Nicolaas Waterboer

He was the last fully independent Griqua Kaptijn of Griqualand West, and after it became a British colony, his rule and that of his successors was largely nominal.

As enormous numbers of "diggers" arrived and the population of the diamond fields exploded, tensions grew between the different groups - including the Griquas, the indigenous Tswana people, the Boers and the white English diggers.

Against the backdrop of the land tensions, the diggers, led by the eccentric Stafford Parker, proclaimed the independent "Diggers/Klipdrift Republic" in 1870, but it was swiftly annexed to the British Empire as the separate colony of Griqualand West.

[1] With his agent, David Arnot, Waterboer launched a lawsuit over his land rights, which led to him losing significant portions of his territory, but which in the end he won.

He was fluent in English and Dutch, as well as the native languages of his people - Afrikaans and Griqua.