The Griquas are a subgroup of mixed-race heterogeneous formerly Xiri[1]-speaking nations in South Africa with a unique origin in the early history of the Dutch Cape Colony.

[7] The Griquas could trace their forefathers to two clans, the Koks and Barendse, the first was made up mainly of Khoikhoi and the second of mixed European descent.

Throughout the 18th century, new communities characterized by race, culture, religion, and unequal access to property and power started to form; they came to be connected by spoken word.

[10] Bastaards': or Basters': worked on farms owned by White people in more specialized roles as craftsmen and transport riders.

[10] Slavery was practiced in the Dutch East India Company-controlled Cape Colony, and the mixed-race groups that developed in the early Cape Colony as a result of white settler interaction with captured Khoi people who began to work around the farms, eventually opted different names for themselves, including Bastards, Basters, Korana, Oorlam or Oorlam Afrikaners, and Griqua.

[12] According to the 18th-century Dutch historian Isaak Tirion, the Khoi name Griqua (or Grigriqua) is first recorded in 1730 about a group of people living in the northeastern section of the Cape Colony.

The settlement grew rapidly, attracting people from various backgrounds seeking economic opportunities and protection from conflicts in the region.

Klaarwater's strategic location facilitated trade routes between the interior of Southern Africa and the Cape Colony, contributing to its significance as a cultural and economic center.

Despite facing challenges such as colonial expansion and land dispossession, Klaarwater played a pivotal role in the history of the Griqua people and remains an important symbol of their resilience and cultural heritage.

[16] An insignificant amount of Bastaards groups were formed in the Northwestern and eastern border suburbs of Colesberg, Roggerfeld, Namaqualand, and Hantam.

Adam Kok was a liberated slave, who figured out how to acquire burgher rights and a ranch close to the present Piketberg, established the most incredible blended local area.

[18] Kok was a former slave who managed to rule the Griqua nation and he led his people across the country, South Africa to settle next to the Orange River.

Trouble started when the Kok arrested a Boer accused of ill-treating his people, and the trekker community tried to take over his entire territory.

[18] The arrival of the Boers and the colonial masters to the area known as Griqualand West denied the Griquas the opportunity to follow their own development paths.

They lost their land and traditional resources and were tossed into a sea of rapid social change which saw them lose the independence they had searched for in the Orange Free State area.

[22] The Dutch East India Company (VOC) did not intend for its Cape Colony possessions at the southern tip of Africa to develop into a political entity.

The high proportion of single Dutch men led to many taking indigenous women as wives and companions, producing mixed-race children.

These children did not attain the social or legal status accorded their fathers, mostly because colonial laws recognised only Christian forms of marriage.

As part of the European colonists' paramilitary response to insurgent resistance from Khoi and San peoples, they conscripted Basters men into commando units.

[23] But many recruited to war chose to abandon Dutch society and strike out to pursue a way of life more in keeping with their maternal culture.

The resulting stream of disgruntled Dutch-speaking marksmen leaving the Cape hobbled the primarily Dutch colonists' ability to crew commando units.

In the 19th century, the Griqua controlled several political entities that were governed by Kapteins (Dutch for "Captain") and their councils, with their own written constitutions.

This was a rather novel land regime at the time for all polities in this part of sub-Saharan Africa, and for it to persevere in the face of increasing white interest in the region, the Griqua state — or ‘captaincy’ — needed to be extensive, bureaucratic, and respected: resilient in the face of serious challenge, coherent to both the Cape Colony administration and Boer communities.1 The organisation of this captaincy was key to its success.

Despite similarly mixed-race origins, those Coloured peoples identifying as Basters are considered to be a separate ethnic group and live primarily in south-central Namibia, while those who consider themselves Griqua are mostly located around Campbell and Griquatown in the historic territory of Griqualand West in the Northern Cape; around the small Le Fleur Griqua settlement at Kranshoek in the Western Cape; and at Kokstad in KwaZulu-Natal.

It is important to note that the Griqua nation, largely founded on the Khoikhoi, were pastoral people who lived a laid-back life at one with nature and their surroundings.

[29] Genetic evidence indicates that the majority of the present-day Griqua population is descended from a combination of European, Khoikhoi and Tswana ancestors, with a small percentage of San, or Bushmen, ancestry.

[31] Building work started on the Griqualand West Supreme Court, on the Market Square in 1882 and took two years to complete, opening in February 1884.

The conference participates in cooperative research and development projects with the provincial government of the Western Cape and the University of the Free State in Bloemfontein.

[35] Some Griqua raided the Tlhaping, a Tswana speaking community, while others obtained cattle from them which was used to trade with the Cape farmers for firearms, horses, and wagons.

With the arrival of the Boers to Griqualand West, the Griqua lost their land and traditional cultures and were tossed[ambiguous] into a rapidly changing Orange Free State area.