Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe Zimbabwe | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13th century–16th/17th century | |||||||||||||
 Great Zimbabwe appears onAbraham Ortelius' 1570 mapAfricae Tabula Nova, rendered "Simbaoe". | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Great Zimbabwe | ||||||||||||
| Religion | Belief inMwari | ||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| Mambo | |||||||||||||
• 13th century | Chigwagu Rusvingo (first, according toKen Mufuka) | ||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||
• Established | 13th century | ||||||||||||
• Fall of Mapungubwe, rise of Great Zimbabwe | c. 1300 | ||||||||||||
• Nyatsimba Mutota leaves to establish the Kingdom of Mutapa | c. 1450 | ||||||||||||
• Abandonment of Great Zimbabwe | 16th/17th century | ||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | ZW | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Today part of | Zimbabwe, and parts ofSouth Africa,Mozambique,Zambia, andBotswana. | ||||||||||||
Part ofa series on the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History ofZimbabwe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ancient history
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
White settlement pre-1923
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
TheKingdom of Great Zimbabwe was aShona kingdom located in modern-dayZimbabwe. Its capital wasGreat Zimbabwe, the largest stone structure in precolonialSouthern Africa, which had a population of 10,000. Around 1300, Great Zimbabwe replacedMapungubwe as the most important trading centre in the interior, exporting gold viaSwahili city-states into theIndian Ocean trade. At Great Zimbabwe's centre was the Great Enclosure which is thought to have housed royalty and had demarcated spaces for rituals, while commoners surrounded them within the second perimeter wall. The Zimbabwe state was composed of over 150 smaller zimbabwes and likely covered 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi).
It is unknown what caused Great Zimbabwe's decline and migration of the Shona to other places from the 15th century, however land depletion or a depletion of critical resources, increased regional competition, shifting trade routes, and overpopulation likely played a role. By the 16th century, theMutapa Empire and theKingdom of Butua centred onKhami had replaced Great Zimbabwe as the major powers in the region. Great Zimbabwe likely continued to be inhabited into the 17th century, before it was eventually abandoned.
The Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe derives its name from its capital,Great Zimbabwe. The name "dzimbabwe" isShona for "great house of stone", from the nouns 'dzimba-' meaning "great house" and 'ibwe' meaning "-stone". "Zimbabwe" derives fromZimba-ra-mabwe orZimba-re-mabwe, translated from theKaranga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones" (dzimba = augmentative noun ofimba, "house";mabwe = plural ofibwe, "stone";ra/re = preposition forof).[1][2][3]
The region had been inhabited by theSan dating back over 100,000 years,[a] and was inhabited byBantu-speaking peoples from 150 BC, who from the 4th century AD formed various agriculturalchiefdoms.[5]: 11–2 An early settlement and predecessor wasGumanye.[6] The site of what would becomeGreat Zimbabwe had been occupied since 1000 by speakers of proto-Karanga (south-centralShona).[b][8][9] The settlement lay on the margins of mainstream developments occurring to its south from the 10th century in theLimpopo-Shashe Basin, where states and chiefdoms competed over gold and other goods for theIndian Ocean trade.[10] In the 13th century Great Zimbabwe was on the fringe of theMapungubwe state.[11]: 55
From the 12th century, Great Zimbabwe wrestled with other settlements, such asChivowa, for economic and political dominance in theSouthern Zambezi Escarpment. Agriculture and cattle played a key role in developing a vital social network, and served to "enfranchise management of goods and services distributed as benefits within traditional political and social institutions", while long distance trade was crucial for the transformation of localised organisations into regional ones. This process rapidly advanced during the 13th century, which saw largedry masonry stone walls raised, and by 1250 Great Zimbabwe had become an important trade centre. Gold production increased rapidly during this time.[10] By 1300, trade routes had shifted north as merchants bypassed the Limpopo and Mapungubwe by travelling theSave River into the gold-producing interior, precipitating Mapungubwe's rapid decline and the dominance of Great Zimbabwe.[12]
