The decline of Great Zimbabwe
The causes for the decline of Great Zimbabwe during the 15th century were attributed to many factors. Some of these factors include shortages in gold deposits, overworking of the land, overpopulation, food shortages, and deforestation. During the second portion of the 15th century, the Shona people had migrated north from the region of Great Zimbabwe and established a new state, the Kingdom of Mutapa. The Mutapa Kingdom control lands south of the Zambezi River in modern-day Zimbabwe and a small section of southern Zambia.
Mutapa Kingdom, Architecture, and Trade
The valley of Mazoe Mutapa had grown to become quite promising and even exerted dominance over neighboring chiefdoms such as Mbara, and Mannyika. Reef gold deposits were found in the Mutapa Kingdom, but never equaled the ones found in Great Zimbabwe. The Monarchs of the kingdom ruled over the population of warriors who fought for the ruling class against rival ethnic populations and chiefdoms. Warriors to the Monarchs were also cattle herders and farmers. The ruler of the Mutapa kingdom was referred to as Mwene Mutapa which means master pillager or lord of metals. The Mwene Mutapa resided in an enclosed compound with several buildings for his Queen and other ruling elite. Along with the Mwene Mutapa there were other ruling officials such as chief musician, head of the army, royal doorkeeper, and chief of medicine. The system of government rested on the shoulders of the Mwene Mutapa and nine minters which ruled over their own estates and had judicial powers, one being casing the death sentence on persons who were found guilty of crimes that were the server.
Having many resources that were in high demand the Mutapa Kingdom traded ivory, animal hides, gold, and copper. These items were usually traded for glass beads from India and embroidered textiles off the coast of East Africa known as the Swahili coast. Only the kingdoms elite trade goods who maintain peoples loyalty by handing out gifts. Mutapa unlike other kingdoms in the region like Mapungubwe and Great Zimbabwe didn’t have stone deposits to build walls or houses. Instead, the capital was sheltered by a wooden palisade, and the buildings were made with dried mud and wooden poles.
The Portuguese and the Decline of Mutapa
Following the exploration of Vasco da Gama in 1498-1499 CE the Portuguese established a presence in the rich trading cities of the Swahili Coast. From the time of the 1530s CE, the Portuguese made efforts to not only establish their own trading system within the Kingdom of Mutapa which would interfere with the systems of rulership in the kingdom but also to convert the Mwene Mutapa and the rest of the population to Christianity. Not only were the Portuguese trying to enforce their will on the Shona people, but the Muslim merchants trading on the Swahili Coast as well. Staying firm in their traditional systems of belief the Shona people rejected all the foreign religions that were brought to them.
Around the time of 1633 CE, the Portuguese made no headway with diplomatic approaches to obtain a major position in the trade. The Portuguese then sought to cut out the Swahili merchants and attacked the Kingdom of Mutapa which wasn’t at full strength because of civil war. Due to the fall of Mutapa, the Portuguese took it upon themselves to write the first records written about southern African people. In their writings, the Portuguese mistranslated Mutapa to mean Benemetapa. Furthering the garbled translation the Portuguese explorer Diego De Goes states "The king of Benametapa lives in great style, and is served with great deference, on bended knee" (quoted in Ki-Zerbo, 6).
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Cartwright, Mark. "Mutapa." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified March 20, 2019. https://www.ancient.eu/Mutapa/.
