Kingdom of Mutapa

For a genus of jumping spiders, see Monomotapa (spider). For Zimbabwean football team, see Monomotapa United F.C..

Kingdom of Mutapa Mwene a Mutapa

Kingdom

← 1430–1760 Coat of Arms Map by Willem Janszoon Blaeu showing Monomotapa (Mutapa), dated 1635. Capital Zvongombe Language(s) Shona, Ikalanga Religion Cult of Mwari (God) Political structure Kingdom Mwenemutapa  - c. 1430 - c. 1450 Nyatsimba Mututa (first)  - 1740 - 1759 Dehwe Mupunzagutu (last) History  - Mutapa established by Mutota 1430  - Mutapa dynasty schism 1712  - Disintegrates under Civil war 1760 Area  - 16th century[1] 700,000 km2 (270,272 sq mi) The Kingdom of Mutapa, sometimes referred to as the Mutapa Empire (Shona: Wene we Mutapa; Portuguese: Monomotapa) was a Shona kingdom which stretched between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers of southern Africa in the modern states of Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Its founders are probably culturally and politically related to the builders who constructed Great Zimbabwe. Etymology The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the title Mwenemutapa (Lord of the conquered land).[2] However it came to be applied to the Kingdom as a whole, and was used to indicate its territory on maps of the period.[3] History Towers of Great Zimbabwe. The origins of the ruling dynasty at Mutapa go back to some time in the first half of the 15th century.[4] According to oral tradition, the first "mwene" was a warrior prince named Nyatsimba Mutota from the Kingdom of Zimbabwe sent to find new sources of salt in the north.[4] Prince Mutota found his salt among the Tavara, a Shona subdivision, who were prominent elephant hunters. They were conquered,[5] a capital was established 350 km north of Great Zimbabwe at Zvongombe by the Zambezi.[6] Expansion Mutota's successor, Matope, extended this new kingdom into an empire encompassing most of the lands between Tavara and the Indian Ocean.[5] The Mwenemutapa became very wealthy by exploiting copper from Chidzurgwe and ivory from the middle Zambezi. This expansion weakened the Torwa kingdom, the southern Shona state from which Mutota and his dynasty originated.[5] Mwenemutapa Matope's armies overran the kingdom of the Manyika as well as the coastal kingdoms of Kiteve and Madanda.[5] By the time the Portuguese arrived on the coast of Mozambique, the Mutapa Kingdom was the premier Shona state in the region.[5] Religion The religion of the Mutapa kingdom revolved around ritual consultation of spirits and a cult of royal ancestors. Shrines were maintained within the capital by spirit mediums known as "mhondoros". The mhondoros also served as oral historians recording the names and deeds of past kings.[7] Early European documenters of the culture were shocked that some men, known as chibadi, took on the social status of women. The Jesuit João dos Santos was quoted in a 1625 publication, "certayne Chibadi, which are men attired like Women, and behave themselves womanly, ashamed to be called men; are also married to men, and esteeme that unnatural damnation an honor."[8] The priests António Sequeira and Gaspar Azevedo similarly recorded men who dressed, sat and spoke as women, and who married men "to unite in wrongful male lust with them."[8] Portuguese Contact Arms granted to the Mwenemutapa in 1569 by the King of Portugal The Portuguese dominated much of southeast Africa's coast, laying waste to Sofala and Kilwa, by 1515.[9] Their main goal was to dominate the trade with India; however, they unwittingly became mere carriers for luxury goods between Mutapa's sub-kingdoms and India. As the Portuguese settled along the coast, they made their way into the hinterland as sertanejos (backwoodsmen). These sertanejos lived alongside Swahili traders and even took up service among Shona kings as interpreters and political advisors. One such sertanejo managed to travel through almost all the Shona kingdoms, including Mutapa's metropolitican district, between 1512 and 1516.[10] The Portuguese finally entered into direct relations with the Mwenemutapa in the 1560s.[4] They recorded a wealth of information about the Mutapa kingdom as well as its predecessor, Great Zimbabwe. According to Swahili traders whose accounts were recorded by the Portuguese historian João de Barros, Great Zimbabwe was an ancient capital city built of stones of marvellous size without the use of mortar. And while the site was not within Mutapa's borders, the Mwenemutapa kept noblemen and some of his wives there.[5] In 1569, Sebastian of Portugal made a grant of arms to the Mwenemutapa. These were blazoned: Gules between two arrows Argent an African hoe barwise bladed Or handled Argent - The shield surmounted by a Crown Oriental. This was probably the first grant of arms to a native of southern Africa; however it is unlikely that these arms were ever actually used by the Mwenemutapa.