1430-1760 жылдар аралығындағы Оңтүстік Африкадағы Мутапа Корольдігі

Empire in Southern Africa from 1430 to 1760

The Kingdom of Mutapa – sometimes referred to as the Mutapa Empire, Mwenemutapa, (, Monomotapa) – was an African kingdom in Zimbabwe, which expanded to what is now modern day Mozambique. The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the Shona royal title Mwenemutapa or Munhumutapa derived from a combination of two words Mwene or Munhu meaning Man, and Mutapa meaning conquerer. 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.

There are several Mutapa origin stories, the most widely accepted told by oral tradition is of the princes of Great Zimbabwe. The first "Mutapa" was a warrior prince named Nyatsimba Mutota from the Kingdom of Zimbabwe who expanded the reach of the kingdom initially to discover new sources of salt in the north. It is believed Prince Mutota found salt in his conquest of the Tavara, a Shona subdivision. Another historical narrative of the empire's origins is that Prince Mutota had broken away from Great Zimbabwe after going to war with Prince Mukwati, (believed to have been either his brother or cousin) over control of the Kingdom.

Mutota's son and successor, Nyanhewe Matope, extended this new kingdom into an empire encompassing most of the lands between Tavara and the Indian Ocean. This empire had achieved uniting a number of different peoples in Southern Africa by building strong, well trained armies and encouraging states to join voluntarily, offering membership in the Great council of the Empire to any who joined without resistance. Matope's armies overran the kingdom of the Manyika as well as the coastal kingdoms of Kiteve and Madanda. Their main goal was to dominate the trade with India; however, they unwittingly became mere carriers for luxury goods between Mutapa's sub kingdoms and India. Main commodity brokers included Zharare and mhere mhere As the Portuguese settled along the coast, they made their way into the hinterland as sertanejos (backwoodsmen). These sertanejos lived alongside Swahili traders and even took up service among Shona kings as interpreters and political advisors. One such sertanejo, António Fernandes, managed to travel through almost all the Shona kingdoms, including Mutapa's metropolitan district, between 1512 and 1516. He mainly travelled with Dhafa Zharare,son of Chipere Zharare who wanted the son to learn how to trade

The Portuguese finally entered into direct relations with the Mwenemutapa in the 1560s. In 1569, King Sebastian of Portugal made a grant of arms to the Mwenemutapa. These were blazoned: Gules between two arrows Argent an African hoe barwise bladed Or handled Argent – The shield surmounted by a Crown Oriental. This was probably the first grant of arms to a native of southern Africa; however it is unlikely that these arms were ever actually used by the Mwenemutapa.

In 1561, a Portuguese Jesuit missionary, Gonçalo da Silveira managed to make his way into the Mwenemutapa's court and convert him to Christianity.

Mutapa proved invulnerable to attack and even economic manipulation due to the Mwenemutapa's strong control over gold production. Mutapa signed treaties making it a Portuguese vassal and ceding gold mines, but none of these concessions were ever put into effect.

In the 17th century, a low ranking Mutapa prince broke away from the Empire, invading the neighboring Kingdom of Butua. The leader of this Dynasty became known as Changamire Dombo. A possible reason for the breakaway was Dombo's dissatisfaction with the levels of Portuguese interference in the Mwenemutapa Empire's governance. By the late 17th century, Changamire Domborakonachingwango (or Dombo for short. Pronounced as Ɗömbö) was actively challenging Mutapa. In 1684 his forces encountered and decisively defeated those of Mwenemutapa Kamharapasu Mukombwe just south of Mutapa's metro district at the Battle of Mahungwe. When Mukombwe died in 1692, a succession crisis erupted. The Portuguese backed one successor and Dombo another. In support of his candidate, Changamire Dombo razed the Portuguese fair town of Dembarare next to the Mutapa capital and slaughtered the Portuguese traders and their entire following. From 1692 until 1694, Mwenemutapa Nyakambira ruled Mutapa independently. Nyakambira was later killed in battle with the Portuguese who then placed Nyamaende Mhande on the throne as their puppet. In 1695, Changamire Dombo overran the gold producing Kingdom of Manyika and took his army east and destroyed the Portuguese fair town of Masikwesi. This gave him complete control of all gold producing territory from Butwa to Manyika, supplanting Mutapa as the premier Shona Kingdom in the region.

It appears neither the Rozwi nor the Portuguese could maintain control of the Mutapa state for very long, and it moved back and forth between the two throughout the 17th century. Far from a victim of conquest, the Mutapa rulers actually invited in foreign powers to bolster their rule. This included vassalage to Portuguese East Africa from 1629 to 1663 and vassalage to the Rozwi Empire from 1663 until the Portuguese return in 1694. Portuguese control of Mutapa was maintained or at least represented by an armed garrison at the capital. In 1712, yet another coveter of the throne invited the Rozwi back to put him on the throne and kick out the Portuguese. This they did, and Mutapa again came under the control of the Rozwi Empire. The new Mwenemutapa Samatambira Nyamhandu I become their vassal, while the outgoing king was forced to retreat to Chidama in what is now Mozambique.

The Rozwi quickly lost interest in Mutapa, as they sought to consolidate their position in the south. Mutapa regained its independence around 1720. By this time, the Kingdom of Mutapa had lost nearly all of the Zimbabwe plateau to the Rozwi Empire. In 1723, Nyamhandi moved his capital into the valley near the Portuguese trading settlement of Tete, under Mwenemutapa Nyatsusu. Upon his death in 1740, the young Dehwe Mapunzagutu took power. He sought Portuguese support and invited them back to Mutapa along with their garrison of armed men, but Mutapa remained independent.

The Mwenemutapa died in 1759, sparking yet another civil war for the throne. This one was more destructive than its predecessors and Mutapa never recovered. The "winners" ended up governing an even more reduced land from Chidima. They used the title Mambo a Chidima and ruled independently of Portugal until 1917 when Mambo Chioko, the last king of the dynasty, was killed in battle against the Portuguese.

The Emperor Mutope had left the empire with a well organised religion with a powerful shamanism The religion of the Mutapa kingdom revolved around ritual consultation of spirits and of ancestors. Shrines were maintained within the capital by spirit mediums known as mhondoro. The mhondoro also served as oral historians recording the names and deeds of past kings.