Rozvi Empire

Early in the 17th century, Mutapa was vassalised by the Portuguese, and over the following decades Portuguese settlers regularly raided its Shona subjects on the Plateau, while disease and famine devastated the region. The 1670s and '80s saw the rise of Changamire Dombo (likely a Mutapa governor who used royal cattle herds to gain followers); Dombo defeated the Portuguese and Mutapa in battle before turning south to conquer Butua c. 1683. In the 1690s, he came to the aid of a Mutapa ruler and massacred Portuguese traders, forcing all Portuguese off of the Plateau. He also conquered Manyika before his death c. 1696. The following decades saw several succession conflicts, and some offshoots of its dynasty migrated to found states elsewhere.

Throughout the 18th and early-19th centuries, the Rovzi state struggled to control the influx of many groups who conquered its subjects and sometimes ceased paying tribute, weakening Rozvi power. A severe drought occurred between 1795 and 1800, during which Changamire Rupandamananga was said to have let his people starve, sparking a series of civil wars which lasted up until at least 1808. The state persevered through another major drought in the 1820s, but invasions in quick succession from Nguni groups during the Mfecane in the 1830s spelled its end; the Rozvi army managed to fend off the first few invading groups, but Changamire Chirisamhuru was killed around 1835 by Nyamazana's Ngoni, leaving the state headless and leadership fragmented between royal houses until it was conquered and subdued around 1838 by Mzilikazi's Ndebele. Chirisamhuru's son, Tohwechipi, rebelled against Ndebele rule, but was defeated and he finally surrendered after a lengthy siege in 1866.

There is little information available on the Rozvi Empire because the Portuguese were barred from entering it, meaning contemporary accounts were based on hearsay, and dynastic oral traditions were greatly disrupted by migrations and the Ndebele and British conquests of the 1840s and 1890s respectively.

History

Changamire I and Mutapa

A 1506 account by Diogo de Alcáçova mentions a 'Changamire' (termed "Changamire I" by historians) who revolted against Mutapa in the 1490s. The genealogy of Changamire I has been the subject of speculation by scholars. Some scholars say he was a member of the Torwa dynasty of Butua or a friend of them, while others say he was a son of Mwenemutapa Matope or that he married one of Matope's daughters. After analysing Valoyi traditions, Mathebula and Mokgoatšana say that Changamire was likely a descendant of both dynasties, being the son of Matope or having married Matope's daughter (or both were true and he married his sister).

According to Alcáçova's account, rumours were spread by others close to Mwenemutapa Mukombero that Changamire, an influential Mutapa governor and member of the Torwa dynasty, was plotting for the kingship, and Mukombero ordered Changamire to undertake a poison trial, wherein if he drank the poison (muteyo) and were harmed by it, he would be deemed guilty. Accordingly, c. 1490 Changamire led an army to Mukombwe's zimbabwe and killed him, afterwards assuming the kingship. He is also said to have killed 21 of Mukombwe's sons, with Chikuyo Chisamarengu being the only one to escape. Around 1494, Chikuyo returned with a large army, and they fought a long and deadly battle ending in Changamire I's death. Chikuyo assumed the kingship and consolidated his rule over the empire, except for 'Guruuswa' which stayed loyal to the successor Changamire II; over the course of the following decades the Mwenemutapa is known to have fought Changamire II (likely aided by Butua) intermittently, until at least 1512.

Scholars differ on whether Changamire Dombo, the founder of the Rozvi Empire, descended from Changamire I. Stan Mudenge considered Changamire to have been a honorific title, though others such as Catrien Van Waarden and David Beach thought it to have been a dynastic name, and Van Waarden says that Changamire I may have been the founder of the lineage that produced Dombo.

Origins and the conquests of Changamire Dombo

The followers of Changamire Dombo came from an area in the northeast of the Zimbabwean Plateau, between the upper Mazoe and Nyadire rivers where the moyo (heart) totem predominated. Following the ascension of Mavhura to the Mutapa kingship in 1629 during his war with Kapararidze, Mutapa became a Portuguese vassal. The following decades saw widespread lawlessness as Portuguese prazo-holders in Mutapa, who were outside the jurisdiction of the Mwenemutapa's courts due to the terms of the vassalage treaty, regularly raided and enslaved their Shona neighbours (and even deposed a Mwenemutapa), with the Portuguese Crown unable and unwilling to stop them, incensing provincial chiefs. From the late 1660s to '80s, the wider region was devastated by locusts, smallpox, measles, and plagues (the effects of which were worsened by insecurity), with many villages and fields left abandoned. Trade greatly decreased, and Mudenge estimated that over half of Mutapa's population may have died.

Changamire Dombo (called "Dombolakonachingwango" or "Chikurawadyembeu" in traditions) is reported to have either been the keeper of Mwenemutapa Mukombwe's royal cattle herds which he used to gain support in moyo territory, or the leader of a Mutapa army who rebelled. Both Mudenge and Beach considered the former to be true. The kuronzera system involved someone loaning their cattle to another, who was permitted to keep the cattle's product and profit from it, but not to dispose of the cattle, effectively constituting vassalage. Beach said that Dombo's rise to power likely began in the 1670s, and he used the royal herds to gain followers, before seizing some land which Mukombwe then spuriously granted to him. Portuguese presence in Mutapa had been greatly reduced by the disasters, and in the early 1680s the Portuguese Crown ordered settlers to leave Mutapa to prevent Mukombwe's rebellion. However, throughout the 1680s and '90s Portuguese presence in the region increased again, as they sought to revive their occupation of Mutapa. According to one source, the Portuguese in the gold-producing kingdom of Manyika paid kuruva (a tax permitting trade) to Dombo, and had been attacked by his forces after refusing to continue payments, causing them to move into Maungwe. Around 1683, Dombo's forces attacked the Portuguese forces of the Governor of Mozambique in Maungwe (in which the governor reportedly invested all of the Portuguese resources of the Zambezi Valley) and decisively defeated them. But before Dombo could pursue the retreating army, his land was attacked by Mukombwe's forces, which he also defeated, and it was reported that all Mutapa grandees and some Portuguese in Mutapa were killed.

With his followers (called "Rozvi", from the verb kurozva meaning "to destroy"), c. 1683 Dombo next turned to the Kingdom of Butua in the southwest of the Plateau. This out-migration was partly due to famine and disease in the northeast, but also because the mambo (king) of Butua (which was wealthy) had recently won a civil war with Portuguese assistance, and their withdrawal may have left the mambo in a weak position. A drier climate after c. 1675 may have also incentivised Rozvi out-migration, while also weakening Butua's mambo's legitimacy as he failed to bring rain. Rozvi traditions say that in Butua there were two rulers, Chibundule and Tumbare of the soko (monkey/baboon) and bepe (calabash) totems respectively, who both lived on hills (symbolising power and royalty), and that Dombo built his own hill taller than theirs. Kalanga (Butua) traditions say that Dombo was only able to defeat Chibundule (represented as having supernatural powers) by giving Chibundule his daughter/sister in marriage who cut his braids (worn like a horn on the fontanelle, symbolising power). