Kingdom of Mutapa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kingdom of Mutapa
Mwene we Mutapa
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| 1430–1760 | |||||||||||
 Coat of arms granted to the Mwenemutapa in 1569 by the King of Portugal.
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Monomotapa and surrounding kingdoms
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| Capital | Zvongombe | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Shona, Karanga | ||||||||||
| Religion | Belief in Mwari (God) | ||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||
| Mwenemutapa/ Munhumutapa | |||||||||||
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• c. 1430 – c. 1450
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Nyatsimba Mutota (first) | ||||||||||
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• 1740–1759
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Dehwe Mupunzagutu (last) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
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• Established by Nyatsimba Mutota
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1430 | ||||||||||
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• Portuguese protectorate
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1629 | ||||||||||
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• Mutapa dynasty schism
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1712 | ||||||||||
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• Disintegrates under Civil war
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1760 | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
| 16th century | 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||
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The Kingdom of Mutapa was an important African kingdom. It was also known as the Mutapa Empire or Mwenemutapa. This kingdom was located in what is now Zimbabwe and spread into modern-day Mozambique.
The name Monomotapa comes from the Shona royal title Mwenemutapa. This means "Prince of the Land" or "Lord of the Land." Over time, this royal title was used to refer to the whole kingdom. It even appeared on old maps.
Contents
History of the Mutapa Kingdom
There are different stories about how the Mutapa Kingdom began. The most common one is an oral tradition. It says the kingdom started with princes from Great Zimbabwe.
How the Kingdom Started
The first "Mwene" (ruler) was a warrior prince named Nyatsimba Mutota. He was the son of King Nyanhewe Matope. Prince Mutota left the Kingdom of Zimbabwe to find new salt sources in the north. He found salt when he conquered the Tavara people, a Shona group.
Another story says Prince Mutota left Great Zimbabwe after a fight. He fought with Prince Mukwati, who might have been his brother or cousin. They fought over who would control the Kingdom of Zimbabwe.
Expanding the Mutapa Empire
Mutota's son, Nyanhewe Matope, made the new kingdom much bigger. It became an empire covering most of the land between Tavara and the Indian Ocean. This empire brought many different groups of people together in Southern Africa. They did this by having strong armies. They also invited other states to join peacefully. If a state joined without fighting, its leaders could join the Great Council of the Empire.
Matope's armies took over the Manyika kingdom. They also conquered the coastal kingdoms of Kiteve and Madanda. By the time the Portuguese arrived, Mutapa was the most powerful state in the region. The empire reached its largest size by 1480, only 50 years after it began.
Beliefs and Religion
Emperor Mutope created a well-organized religion for the empire. It had powerful priests. The Mutapa kingdom's religion focused on talking to spirits and royal ancestors. Special shrines were kept in the capital city. Spirit mediums, called mhondoro, looked after these shrines. The mhondoro also remembered and shared the stories of past kings. They were like living history books.
Contact with the Portuguese
By 1515, the Portuguese controlled much of the coast of southeast Africa. They wanted to control trade with India. But they ended up mostly carrying luxury goods between Mutapa's smaller kingdoms and India. As the Portuguese settled along the coast, some went inland. They were called sertanejos, meaning "backwoodsmen." These sertanejos lived with Swahili traders. Some even worked for Shona kings as interpreters and advisors. One sertanejo, António Fernandes, traveled through almost all the Shona kingdoms between 1512 and 1516. This included the main area of Mutapa.
The Portuguese finally met the Mwenemutapa directly in the 1560s. They wrote down a lot of information about the Mutapa kingdom and Great Zimbabwe. According to Swahili traders, Great Zimbabwe was an old capital city. It was built with huge stones without any mortar. Even though it was not inside Mutapa's borders, the Mwenemutapa kept noblemen and some of his wives there. Later, in the 17th century, other Europeans described Mutapa's buildings in paintings. Olfert Dapper wrote about four grand gateways. These led to many halls and rooms in the Mutapa palace. The ceilings of the palace rooms were covered in gold plates. Ivory chandeliers hung from silver chains, lighting up the halls.
In 1569, the King of Portugal gave a special symbol, called a coat of arms, to the Mwenemutapa. It had a red shield with two silver arrows and a gold hoe. This was probably the first coat of arms given to a native ruler in southern Africa. But it is unlikely the Mwenemutapa ever actually used it.
The Portuguese Expedition
In 1561, a Portuguese missionary went to the Mwenemutapa's court. He convinced the ruler to become Christian. But Muslim traders in the capital were not happy. They persuaded the king to kill the missionary just days after his baptism. The Portuguese used this as an excuse to go inland. They wanted to take control of the gold mines and ivory trade routes.
In 1568, a large group of 1,000 Portuguese men, led by Francisco Barreto, set out. They reached the upper Zambezi River. But many of them died from local diseases. The Portuguese went back to their base in 1572. They then attacked the Swahili traders, killing many of them. They replaced them with Portuguese settlers and people of mixed African and Portuguese heritage. These people became prazeiros, who owned large estates along the lower Zambezi. The Mutapa kingdom remained strong. It even collected money from each Portuguese captain in Portuguese Mozambique. The Mwenemutapa also charged a 50 percent tax on all imported goods.
Decline and Fall of Mutapa
The Mutapa kingdom was hard to attack. Its ruler, the Mwenemutapa, had strong control over gold production. The biggest threat came from fighting among different groups within the kingdom. These groups often asked the Portuguese for military help. The Portuguese were happy to see the Mutapa state weaken.
