Macassar is a small town in South Africa, close to Strand and Somerset West, with an approximate population of 33,225. Administratively it is a suburb of the City of Cape Town. Macassar’s history is closely tied to the Strand, whose inhabitants first settled this area.
macassar
What is the origin of Macassar?
Macassar (adj.)
name of a district on the island of Celebes (modern Sulawesi), 1660s, from native Mangkasara. Especially in Macassar oil (1809), trade name of a hair tonic “grandiloquently advertised in the early part of the 19th century” [OED] and said to be made from materials obtained from Macassar.
Who founded Macassar?
Sheikh Yusuf’s
The area later became known as Macassar because of Sheikh Yusuf’s origins. At Zandvliet Sheikh Yusuf’s settlement soon became a sanctuary for fugitive slaves. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community of the Cape was established.
Where did Sheikh Yusuf live in the Cape?
farm Zandvliet
In 1694 Sheikh Yusuf arrived at the Cape on the ship Voetboog, accompanied by 49 followers, wives and children. He was housed at the DEIC’s expense on the farm Zandvliet, just outside Cape Town, to minimise any influence he might exert on the DEIC’s slaves, who were mostly of East Indies origin.
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