At its peakGreat Zimbabwe covered 7.22 km2 (2.79 sq mi) and became a centre for industry and political power.[13] At Great Zimbabwe's centre was the Great Enclosure which housed royalty and had demarcated spaces for rituals. Commoners surrounded them within the second perimeter wall, and its population was around 10,000.[10] Great Zimbabwe dominated trade routes despite not directly controlling village-based mining and smelting, and engaged in theIndian Ocean trade viaSwahili city-states such asSofala.[8] The state was composed of over 150 smaller zimbabwes, and likely covered 50,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi).[14][15]: 7 Stone structures were built around the north-eastern plateau, likely provincial outposts controlling areas of gold production.[16]: 202–3 The institutionalisation of Great Zimbabwe's politico-religious ideology served to legitimise the position of the king (mambo), with a link between leaders, their ancestors, andGod.[17][18]Ken Mufuka writes that the shrine in the Hill Complex was the home ofspirit mediums (svikiro) who were tasked with acting as the conscience of the state, and preserving the traditions of the founders, reported to beChigwagu Rusvingo (the firstmambo),Chaminuka,Chimurenga,Tovera, andSoro-rezhou among others.[19] The community incorporateddhaka pits into a complex water management system.[20]
It is unclear to what extent coercion and conflict played in Great Zimbabwe's growth and dominance due to this being challenging to recognise archaeologically. While the Great Enclosure served to display prestige and status, and to reinforce inequalities between elites and commoners, it likely also served to deter contestation for political power amid the close linkage between wealth accumulation and political authority, with rivals for power, such as district chiefs and regional governors, located outside the settlement in prestige enclosures.[18] The perimeter walls also likely served a defensive purpose, indicating warfare was conventional.[17]
It is unknown what causedGreat Zimbabwe's demise and its eventual abandonment.[c] It is unclear to what extentclimate change played a role, however Great Zimbabwe's location in a favourable rainfall zone makes this unlikely to have been a primary cause. Great Zimbabwe's dominance over the region depended on its continual extension and projection of influence, as its growing population needed more farming land and traders more gold.[10]Shonaoral tradition attributes Great Zimbabwe's demise to a salt shortage, which may be a figurative way of speaking of land depletion for agriculturalists or of the depletion of critical resources for the community.[21][22]: 10 It is plausible theaquifer Great Zimbabwe sat on top of ran out of water, or the growing population contaminated the water.[20]
From the early 15th century, international trade began to decline amid a global economic downturn, reducing demand for gold, which adversely affected Great Zimbabwe. In response to this, elites possibly expanded regional trading networks, resulting in greater prosperity for other settlements in the region. By the late 15th century, the consequences of this decision would have begun to manifest, as offshoots from Great Zimbabwe's royal family formed new dynasties, possibly as a result of losing succession disputes.[23] According to oral tradition,Nyatsimba Mutota, a member of Great Zimbabwe's royal family, led part of the population north in search for salt to found theMutapa Empire.[d][10] It was believed that only their most recent ancestors would follow them, with older ancestors staying at Great Zimbabwe and providing protection there.[18]Angoche traders opened a new route along theZambezi via Mutapa andIngombe Ilede to reach the goldfields west of Great Zimbabwe, precipitating its decline and the rise ofKhami, the capital of theKingdom of Butua.[25]: 50 By the 16th century, political and economic power had shifted away from Great Zimbabwe to the north and west. The site likely continued to be inhabited into the 17th century, before it was eventually abandoned.[10]
The social institution had amambo as itssacred leader, aided by a designated brother or sister,[18] along with an increasingly rigid three-tiered class structure. The kingdom taxed other rulers throughout the region, and was composed of over 150 tributaries headquartered in their own minor zimbabwes.[15]: 7
