Jan Paerl (1761-1851) was the initiator of what is arguably the first millenarian movement in colonial South Africa. In this biography of the Khoikhoi Jan Paerl light is being shed on this new form of resistance against colonial domination in Cape society. As the prophet, Onsen Liewen Heer, Paerl initiated a quasi-millenarian movement by persuading believers to reassert their Khoikhoi identity and reclaim the “land of their forefathers”.
This study discusses Paerl’s post-prophetic activities, his trial and incarceration, the clash with his colonial master, his appropriation of mission Christianity and his last years as a Moravian Christian.