South African History and Purposes South Africa’s settlement spans over thousands of years. The first people living there were the San, who were descendants of prehistoric Africans. This group was the only inhabitants of the region for many years. Eventually others learned about the land, and about 2,000 years ago people who spoke Bantu languages arrived. Then in the 1400’s Europeans started to visit South Africa, but did not begin to settle permanently till the 1600’s. When today scientists try to uncover South Africa’s history it is tough. South Africa had no written history until the Europeans arrived in the 1600’s (Human Record), so scientists have to study the oral tradition, ancient artifacts, cultural patterns, and other languages spoken by the South African people. At first the San were the only inhabitants of the region, they moved in small groups hunting animals and gathering wild plants for food. Then in 100’s A.D. a correlated group called the Khoikhoi migrated from the north to the south eventually settling in the eastern coastal belt and the eastern Transvaal (South African History Online). The Khoikhoi settled in communities and raised sheep and cattle. There is no written history prior to the arrival of the Europeans so we have no way of knowing if there were conflicts between these two groups. When the Europeans arrived in the 1600’s, they called the San, Bushmen, and the Khoikhoi, Hottentots. In modern world Africa today, these European terms would be offensive. The two groups have now come to be the Khoisan. Imperialism is when a country takes over another or territory by a stronger nation with the intent of dominating the political, economic, and social life of the people of that nation. This is exactly what the Europeans did in the 1600’s. Although, the Europeans first visit of South Africa occurred in the 1400’s by the Portuguese, who