Pre-colonial Zimbabwe: states, economy and society

Historiography

Early colonial writers wrongly claimed outsiders built Great Zimbabwe; archaeologists such as David Randall-MacIver (1905) and Gertrude Caton-Thompson (1929) showed it was built by local African people. This debate shows how history can be used politically.

Great Zimbabwe (c. 1200–1450)

• Rise: favourable environment, cattle wealth, control of gold trade with the coast via Sofala, and religious authority.
• Organisation: kingship supported by spirit mediums, tribute from vassals, an elite living in stone enclosures.
• Decline: environmental exhaustion, overpopulation, shifting trade routes and succession disputes.

Mutapa and Torwa/Rozvi

• Mutapa: northward move to the Zambezi; Portuguese interference from the 16th century through trade and treaties (prazos), leading to loss of sovereignty.
• Torwa (Khami) and later Rozvi (Changamire Dombo expelled the Portuguese in the 1690s).

Economy and society

Agriculture, cattle, mining, iron working, hunting and long-distance trade; social organisation based on lineage, chieftaincy and religion.

Evaluating causes

Historians debate whether trade or cattle and agriculture was more important in the rise of these states – use evidence and weigh factors.

Check yourself

1. Who showed in 1929 that Great Zimbabwe was built by Africans?
2. Give two factors in the rise of Great Zimbabwe.
3. How did the Portuguese weaken the Mutapa state?