20/09/2026
The Mutapa Empire
Out of the shadows of Great Zimbabwe the Mutapa Empire rose to power in the mid 1400's. Through control of gold mines and trade with East African Swahili states like Kilwa, and places beyond in the Indian Ocean trade network, Mutapa grew rich and powerful, dominating the modern country of Zimbabwe and parts of Mozambique.
In the early 1500's, in an attempt to control the newly discovered Indian Ocean Trade, the Portuguese attacked Kilwa and other Swahili states on the East African coast. They then directed their attention to Mutapa and the other rich Afrikan kingdoms in the interior.
Portuguese traders began to travel to Mutapa. Enticed by the nation's goldmines, the Portuguese used the ex*****on of a priest as a pretext to send 2 failed invasions against Mutapa in 1571 and 1573. As a result of their inability to take Mutapa by force the Portuguese had to pay the mwene Mutapa (king of Mutapa) annual taxes and tariffs to trade in and with his country.
The fall of the empire,however, began from within. After containing the Portuguese threat the rulers of Mutapa struggled to keep the empire together. In 1589 a rebellion by one of the conquered kingdoms destroyed important goldmines. Another rebellion the same year brought destruction to the Mutapa capital of Mount Fura. In a third rebellion in 1599 the desperate king of Mutapa appealed to the Portuguese for help. In return they were allowed to live in Mutapa and trade freely.
The Portuguese would try to use their new influence to direct Mutapa politics, supporting rivals to the throne. The internal divisions, rebellions and political intrigue were too much for the Mutapa empire to withstand. With the loss of its former kingdoms and goldmines the once mighty Mutapa was eclipsed by its neighbors like the growing Rozvi empire and the Butua kingdom. After years of invasions and internal upheaval, by 1880 the once great empire was firmly under Portuguese control along with the rest of the general area.
The long and complicated story the of Mutapa empire reminds us that Europeans did not simply walk across Afrika as conquerors and that we built a glorious independent black civilization in Afrika!
