Autshumao (AKA Herri die Strandloper [beachcomber]) was a Khoe chief. Around 1630, he agreed to accompany a visiting ship to Bantam in Java where he learnt much about Europeans, including their languages, such as English and Dutch. (1/10)

On 6 April 1652, Jan van Riebeeck was received at the Cape by the Autshumao and his people. In the 8 months after van Riebeeck’s arrival, he built a fort on top of Autshumao’s settlement. (2/10)

This was van Riebeeck’s view of his hosts, recorded in his diary on 13 May 1656: “It won’t do to say they are merely wild savages… For the more they are known, the more impertinent they are found to be…” (3/10)

In 1658, all civil relationships between the Dutch and Khoe had deteriorated and war broke out when Autshumao reclaimed cattle that were unfairly taken from his people by the Dutch. (4/10)

In 1659, after losing this war, he and some followers became the first prisoners on Robben Island. The following year Autshumao and one other prisoner escaped by stealing a rowing boat, which got them to the mainland. (5/10)