Great zimbabwe is the largest of about 250 similarly dated mortarless stone structures in africa, called collectively zimbabwe culture sites. The rise and fall of zimbabwe the journal of african history. The mutapa rulers continued the tradition of building structures in stone, similar to great zimbabwe, although considerably smaller in size. Are almost all that remains of the zimbabwe state and its successors. The rise of great zimbabwe, on the other hand, requires further consideration. However, recent research has established that great zimbabwe declined. A history of zimbabwe, 18902000 and postscript, zimbabwe.
What likely caused the fifteenthcentury decline of great. The great zimbabwe state was founded and is believed to have existed around 11501450 ad. There are several reasons why the great zimbabwe state kingdom fell viz. Its founding and the only recorded ruler was king chibata matosi. The black and red soils around the great zimbabwe area were especially suited for agriculture. This meant reading the archaeology relating to the period prior to 1500, a period he was somehow reluctant to delve into except on the subject matter of great zimbabwe beach, 1973. Although the great zanzibar area had rainfall patterns generally good enough to support the cultivation of crops like sorghum, millet, beans, and squash and promote good pasturage for cattle and sheep, droughts occurred from time to time and they contributed to the decline of the state.
The shona cultivated a number of crops that sustained them. Located over 150 miles from harare, it stands 1,100 km above sea level on the harare plateau in the shashelimpopo basin. According to oral tradition the first mwene was a warrior prince nyatsimbamutota from great zimbabwe who was sent to find new sources of salt in the north. Great zimbabwe has been described as one of the most dramatic architectural landscapes in subsaharan africa. Great zimbabwe, leading shona power, is part of widespread trade network 1500s inhabitants slowly abandon great zimbabwe. There is a general consensus among historians that cattle ownership played a significant role in the rise of the mutapa state. Another source great zimbabwe enduring legacy the monument of great zimbabwe is the most famous stone building in southern africa. Great zimbabwe civilizationthe state of great zimbabwe which had its centre in masvingo. Pdf the stratigraphy on the acropolis indicates that a social transition. Great zimbabwe the ancient ruins of great zimbabwe are to be found 150 miles from the. It is derived from a combination of two words mwene meaning owner or lord, and mutapa meaning land. Mutapa may also stem from the word mutape, meaning mud, a common praise title used by the korekore people in the dande area where the. Great zimbabwe article southern africa khan academy.
Great zimbabwe is a ruined city in the southeastern hills of zimbabwe near lake mutirikwe. It lies in southeastern zimbabwe, about 19 miles 30 km southeast of masvingo. This kingdom was founded by a royal member from its successor. The site is estimated to have contained perhaps 18,000 inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities of its day.
The rise of ambitious leaders who oppressed the people and declared war on each other. David beach believes that the city and its state, the kingdom of zimbabwe, flourished from. The factors that led to the decline of great zimbabwe state can be classified into three that is, economic factors, political factors and social factors. In contrast, the trade hypothesis maintains that it was a secondary state resulting from the gold trade. Great zimbabwe in historical archaeology university of pretoria. A drought occurring at a time the population had reached a critical point in relation.
Just the same they rose, flourished economically and took advantage of their resources to help their people rise, and fell. Great zimbabwe ruins and those who fought for the truth great zimbabwe was a medieval city of unparalleled architecture in southern africa. The kingdom of mutapa is said to have stretched between the zambezi and limpopo rivers. Great zimbabwe is a massive african iron age settlement and drystone monument located near the town of masvingo in central zimbabwe. At great zimbabwe, the dense scale of building show that the valley and hillside covering up to 1,800 acres were crammed with up to 20,000 people around 700 years ago. Great zimbabwe was fully occupied for only about 300 years and the rise of the neighboring states of torwa and mutapa coincides with the decline of great zimbabwe.
Stone ruins the ruins of this complex of massive stone walls undulate across almost 1,800 acres of presentday southeastern zimbabwe. The emergence of states such as the torwa and mutapa to the south and north of great zimbabwe probably contributed a great deal to the collapse of the latter. Construction of the stone buildings started in the 11th century and continued for over 300 years. The evidence available from arab documents, trade imports and ancient. The rise and fall of zimbabwe article pdf available in the journal of african history 3. What factors account for the rise of great zimbabwe answers. In this video manners msongelwa explains the causes of the decline of great zimbabwe.