[11] The Accidental Crusade In 1561, Gonçalo da Silveira, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary managed to make his way into the Mwenemutapa's court and convert him to Christianity.[3] This did not go well with the Muslim merchants in the capital, and they persuaded the king to kill the Jesuit only a few days after the former's baptism. This was all the excuse the Portuguese needed to penetrate the interior and take control of the gold mines and ivory routes. After a lengthy preparation, an expedition of 1,000 men under Francisco Barreto was launched in 1568. They managed to get as far as the upper Zambezi, but local disease decimated the force. The Portuguese returned to their base in 1572 and took their frustrations out on the Swahili traders, whom they massacred. They replaced them with Portuguese and their half-African progeny who became prazeiros (estate holders) of the lower Zambezi. Mutapa maintained a position of strength exacting a subsidy from each Portuguese captain of Mozambique that took the office. The mwenemutapa also levied a duty of 50 percent on all trade goods imported.[12] Decline and Collapse Mutapa proved invulnerable to attack and even economic manipulation due to the mwenemutapa's strong control over gold production.[12] What posed the greatest threat was infighting among different factions which led to opposing sides calling on the Portuguese for military aid. Portuguese Control In 1629 the mwenemutapa attempted to throw out the Portuguese. He failed and was overthrown, leading to the Portuguese installation of Mavura Mhande Felipe on the throne.[13] Mutapa signed treaties making it a Portuguese vassal and ceding gold mines, but none of these concessions were ever put into effect.[12] Mutapa remained nominally independent, though practically a client state. All the while, Portugal increased control over much of southeast Africa with the beginnings of a colonial system. Loss of Prestige Another problem for Mutapa was that its tributaries such as Kiteve, Madanda and Manyika ceased paying tribute. At the same time, a new kingdom under a Rozwi dynasty near Barwe was on the rise. All of this was hastened by Portugal retaining a presence on the coast and in the capital.[12] At least one part of the 1629 treaty that was acted on was the provision allowing Portuguese settlement within Mutapa. It also allowed the praezeros to establish fortified settlements across the kingdom. In 1663, the praezeros were able to depose mwenemutapa Siti Kazurukamusapa and put their own nominee, Kamharapasu Mukombwe on the throne.[14] Butwa Invasion By the 17th century, a dynasty of Rozwi pastoralists under the leadership of a changamire (king/general) began transforming the Butwa kingdom into new regional power. The Rozwi not only originated from the Great Zimbabwe area, but still continued to build their towns in stone. They were also importing goods from the Portuguese without any regard for the mwenemutapa.[12] By the late 17th century, Changamire Dombo was actively challenging Mutapa. In 1684 his forces encountered and decisively defeated those of Mwenemutapa Kamharapasu Mukombwe just south of Mutapa's metro district at the Battle of Mahungwe. When Mukombwe died in 1692, a succession crisis erupted. The Portuguese backed one successor and Dombo another. In support of his candidate, Changamire razed the Portuguese fair-town of Dembarare next to the Mutapa capital and slaughtered the Portuguese traders and their entire following. From 1692 until 1694, Mwenemutapa Nyakambira rules Mutapa independently. Nyakambira was later killed in battle with the Portuguese who then placed Nyamaende Mhande on the throne as their puppet. In 1695, Changamire Dombo overran the gold-producing kingdom of Manyika and took his army east and destroyed the Portuguese fair-town of Masikwesi. This allowed him complete control of all gold-producing territory from Butwa to Manyika, supplanting Mutapa as the premier Shona kingdom in the region.[15] Shifting Rulers It appears neither the Rozwi nor the Portuguese could maintain control of the Mutapa state for very long, and it moved back and forth between the two throughout the 17th century. Far from a victim of conquest, the Mutapa rulers actually invited in foreign powers to bolster their rule. This included vassalage to Portuguese East Africa from 1629 to 1663 and vassalage to the Rozwi Empire from 1663 until the Portuguese return in 1694. Portuguese control of Mutapa was maintained or at least represented by an armed garrison at the capital. In 1712, yet another coveter of the throne invited the Rozwi back to put him on the throne and kick out the Portuguese. This they did, and Mutapa again came under the control of the Rozwi Empire. The new mwenemutapa Samatambira Nyamhandu I become their vassal, while the outgoing king was forced to retreat to Chidama in what is now Mozambique. Independence and Move from Zimbabwe The Rozwi quickly lost interest in Mutapa, as they sought to consolidate their position in the south. Mutapa regained its independence around 1720. By this