Portuguese Influence Grows
In 1629, the Mwenemutapa tried to force the Portuguese out. He failed and was overthrown. The Portuguese then put Mavura Mhande Felipe on the throne. Mutapa signed treaties making it a Portuguese vassal state. It also gave up gold mines. But these agreements were never fully put into action. Mutapa remained mostly independent, but it was heavily influenced by Portugal. Meanwhile, Portugal gained more control over southeast Africa. They started to build a colonial system. The Portuguese now controlled the trade and its routes.
Losing Power and Respect
Another problem for Mutapa was that its smaller states, like Kiteve, Madanda, and Manyika, stopped paying tribute. At the same time, a new kingdom led by the Rozvi dynasty grew powerful near Barwe. Portugal kept a presence on the coast and in the capital. One part of the 1629 treaty that was followed allowed Portuguese people to settle in Mutapa. It also let the prazeiros build fortified settlements across the kingdom. In 1663, the prazeiros were able to remove Mwenemutapa Siti Kazurukamusapa. They put their own chosen ruler, Kamharapasu Mukombwe, on the throne.
The Butwa Invasion
In the 17th century, a Mutapa prince broke away from the empire. He invaded the nearby kingdom of Butua. This leader became known as Changamire Dombo. He might have broken away because he was unhappy with how much the Portuguese were interfering in the Mwenemutapa Empire.
By the late 17th century, Changamire Dombo was actively fighting Mutapa. In 1684, his forces met and defeated Mwenemutapa Kamharapasu Mukombwe's army. This happened south of Mutapa's main area at the Battle of Mahungwe. When Mukombwe died in 1692, there was a fight over who would be the next ruler. The Portuguese supported one person, and Dombo supported another. To help his chosen ruler, Changamire Dombo destroyed the Portuguese trading town of Dembarare. It was next to the Mutapa capital. He also killed the Portuguese traders and their followers. From 1692 to 1694, Mwenemutapa Nyakambira ruled Mutapa independently. Nyakambira was later killed in battle with the Portuguese. The Portuguese then put Nyamaende Mhande on the throne as their puppet ruler.
In 1695, Changamire Dombo took over the gold-producing kingdom of Manyika. He then moved his army east and destroyed the Portuguese trading town of Masikwesi. This gave him full control of all gold-producing land from Butwa to Manyika. He replaced Mutapa as the most important Shona kingdom in the region.
Changing Rulers
It seems neither the Rozwi nor the Portuguese could control the Mutapa state for very long. It kept changing hands between them throughout the 17th century. The Mutapa rulers sometimes invited foreign powers to help them stay in power. This included being a vassal state to Portuguese East Africa from 1629 to 1663. Then it was a vassal to the Rozwi Empire from 1663 until the Portuguese returned in 1694. Portuguese control of Mutapa was shown by an armed group of soldiers at the capital. In 1712, another person who wanted the throne invited the Rozwi back. They helped him become ruler and kick out the Portuguese. Mutapa was again controlled by the Rozwi Empire. The new Mwenemutapa Samatambira Nyamhandu I became their vassal. The old king had to retreat to Chidama in what is now Mozambique.
Mutapa Regains Independence
The Rozwi soon lost interest in Mutapa. They wanted to focus on strengthening their position in the south. Mutapa became independent again around 1720. By this time, the kingdom of Mutapa had lost almost all of the Zimbabwe plateau to the Rozwi Empire. In 1723, Nyamhandi moved his capital into the valley. It was near the Portuguese trading settlement of Tete, under Mwenemutapa Nyatsusu. When he died in 1740, the young Dehwe Mapunzagutu became ruler. He asked for Portuguese support and invited them back to Mutapa with their soldiers. But Mutapa remained independent.
The Final Collapse
The Mwenemutapa died in 1759. This started another civil war for the throne. This war was more destructive than the ones before it. Mutapa never fully recovered. The "winners" ended up ruling an even smaller area from Chidima. They used the title Mambo a Chidima. They ruled independently of Portugal until 1917. That's when Mambo Chioko, the last king of the dynasty, was killed fighting the Portuguese.
Mutapa and the Legend of Ophir
The Mutapa Empire had another interesting effect on southern Africa's history. Gold from the empire made Europeans believe that Mwenemutapa had the legendary mines of King Solomon. These mines are mentioned in the Bible as Ophir.
This belief led the Portuguese to explore the inland areas of Sofala in the 16th century. This helped in the early development of Mozambique. The legend was often used to encourage people to become colonists. Some old documents suggest that many early colonists dreamed of finding a legendary city of gold in southern Africa. This was similar to the search for El Dorado in South America. Early gold trade ended when the mines ran out. The weakening of the Mutapa state also meant less support for finding more gold.
Legacy of the Mutapa Kingdom
For several centuries, this trading empire allowed people across a large area to live peacefully. They had a stable government and a line of rulers. Records from as early as 1502 help us learn about this empire. It shows how societies developed in pre-colonial Africa. The Mutapa Empire is an example of a working government system and a thriving civilization in Africa. These things are sometimes thought to have been missing before Europeans arrived.
See also
In Spanish: Monomotapa para niños
- Great Zimbabwe
- History of Zimbabwe
- List of rulers of Mutapa
- Nehanda Nyakasikana
