The Early (Precolonial) Zimbabwean History

 

Education, Arts and Creativity Paw: History Branch
"Communicate Through Music."

The Great Zimbabwe State

A state is a politically organised body/group of people under a single government/leader.

The Great Zimbabwe State was founded by the Shona people of the Early Iron Age period. At its peak, the Great Zimbabwe State stretched from the Zambezi River in the North (kuMawodzanyemba), to the Limpopo River in the South (kuChamhembe) and the Indian Ocean in the East (kuMabvazuva), to the edges of the Kalahari Desert in the West (kuMadokero). The capital city of this state was built in the south-eastern part of the state near modern day city of Masvingo (the ruins of the city are still there in Masvingo, Zimbabwe). This capital city was called 'Dzimba Dzamabwe' which translates to Houses of Stone; it is commonly known as Great Zimbabwe which is the derivative of Dzimba Dzamabwe.

Factors which led to the rise of the Great Zimbabwe State

1. The state grew due to the leader's control of:
1. cattle,
2. trade in gold especially with foreigners like Arabs, Swahili and the Portuguese. 
2. Gold mining
3. Religion (the leaders used religion as a way of uniting people).
4. Infrastructure development, Crafting and Carvings e.g. The Zimbabwe Bird.

One of the Zimbabwe Bird statues/carvings at the Great Enclosure

Organisation of the Great Zimbabwe State

• Economic Activities:
• The main economic activity of the Shona of the Great Zimbabwe State was Cattle Ranching/Rearing. They kept large herds of cattle (mombe), sheep (makwayi) and goats (mbudzi) which they used for feeding, transport, farming, etc.
• Manufacturing: 
• Textiles: they weaved cotton into cloth and blankets. 
• They were also involved in basketry, making jewellery, pottery and sculpture.
• Crafts: there were several crafts that the Shona of Great Zimbabwe did such as iron smelting. They smelted iron (Fe) into ornaments, spears, arrow heads, hoes etc.
• Crop Cultivation: they grew roundnuts (nyimo), groundnuts (nzungu), watermelons (manwiwa), beans (bhinzi), finger millet (rukweza), sorghum (mhunga), etc.
• Trade: 
• The Shona People of the Great Zimbabwe State carried out trade an an economic activity. They carried out both internal and external/foreign or long distance trade.
• External trade was carried out via the Indian Ocean with Arabs, Chinese, Persians, and Syrians. They exchanged Ivory, gold , copper, etc. with the foreigners and they received beads, cloth, guns, ceramics such as porcelain, glassware, Chinaware, etc.
• The long distance trade was done along the East African Coast at ports such as Sofala, Quelimane, Malindi, Mombasa and Tete. The Shona People employed middlemen (vashambadzi) who were also known to be Arab or Swahili traders, in order to make the long distance trade smooth.
• Leadership: The Great Zimbabwe State was presided over by a Monarch.
• Mining: The citizens of this state mined quite a number of minerals in the state and these included gold (Ndarama), copper (mhangura), silver (sirivha), tin and iron. 
• Iron was mined through out the state and it was used to make a variety of implements, ornaments and weapons. 

  

  Ingombe Ilede

  
  
• Gold was used for trade and making jewellery and also for paying tribute.
• Copper was mined at places like 'Ingombe Ilede' (which translates to 'a sleeping cow'. This name supposedly comes from a local baobab tree which is lying on the ground and it looks like a cow which is lying on the ground).
• Pastime activities: 
• They also went for fishing, hunting (in an organised way to prevent the extinction of wild animals in the state) and gathering as pastime or supplementary activities.
• Entertainment usually occurred in the evening when everyone is done with daily duties, when people played drums (ngoma, made of dried animal skin and wood), played gourds with seeds inside them (a.k.a. hosho) and sung songs while they dance.

The Great Zimbabwe Stone Walls: Why Were They Built?

1. They were erected perhaps to show the power of the Kings.
2. The Great Zimbabwe was erected as a Capital City of the state and as a center of the king (as proposed my many historians).
3. They were used for protection, mainly for defence against intruders /enemies
4. Perhaps they were also built for privacy.
5. Some Archaeologists suggest that the Great Zimbabwe (GZ) was built as a center for trade. Evidence to support this is found in the remains they found at the GZ ruins, of pottery, jewellery, beads, Chinaware - which were foreign.
6. They were probably built for religious purposes or as a centre of worship as well.

Left 'A SF logo designed with the inspiration of part of the Great Zimbabwe's Great Enclosure', Right 'The Great Enclosure'

The decline and collapse of the Great Zimbabwe State

The Great Zimbabwe State which had existed probably between the 11th century and the 15th century, experienced a period of decline and then collapsed by about the year 1450. 