time, the kingdom of Mutapa had lost nearly all of the Zimbabwe plateau to the Rozwi Empire. In 1723, Nyamhandi moved his capital into the valley near the Portuguese trading settlement of Tete, under Mwmenemutapa Nyatsusu. Upon his death in 1740, the young Dehwe Mapunzagutu took power. He sought Portuguese support and invited them back to Mutapa along with their garrison of armed men, but Mutapa remained independent. Collapse The mwenemutapa died in 1759, sparking yet another civil war for the throne. This one was more destructive than its predecessors and Mutapa never recovered. The "winners" ended up governing an even more reduced land from Chidima. They used the title Mambo a Chidima and ruled independently of Portugal until 1917 when Mambo Chioko, the last king of the dynasty, was killed in battle against the Portuguese. 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, referred to in the Bible as Ophir.[16] 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 16th century, and this contributed to early development of Mozambique, as the legend was widely used among the less educated populace to recruit colonists. Some documents suggest that most of the early colonists dreamed of finding the legendary city of gold in southern Africa, a belief mirroring the early South American colonial 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 deterioration of the Mutapa state eliminated the financial and political support for further developing sources of gold. See also List of rulers of Mutapa Great Zimbabwe History of Zimbabwe Nehanda Nyakasikana References ^ Bairoch, page 59 ^ Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 395. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.  ^ a b  "Monomotapa". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.  ^ a b c Oliver, page 203 ^ a b c d e f Oliver, page 204 ^ Owomoyela, page 14 ^ Oliver, page 205 ^ a b Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexualities, edited by Stephen Murray & Will Roscoe. Published by St. Martin's Press in 1998. p. 147 ^ Oliver, page 206 ^ Oliver, page 207 ^ Slater, Stephen (1999). "Africa". The Complete Book of Heraldry. London: Anness Publishing. p. 228.  ^ a b c d e Oliver, page 208 ^ Stewart, page 190 ^ Hall, page 133 ^ Oliver, page 209 ^ Elkiss, T.H. (1981). The Quest for an African Eldorado: Sofala, Southern Zambezia, and the Portuguese, 1500-1865. Crossroads Press. p. 16.  Sources Bairoch, Paul (1991). Cities and economic development: from the dawn of history to the present. Chicago: university of Chicago Press. pp. 596. ISBN 0-22603-466-6.  Oliver, Roland & Anthony Atmore (1975). Medieval Africa 1250-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 738. ISBN 0-52120-413-5.  Owomoyela, Oyekan (2002). Culture and customs of Zimbabwe. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 163. ISBN 0-31331-583-3.  Stewart, John (1989). African States and Rulers. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc.. pp. 395. ISBN 0-89950-390-X.  Additional reading Elkiss, T.H. The Quest for an African Eldorado: Sofala, Southern Zambezia, and the Portuguese, 1500-1865. Waltham, MA: Crossroads Press, 1981. Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную? Dixie Highway Christopher Plummer Look at other dictionaries: Kingdom of Mapungubwe — Mapungubwe Kingdom 1075–1220 …   Wikipedia List of rulers of Mutapa — Territory located in present day Zimbabwe.Mwenemutapa = Lord of the Conquered Land . See also *Mutapa Kingdom **Shona states *Lists of office holders …   Wikipedia History of Africa — Pre Colonial African States …   Wikipedia Zimbabwe — Republic of Zimbabwe …   Wikipedia Sub-Saharan Africa — Black Africa redirects here. For the Namibian football team, see Black Africa F.C.. Definition of Sub Saharan Africa as used in the statistics of the UN institutions. However, Sudan and South Sudan is classified as North Africa by the United… …   Wikipedia Southern Africa — Introduction       southernmost region of the African continent, comprising the countries of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The island nation of Madagascar is excluded… …   Universalium Rozwi Empire — Rozwi Kingdom ← …   Wikipedia African military systems to 1800 — refers to the evolution of military systems on the African continent prior to 1800, with emphasis on the role of indigenous states and peoples within the African continent. Patterns of the military art generally moved from the simple to the more… …   Wikipedia Kingdoms in pre-colonial Africa — There have been a number of pre colonial African kingdoms of varying size and influence: *Iron Age empires of North Africa *Medieval (8th to 13th century) Islamic empires (caliphates) in North Africa *the medieval Sahelian kingdoms *The Ethiopian …   Wikipedia Military history of Zimbabwe — Military history of Africa portal The military history of Zimbabwe chronicles a vast time period and complex events from the daw …   Wikipedia 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”