Francisco de Almeida had sailed for Portugal in December 1509 and reached Table Bay near the Cape of Good Hope, where the Garcia, Belém and Santa Cruz had dropped anchor late February, 1510, to replenish water.

Here the returning Portuguese merchant-warriors encounter the local indigenous people, the Khoikhoi.

The Khoikhoi, originally part of a pastoral culture and language group to be found across Southern Africa, originated in the northern area of modern Botswana.

Southward migration of the ethnic group had been steady, eventually reaching the Cape around the first century CE.

Khoikhoi subgroups include the Namaqua to the west, the Korana of mid-South Africa, and the Khoikhoi in the south.

Husbandry of sheep, goats and cattle, who graze in fertile valleys across the region, have provided a stable, balanced diet, and have allowed the Khoikhoi to live in larger groups in a region previously occupied by the subsistence hunter-gatherers, the San.

Advancing Bantu in the third century had encroached on the Khoikhoi territory, forcing movement into more arid areas.

There has been some intermarriage between migratory Khoi bands living around what is today Cape Town and the San.

However the two groups remain culturally distinct as the Khoikhoi continue to graze livestock and the San to subsist on hunting-gathering.

After friendly trade with the Khoikhoi, some of the crew visit their nearby village, where they try to steal some of the locals' cattle.

Almeida allows his captains Pedro and Jorge Barreto to return to the village on the morning of March 1, 1510.

The village's cattle herd is raided with the loss of one man, while Almeida awaits his men some distance from the beach.

As the flagship's master Diogo d'Unhos moves the landing boats to the watering point, the Portuguese are left without a retreat.

The Khoikhoi sense the opportunity for an attack, during which Almeida and sixty-four of of his men perish, including eleven of his captains.

Almeida's body is recovered the same afternoon and buried on the shore front of the current Cape Town.