The gokomere culture likely gave rise to both the modern mashona people, an. Half way up the footpath which winds up the hill, theres a hut ex posed with entrance and shelf where pots were displayed. The use of cattle as a source of social or political power among the shona in zimbabwe in the distant and recent past is well documented mudenge, 1974, 1988 and also recounted in shona oral traditions. The portuguese term monomotapa is a transliteration of the african royal title mwenemutapa meaning ownerlord of the landmud or master of the ravaged lands. Enabled people of zimbabwe engaging in animal domestication and hunting like elephant even engaged themselves in agriculture due to good climate and fertile soil trade. The ruins that survive are a fourhour drive south of zimbabwes presentday capital of harare. Great zimbabwe were of african origin and not constructed by people from another continent. Kingdom of mutapa great discoveries in archaeology. The origin and spread of social complexity in southern africa article pdf available in journal of anthropological archaeology 281. Its inhabitants traded gold and ivory to visiting merchants from the swahili coast, arabia and india in exchange for porcelain, cloth and glass. The rise of the mutapa was greatly due to the decline and abandonment of great zimbabwe due to shortages of food, pastures and natural resources in general.
The rise of great zimbabwe was therefore not a simple transfer of political power. The rise and fall of great zimbabwe scientific research has shown that great zimbabwe was founded in the 11th century by a lost bantu civilization, the shona. The empire was ruled by a hereditary monarchy of elites. A history of zimbabwe, 18902000 and postscript, zimbabwe, 20012008 by chengetai j. The stratigraphy on the acropolis indicates that a social transition from period ii to iii probably occurred at zimbabwe and was not the result of an immigrant group, and the short chronology places this transition around a. Great zimbabwe was an important commercial and political center. Mutapa marked 3a and torwarozvi 3b states are cultural successors to great zimbabwe. It is more likely that zimbabwe is a typical case of secondary state formation. Ecological factors factors to do with the environmentnatural surroundings if ecological factors were on the forefront in the rise of great zimbabwe state, it is no surprise that they played the same role in its decline. The central area of ruins extends about 200 acres 80 hectares. The mutapa state was located on the northern part of modern day zimbabwe. This kingdom was founded in 1425, succeeding the kingdom of the great zimbabwe. The kingdom of mutapa or any kingdom of zimbabwe holds a captivating history. Links have also been established between the gold mines of zimbabwe and the indian goldfields of kolar and mysore by the historian roger summers.
The african ejournals project has digitized full text of. The first inhabitants of great zimbabwe were shonaspeaking peoples who likely settled in the region as early as 400 c. There are several reasons why the great zimbabwe statekingdom fell viz. There are several reasons for the rise of the great zimbabwe state.
Its successor in the southwest was torwa, with its centre at the area of the rozwi confederacy fluctuated, and its influence extended over much of presentday zimbabwe and perhaps westward into botswana and southward into northeastern south africa. Reasons for the fall of the great zimbabwe state free. This link below has a summary of some of the considered reasons for the fall of the great zimbabwe kingdom. Reasons for the rise of the great zimbabwe state free.
Great zimbabwe, extensive stone ruins of an african iron age city. The mutapa western adaptation of the munhumutapa or mwenemutapa or monomutapa depending on the shona dialect was one of western mozambique and present day zimbabwes greatest kingdoms. Rich soils the availability of rich agricultural soils. The people at great zimbabwe and mapungubwe spoke related forms of the shona language, but they belonged to separate ethnohistorical groups huffman, 2007a. In the second half of the 15th century great zimbabwe came to an abrupt end. The mutapa state is believed to have been an iron age state which spanned across three centuries till its decline in the 19 th century.
Succession disputes which often led to civil wars and factionalism. The name zimbabwe is derived from the shona dzimba dzemabwe, meaning houses of stone or stone buildings, today symbolised by the great zimbabwe ruins near the present day town of masvingo. The torwa state was established in south west zimbabwe. The state was erected approximately 40km in the south easterly direction from masvingo town near lake mutirikwi. Mapungubwe and great zimbabwe are of international interest. The shona cultivated a number of crops that sustained them and thus were able to build a large state. In addition to being in the heart of an extensive commercial and trading network, the site was the center of a powerful political kingdom, which was under a central ruler for about 350 years 11001450 ad. The great enclosure was constructed sometime between the 14th and the 15th.
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