Great Zimbabwe’s Rise To Power
If you’re looking for the largest archaeological site in Africa, look no farther than the roughly 1800-acre Great Zimbabwe. Portuguese explorers in the sixteenth century documented that Shona monarchs resided in these stone walls, which served as the hub of a thriving gold trade across the Indian Ocean.
Between 1100 and 1450, the monuments were constructed. Then, for several reasons, including a lengthy drought, internecine strife, and the arrival of a warlike population who plundered and destroyed everything in their path, the monuments were abandoned. Further, the location holds significant significance in the story of modern Zimbabwe’s fight for freedom and independence.
The spirit mediums of Zimbabwe’s national shrine on the hill complex were tasked with upholding the legacy of the country’s founding fathers, including Chaminuka, Chimurenga, Tovera, and Soro-rezhou. The Dziva-Hungwe priesthood, whose ancestry predates the Shona and whose country Chigwagu Rusvingo united under his leadership, was the first to hold this holy trust.
Since its independence in April 1980, the Hungwe totem bird (fish eagle) has served as the official symbol of the Zimbabwean state. Despite the testimony of the Portuguese visitors who identified the Shona as the architects, Eurocentric colonial literature thought that Great Zimbabwe could not have been built by the Shona people.
Those who were receptive to the theory that the monument had an African origin still failed to fully grasp the significance of the evidence at their disposal because of their limited knowledge of African civilizations. For some reason, European academics focused excessively on Great Zimbabwe’s economic growth and tried to explain everything else as a byproduct of that.
There is a lot of anecdotal proof that the first constructor realized that an economic basis alone couldn’t support a kingdom. Successive innovators were brilliant because they recognized that religion, not military might or commercial industry, was the true source of power. The divine began to gather in Great Zimbabwe.
The traditional checks and balances between the Monomutapa (king) in his hill complex and the priests in their cave complex nearby were eroded in favor of a priestly monarchy. The common people looked to the Monomutapa, who presided over harvest celebrations and rain-generating ceremonies, as a divine ruler, even though the two authorities were different. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to set foot in what is now southern Zimbabwe (then known as Zambesia).
During the nineteenth century, colonial Europeans settled in the area. At that point in time, the once-great Shona civilization had fallen well below even its former level of glory from the Middle Ages. Back then, it was impossible to attribute the construction of these historic structures to the Shona people. The origin of these structures was the biggest mystery for early European explorers and archaeologists.
R. N. Hall, the author of Great Zimbabwe, has made the case that One argument in favor of a Himyartic (Arab) origin, presented in Mashonaland, Rhodesia: An Account of Two Years Examination Work in 1902-4 on Behalf of the Government of Rhodesia (1969), was that the Karanga were not connected to the gold and copper artifacts discovered at Great Zimbabwe. Hall claimed in his writing that he had seen gold scorifers in the ruins’ lower levels, noting that they were made and worked “by very old Kafir (black) people,” and that Portuguese records demonstrated unambiguously that the “medieval Makalanga, not only produced gold but manufactured it, especially into gold wire” (p.3).
Hall refused to believe that the humble Shona-Karanga, who were then “blessed” by British control, were the creators of a once-thriving civilization, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary. His own excavations had revealed that even in the fifth layer of habitation, the objects were identical to those discovered in the top layer—the Shona-Karanga.
This is the reasoning that would form the basis of Dr. Randall Maclver’s native origin idea. Settlements at Great Zimbabwe date all the way back to 200 B.C.E., according to archeological finds. We know that the Khoi and the San lived thousands of years before the Shona did. Professor R. Dart has claimed persuasively that carbon dating of a tambootie tree discovered in the Great Zimbabwe’s wall demonstrates signs of human life much older than the usually accepted age of 1200.
The Shona may have settled in southern Zambesia long before the year 1200, according to oral histories they left behind. In his diaries, Ibu Said, an Arab explorer who lived from 1214 to 1286, recorded the existence of a people he called the “Soyouna” (i.e., Shona) in the southern region of Zambesia. Another explorer and cartographer named Janson labeled the local population as “Sajona” on a map he created of Zambazia in 1639. Around the year 1000, the Shona began migrating southward, crossing the Zambezi River, and eventually settling in the Wedza Iron District.
All the future rulers of this dynasty lived in Great Zimbabwe due to its religious significance, which stemmed from the reputation of the Hungwe spirit mediums and the Dzimbahwe castle. All kings of Zimbabwean descent who rule from Great Zimbabwe take the title “owner of the land,” which is reflected in their name, Mwene Mutapa. The Mwene-Mutapa family of Great Zimbabwe expanded their power to the south, to the Limpopo River, and to the north, to the Zambezi River.
Some tribes were conquered but otherwise left unharmed, with a “royal” representative installed as chief. They wed each other’s relatives in other circumstances. They were so powerful that no chief in all of Zambesia could be considered legitimate unless he was first confirmed in office in Great Zimbabwe. Great Zimbabwe was completely abandoned by 1490. The BaVenda, who live near Mwenezi on Zimbabwe’s border with South Africa, are the direct ancestors of the people who constructed Great Zimbabwe.
These folks have ancestors who aren’t BaRozi mambos but rather Mwene-mutapa. Ancient rainmaking rites and circumcision are also practiced by these groups; none of these is common among modern-day Shona. Even into the 20th century, the BaVenda were hard at work erecting walls around their communities. Contemporary oral history often begins with the great monarch of Dzimbahwe as the originator of their artistic achievements.
The architecture of the BaVenda is strikingly similar to that of the Dzimbahwe, and it is frequently located in inconvenient spots. The BaVenda constructed fortifications and separated the political quarters from the sacrifice sanctuaries within them. In order to pray for rain, BaVenda priests ascend to their fortresses, mimicking Great Zimbabwe’s practice.
The BaVenda occasionally erect colossal monoliths at the gates of their villages for no reason other than to look like their forebears. Such monoliths can be found all over Great Zimbabwe. Beads and divining bowls like those discovered in Great Zimbabwe are in the possession of the BaVenda.
Sacred bulls, crocodiles, spindle whorls, lizards, and doll-like figurines are all depicted in a theme on a divining bowl discovered at Great Zimbabwe. Bowls crafted from wood in the BaVenda style feature similar designs. Even though Great Zimbabwe isn’t a thriving society anymore, its effects can still be seen today.
Also Read: Mutapa State – 1450-1884: The Unknown History of An Amazing African Kingdom