Great Zimbabwe was likely a centre for crafts and a place of great religious significance,[5]: 17 however, unlike atMapungubwe,rainmaking centres and cults were kept distant from the centre of power, and it was often entrusted to native members of particular regions.[10] There was a mystical relationship between leaders and the land, and a link between leaders, their ancestors, andGod.[18] Themambo's first wife held authority over his other wives.[18] Royalty initially lived at the Eastern and Western enclosures, with archaeological research uncovering ritual spears, gongs, andsoapstone bird effigies. The public surrounded them until the space became too limited for the growing population and the royalty moved to the Great Enclosure, constructed throughout the 13th and 14th centuries. The Great Enclosure partitioned domestic and public spaces, the latter likely used for rituals.[18] Similar toVenda tradition (who diverged from the Shona in the 17th century), the Great Enclosure could have been used forcircumcision rites and served as a pre-marital school for girls and boys, calledDomba.[26]
Nobles resolved disputes in a private court, while commoners resolved them in public.[18] Common homes werebuilt out of mud on wooden frame structures.[10][17] Exotic goods found in the kingdom's region acquired local meanings in rituals, aesthetics, and status, such asPersian earthenware bowls andChinese celadon.[14]Metalworking and ironbloomery were in the domain of men.[26] As the spiritual home of the Mutapa dynasty, in the 16th century the Mutapa king kept some wives at Great Zimbabwe, which served as the site for themasungiro ritual, involving the parents of both wife and husband.[27]
The Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe had a mosaicpolitical economy which embedded production and circulation to address needs at individual, household, village, district, capital, and state levels within a multidimensional environment dependent on local qualities. This system later incorporated global trade, however imports were relatively minimal, and it was not solely responsible for the region's economic development.[14]
Great Zimbabwe's wealth was derived from cattle rearing, agriculture, and the domination of trade routes from the goldfields of the Zimbabwean Plateau to theSwahili coast.Cattle was important to the elites in the kingdom since their wealth came from the management of cattle.[28] The large cattle herd that supplied the city moved seasonally and was managed by the court.[29] Salt, cattle, grain, and copper were traded as far north as theKundelungu Plateau in present-dayDR Congo.[30][5]: 17 They had extensive regional and long-distance trading networks with central Africa, the Swahili coast, the Persian Gulf, India, and the Far East.[10][14] Trade routes shifting north from theSave River, which linked Great Zimbabwe toSofala, to theZambezi, which linkedKhami toIngombe Ilede,Mutapa,Angoche, andQuelimane, likely contributed to Great Zimbabwe's demise.[25]: 50
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(December 2024) |
The rulers of Zimbabwe (calledMambo) brought artistic and stone masonry traditions found across theZambezi andLimpopo basins, including atMapungubwe. The construction of elaborate stone buildings and walls reached its apex in the kingdom. Until recently,traditional knowledge ofdry-stone masonry has never been recorded in Zimbabwe or in other Southern African countries, however some universities are now aiming to document this knowledge.[31]
Europeanantiquarians looted and pillaged Great Zimbabwe and similar structures from the 1890s to 1920s, greatly inhibiting the work of future archaeologists. Mired in racial prejudice, Rhodesians found it inconceivable that the structures could have been built be indigenous Africans, stipulating that archaeological discoveries of Persian bowls and Chinese celadon were the result of pre-Bantu settlement. The colonial government pressured archaeologists to deny that the structure was built by indigenous Africans, and the refutation ofvarious fantastical and dehumanising theories ascribing the construction to Jews, Arabs, Phoenicians, and anyone but the Shona, along with other activities of the antiquarians, dominated the historiography of Great Zimbabwe throughout the 20th century.[10][32] Its African origin only became consensus by the 1950s.[33]
Local narratives, despite each clan claiming the site of Great Zimbabwe, are very similar in lamenting both the European antiquarians and the professional archaeologists for desecrating and appropriating a sacred site. They hold the government responsible for the "silence" and "closure" of Great Zimbabwe due to their refusal to "acknowledge the ownership and control of the site by the ancestors andMwari".[34]
 | This section'sfactual accuracy isdisputed. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please help to ensure that disputed statements arereliably sourced.(August 2025) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
The following is a list of Mambo (also called Mwene-Mutapa) of the Zimbabwe Kingdom according to Mhare Yenhaka, a Zimbabwean historian.[35]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)