Mutapa Empire

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The Mutapa Empire, also known as Mwene Mutapa (Portuguese: Monomotapa) or the Empire of Great Zimbabwe was a medieval kingdom (c. 1250-1629) which used to stretch between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers of Southern Africa in the modern states of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. It enjoys great fame for the ruins at its old capital of Great Zimbabwe.

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[edit] Etymology

The name Mutapa means "the conquered lands". The mwene (bantu term for "lord", specifically a conquering king) was the title giving rise to the state being referred to as Mwene Mutapa. This phrase has been preserved in documents as Munhu mu tapa, Manhumutapa and the Portuguese Monomotapa.

[edit] History

Towers of Great Zimbabwe.
Towers of Great Zimbabwe.

The empire is thought to have been established by the Rozvi whose descendants include the modern-day Shona people. The founder of the ruling dynasty was Mbire, a semi-mythical potentate active in the 13th century. Mbire's purported great-great-grandson Nyatsimba was the first ruler to assume the title of the "owner of the Conquered Lands and Peoples", which became hereditary among his descendants. Great Zimbabwe reached its zenith around 1350 - 1400 by virtue of its brisk trade in gold conducted with Arabs via the seaport of Sofala south of the Zambezi delta. Chinaware and fabrics of Gujarat were traded for gold along the coast. Shortly afterwards, the state collapsed and its capital moved about 350km north to Mount Fura by the Zambezi.[1]

The Portuguese began their attempts to subdue the Shona but were confined to the coast for many years, according to Fernand Braudel . In the meantime, the Monomotapa Empire was torn apart by Portuguese factions, and the gold from the rivers they controlled was exhausted. Around this time the states of Zanzibar and Kilwa became prominent powers. [2]

The empire was further weakened by the Zulus' migration down to their present location in South Africa from an area north of the Zambezi river which they had left because of a plague complicated by a severe drought. It was finally conquered in 1629 by the Portuguese and never recovered. Remnants of the government established another Mutapa kingdom in Mozambique sometimes called Karanga. The Karanga kings styled themselves Mambos (singular Mambo) and reigned in the region until 1902.

[edit] Mutapa as Ophir

The empire had another indirect side effect on the history of Southern Africa. Gold from the empire inspired in Europeans a belief that Munhumutapa held the legendary mines of King Solomon as referred to in the Bible. The belief that the mines were inside the Munhumutapa kingdom in Southern Africa was one of the factors that led to the Portuguese exploration of the hinterland of Sofala in the 1500s, and this contributed to early development of Mozambique, as the legend was widely used among the less educated populace to recruit colonists. Some recordings suggest that most of the early colonists dreamt of finding the legendary city of gold in Southern Africa, a belief mirroring early South American colonists search for El Dorado and quite possibly inspired by it. Early trade in gold came to an end as the mines ran out and the Munhumutapa lacked the knowhow to develop them further or discover new sources.

[edit] List of rulers

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The Mwenes or Monomatapas of the first Mutapa state:

  • Nyatsimba Mutota (c. 1430–c. 1450)
  • Matope Nyanhehwe Nebedzac. 1450–c. 1480)
  • Mavura Maobwe (1480)
  • Mukombero Nyahuma (1480–c. 1490)
  • Changamire (1490–1494)
  • Kakuyo Komunyaka (1494–c. 1530)
  • Neshangwe Munembire (c. 1530–c. 1550)
  • Chivere Nyasoro (c. 1550–1560)
  • Chisamharu Negomo Mupuzangutu (1560–1589)
  • Gatsi Rusere (1589–1623)
  • Nyambo Kapararidze (1623–1629)
  • Chimbganda matombo (1634-1698)

The Mwenes or Monomatapas of the second Mutapa state:

  • Cangara II (1803 - 1804)
  • Mutiwapangome (1804 - 1806)
  • Mutiwaora (1806)
  • Cipfumba (1806 - 1807)
  • Nyasoro (1807 - 1828)
  • Cimininyambo or Kandeya II (1828 - 1830)
  • Dzeka (1830 - 1849)
  • Kataruza (1849 - 1868)
  • Kandeya III (1868-1870)
  • Dzuda (1870-1887)
  • Cioko Dambamupute (1887-1902)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cambridge History of Africa V.5, CUP, Cambridge, 1981
  2. ^ Braudel, Fernand, The Perspective of the World vol III of Civilization and Capitalism 1979 (English translation 1984)