Kingdom of Mutapa

Zimbabwe, 1430–1760. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Mutapa Empire was a Shona empire in the north of the Zimbabwean Plateau. The Portuguese Crown sent Francisco Barreto to lead an army and invade and conquer Mutapa, aiming to gain control of its gold reserves. In 1629 Kapararidze's forces met the Portuguese army at Masapa, where they were defeated and retreated with heavy losses. The most powerful Portuguese faction supported Mavhura's accession to the kingship, and he signed terms of vassalage with the Portuguese Crown.

Seat of power: Zvongombe

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the Shona royal title Mwenemutapa derived from a combination of two words, Mwene meaning "Lord" and Mutapa meaning "conquered land".
• Over time the monarch's royal title was applied to the kingdom as a whole, and used to denote the kingdom's territory on maps from the period.
• In the early-15th century Angoche traders had opened a new route along the Zambezi via the Tonga and Tavara to reach the goldfields close to Khami.

Picture

The Mutapa Empire was situated on the northern part of the Zimbabwean Plateau, which borders the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers and valleys to the north and south respectively.

Image: SweetCanadianMullet, CC BY 4.0, file

Sources

• Mutapa Empire (Wikipedia)
• Kingdom of Mutapa (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.