History of the Cape Colony before 1806 History of the Cape Colony before 1806 The written history of the Cape Colony in what is now South Africa began when Portuguese navigator Bartolomeu Dias became the first modern European to round the Cape of Good Hope in 1488. In 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed along the whole coast of South Africa on his way to India, landed at St Helena Bay for 8 days, and made a detailed description of the area. The Portuguese, attracted by the riches of Asia, made no permanent settlement at the Cape Colony. However, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) settled the area
Indian Civil Service (British India) Indian Civil Service (British India) The Indian Civil Service (ICS), for part of the 19th century officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the elite higher civil service of the British Empire in British India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled more than 300 million people in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Burma (then comprising British Raj). They were ultimately responsible for overseeing all government activity in the 250 districts that comprised British India. They were appointed under Section XXXII of the Government of India Act 1858, enacted by the Parliament of the