What were the reasons for the decline and collapse of the Great Zimbabwe

• Some Historians suggest that succession disputes could have led to the state's decline.
• Overpopulation could have been a contributing factor to the decline.
• Since land was also a measure of wealth and power, probably there was a shortage of land in the state. 
• Perhaps it was because of the exhaustion of some essential resources, leading to a fraction of the population migrating to other states. If the King lost a big part of his population to other states, that would translate to the decline of the King's power, which leads to the collapse of the state because it would be vulnerable to colonisation/invasion by foreign states.
• Since trade was a significant part of the state Economic sector and the previous point suggests the exhaustion of resources which could be used for trade; this could contribute immensely to the decline in trade (especially foreign and long distance trade) which becomes a push factor for a part of the state's population and this could have caused foreign traders to change trading routes and trading partners.

The Mutapa State: The Origins of the Mutapa State

Historians use the following sources of history to trace the origins of the Mutapa State:

• Oral traditions
• Portuguese written documents
• Archeological sources/findings

According to oral traditions/sources, the founder of the Mutapa State was Nyatsimba Mutota who is said to have left Great Zimbabwe around 1400. So according to this tradition, the Mutapa State was a daughter/successor to the Great Zimbabwe State.

Mutota and his followers are said to have migrated fro Great Zimbabwe due to:

1. Exhaustion of resources within Great Zimbabwe
2. Shortage of land
3. Decline in trade
4. shortage of salt in the Great Zimbabwe State 

When Mutota left Great Zimbabwe together with his followers, he moved northwards towards the Zambezi Valley (A valley is a low-lying area between two high ridges or along a river). He settled along or in the Dande area, and there, He conquered the Tonga and the Tavara people who then gave him the praise name 'MUNHUMUTAPA/MONOMUTAPA/MWENEMUTAPA' or simply MUTAPA - which means 'Owner of conquered lands'. Mutota accepted the name since it praised him. This became the name of his people and the title of the rulers of the State which came to be called Mutapa/Munhumutapa/Monomutapa/Mwenemutapa State. Mutota established his capital city in the Mavhuradonha Hills (Mt. Darwin in Modern day Zimbabwe) near Mt. Fura.

Factors which led to the rise and development of the Mutapa State

1. Agriculture - the Mutapa State grew out of the people's control of agriculture, that is growing crops and keeping livestock.
2. Control of Trade - The state rose due to the leaders' ability to control trade in salt, ivory and gold with the Arab, Swahili and the Portuguese, along the Zambezi River.
3. Mining - The state managed to develop as a result of its mining activities such as minig of gold, silver, copper, etc.
4. Abilities of the Mutapas/Leaders - the state's leaders were great people who conquered man's small states, to create one of the most powerful states in Southern Africa, prior to the arrival of colonial rule (colonialism commenced in between 1850 and 1900. By 1900, the whole of Africa was colonised except Liberia and Ethiopia). 

At the peak of the state, it extended to cover the whole of modern day Zimbabwe and stretched further East (Mabvazuva) to the Indian Ocean and West (Madokero) to the edges of the Kalahari Desert. The Mutapa State had provinces such as; Dande, Chidima, Ingombe Ilede, Manyika, Danangombe, Mapungubwe, Guruhuswa, Great Zimbabwe, Naletale and Khami.

The Economic Organisation of the Mutapa State

The Mutapa people participated in a wide variety of economic activities such as:

This chart doesn't show the true distribution of the Economic Activities of the Mutapa State

1. Trade - Mwenemutapa controlled the trade that they practised with the Portuguese. The Mutapa people traded with the Swahili, Portuguese, etc.
1. Internal Trade - they bartered goods such as grain, minerals and livestock, among themselves.
2. Foreign/External/Long distance Trade - they exchanged good with foreigners like the Chinese etc. The Mutapa people exchanged ivory, minerals etc. with  foreign made goods such as cloth, ammunition, spirits, beads and Chinaware. This trade was carried out through middlemen called 'Vashambadzi/Vanyayi'.
2. Tribute - The Mutapa people paid tribute to their king as a sign of loyalty to the throne. Tribute was paid to the Mutapa in the form of minerals (gold in particular), labour, cloth, grain, cattle and their skins/hides, etc. The Portuguese and other traders paid tribute and taxes, and the Mutapa State benefited from the tributes and taxes. The ruling class used to receive many presents. Tribute had two main purposes:
1. it was a method of control and was paid to show loyalty to the king.
2. it was paid to increase the wealth of the state because the entre population of the state would benefit from the items paid especially during times of need e.g. drought and wars.
3. Crafts - The Mutapa People carried out crafts such as basketry, pottery, weaving, blacksmithing, and these were done by specialists.
4. Agriculture (Crop Cultivation) - the Mutapa People grew a wide variety of grain crops such as; millet, sorghum, beans and later on maize was introduced. They used the grain crops for exchange (trade), feeding themselves etc.
5. Mining - The people of the Mutapa State carried out gold mining (kuchera ndarama), which was used for trade and payment of tribute. They also mined other minerals such as copper (mhangura), iron and silver. Mining was done during the dry season.
6. Hunting and Gathering  

The Political and Military Organisation of the Mutapa State