Adam Kok III

Who was Adam Kok III?

Adam Kok III was a leader of the Griqua people in South Africa.

The son of Adam Kok II, he grew up and was educated in the town of Philippolis in Transorangia. His father died in 1835 and, after a succession dispute with his older brother Abraham, Kok assumed the chieftainship in 1837.

After a series of land disputes with the British colonial government and the Boer Republic of the Orange Free State, Kok and his followers decided to trek over the Drakensberg Mountain Range in 1861, where they founded Griqualand East.

Kok was also responsible for establishing the capital of Griqualand East, Kokstad. He died later on in the mountains.