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Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a ruined city near Masvingo, central Zimbabwe which was inhabited between c. 1100 to c. 1550 (flourishing c. 1300 - c. 1450) in the region’s Late Iron Age. Capital of the Kingdom of Zimbabwe of the Bantu-speaking Shona people, it is located on a natural citadel and includes many impressive monuments built using granite blocks without mortar.
From the 3rd century BCE, there is evidence of sheep, goat, and cattle domestication although the practice was not widespread until the 1st century CE. Certainly, small bands of nomadic hunter-gathers had inhabited the area long before the Shona pastoralists arrived with their livestock and iron-smelting technology and, indeed, the two groups would continue to compete for territory right into the modern era. People lived in mud and reed thatch or stone houses. Simple pottery was made, leather for clothing was produced from hides, jewelry was made from copper and gold, and weapons and farming implements from iron. These items were also traded in the region, salt being a valued and needed commodity in the Zimbabwe kingdom. There are also finds of glass beads and seashells, evidence of trade with the coast even at this early date.
The society, from the 10th to 16th century, prospered from farming (especially of sorghum, millet, pumpkins, and watermelons), animal husbandry, hunting, and localized trade (using local iron, copper, and gold deposits). As these communities prospered, and as their trade network expanded to the great trade centers of the Swahili coast (e.g., Kilwa and Sofala), so they were able to build more impressive stone monuments from the beginning of the 2nd millennium. Great Zimbabwe, located some 30 km (19 miles) southeast of modern Masvingo, is only the largest of over 300 Iron Age stone sites in the region which today covers modern Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
The chief of a tribe was likely the wealthiest male, although the post was usually hereditary amongst the Shona. A chief had no army to support his authority and so it is probable that most chiefs sought to accommodate the views of their community's senior males and subordinate chiefs under their nominal control. Archaeological evidence of fire destruction at some sites suggests there were occasional conflicts between competing groups. The stone monuments, at least, are evidence of some sort of political authority, but just what that consisted of is unknown other than that it was rich enough and controlled sufficient labor to build such massive structures.
The male children of the tribe's herd-owning males were educated with their peers for a number of months in isolation from the community. The boys were taught hunting skills, had to endure physical hardship and endurance tests, and were taught the traditions and customs of the tribe. At the end of the training period, they were circumcised and given a new name, which meant the boys had become men. Girls were also given group education where they were prepared for their future role as wives and mothers. When a girl did marry she left her home and lived with the family of her husband, her father presenting a dowry of cattle.
Mutapa
Mutapa
The Kingdom of Mutapa in the far southwest (modern northern Zimbabwe and southern Zambia) corner of the African continent. The Bantu-speaking Shona peoples of Mutapa (established c. 1450) had inherited the region’s trade network from its predecessor Great Zimbabwe (c. 1100 - c. 1550). Goods from Mutapa, like gold and ivory, were traded with Sofala, an outpost controlled by the most southern Swahili city of Kilwa.
These descendants of the Mutapa dynasty, like their fellow-members of the Korekore dialect cluster of the Shona-speaking peoples, retain traditions of their past that are passed on from generation to generation by an informal learning process. These traditions are almost all devoted to the ruling dynasties rather than to the mass of the people and are especially concerned with lines of descent and land rights. They range from myths to relatively accurate factual accounts, with a wide variety of traditions between these two extremes. The religion of the Mutapa kingdom revolved around ritual consultation of spirits and a cult of royal ancestors. The ancestors advised the kings through mediums appointed by the court. Known as "mhondoros" these mediums maintained Shrines within the capital. The mhondoros also served as oral historians recording the names and deeds of past kings. Local lords, fumos, usually relatives of the king, were appointed to administer the provinces. Over time, some of these "lords" became hereditary." The King was "Lord of the Sun and the Moon, King of the Land of the Rivers and Conquerors of Enemies." Natural resources were thought to have been created by Mwari, the deity and could only be "exploited with the approval of the Mutapa, Mwari's earthly representative and custodian." Initially the rulers of the Mutapa state maintained their influence through marriage between powerful families, working together with the spirit mediums and gaining control over rain-making ceremonies. Elaborate court procedures helped bind senior advisers to the Mutapa, but a major weakness lay in the uncertainty of succession of rulers.
From 1530, the Portuguese tried to establish trade markets (feiras) within Mutapa, but their interference in local affairs, particularly their attempts to spread Christianity, brought them into conflict with the Mutapa rulers. In a familiar tale of colonial interference, the kingdom descended into a period of civil wars. A small number of Portuguese landowners clung onto the garrisoned forts at Sena, Tete, and Zumbo in the Zambezi valley.
Excerpt derived from World History Encyclopedia and New World Encyclopedia
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