Okahandja after another Ovaherero leader, Oove ua Muhoko Kahitjene, has already settled there, and after Jonker Afrikaner raids Tjamuaha’s cattle in March.
The first school book in Otjiherero is printed by the missionaries Hahn and Johannes Rath.
Aaron de Pass establishes a coastal shipping trade at Walvis Bay, dealing in guano, seal skins, whale products and the export of shark’s liver oil. He maintains stations at Walvis Bay, Sandwich Harbour and Ichaboe Island.
21.03. In a letter to Hahn, Jonker levels serious accusations against the missionary, whom he considers responsible for the outbreak of hostilities between the Nama and the Ovaherero.
27.04. Hahn requests the British authorities in the Cape Colony to establish a border between Nama and Ovaherero.
December The Kai||hhaun under Chief ||Oaseb attack the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu.
03./04.12. Orlam Afrikaners decide on their return from a visit to Walvis Bay, to plunder Ovaherero villages.
12.12. Hahn accuses the Wesleyan Missionary Society of supporting Jonker Afrikaner's raids against the Ovaherero. He also reports that the Orlam Afrikaners under Jonker Afrikaner and the Kai||khaun under Chief ||Oaseb are the centre of the resistance against missionaries.
1847 Bethany creates its "Ryksboek" (Code of Law) and Windhoek, Warmbad, Rehoboth (1849) follow suite. Patriarchy is entrenched by the Ryksboek (for Bethany and Rehoboth). It states that chieftaincy is hereditary, never to be vested in a woman but in the eldest son following his father. The chief has two main counsellors assisting him as ell as 10 secondary group leaders. Decisions are taken by majority vote. The Code of Law includes a set of regulations for "citizens", "bywoners" and "servants". Citizens are obliged to do military service and labour on public works. These sections of the Rehoboth Code of Law are followed by a body of general regulations of conduct. Marriages have to be monogamous. In case of theft the thief has to make good double the amount of damage. The laws are very strict and precisely formulated. Thus, this code gives a clear indication of social hierarchies that are based on the private ownership of means of production, namely guns and cattle. The death sentence is not enforced, very much to the dismay of the European missionaries.
Missionary Bailie replaces Ridsdale.
Johannes Hendrik Bam is responsible for the mission station of Rooibank (called "Scheppmannsdorf").
The elephant hunter Hans Larsen moves from Otjikango to Gobabis.
29.08. Heinrich Scheppmann dies in Rehoboth.
23.12. Harry Smith, Governor of the South African Cape Colony, establishes the southern bank of the Oranje River as the colony’s northern boundary.
1848 A ||Hawoben revolt against the missionary work of Bailie of the Wesleyan Missionary Society takes place at Schans Vlakte (||Khauxa!nas).
The British trader Frank Bassingthwaighte settles at Rehoboth to work as blacksmith.
24.01. During Knudsen’s temporary absence in 1847 Johann Samuel Hahn takes over the mission station Bethany.
1849


John Spence, working for Gibson, Linton and Co., founds a fishing industry in Sandwich Harbour.
January Kamukamu, brother of Oove ua Muhoko Kahitjene, is killed by Jonker Afrikaner when the Orlam Afrikaners, returning from a raid on Walvis Bay, decide to plunder Ovaherero villages.
09.07.


The Rhenish missionary Johannes Rath works among the Ovaherero in Otjimbingwe (until 12.03.1861). He is followed by Friedrich Wilhelm Kolbe (1851-1852), Barnabas Hörnemann (1855-12.03.1861), Brincker (12.07.1863-1864), Hahn (08.02.1864-14.02.1873), Johann Carl Eduard Hälbich (01.06.1864-1870), Franz Tamm (01.06.1864-1865), Christian Baumann (1866-1874), Johann Wilhelm Redecker (01.06.1867-1874), Heinrich Felling (01.06.1867-1873), Friedrich Wilhelm Gottlieb Viehe (01.06.1867-1870), Carl Gotthilf Büttner (01.02.1873-17.07.1880) and Peter Friedrich Bernsmann (from 01.01.1874).

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Otjimbingwe in the Swakop Valley: The first Rhenish Missionary working in Otjimbingwe in 1849 is Johannes Rath
Copyright of Photos: Dr. Klaus Dierks

December ||Oaseb supports Jonker Afrikaner in raiding the Ovambanderu.
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