At the beginning of the study period, Southern Africa (South
Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Swaziland) was
inhabited by Khoisan peoples. By CE 1000, however, Bantu-
speaking, iron-working, cattle-herding agriculturists had
settled the region as far south as the Fish River, assimilating
the native Khoisans. (Evidence for this contact is the retention
of Khoisan clicks in many of the Bantu languages of the region.)
The Kalahari Desert and the Cape Province, being poorly suited
to Bantu-style agriculture, remained the domain of Khoisan
nomads. Thus, if your ancestors were in southern Africa in CE
1490, it is safe to assume that their ancestors were also
farther north in central and east Africa in earlier periods.
Although southern Africa has hosted many powerful kingdoms (such
as the Rozvi Empire of Zimbabwe) and its people are highly
mobile, we will limit our attention the really significant
migrations. Seventeenth to eighteenth centuries - Dutch
settlement : The first historic mass migration was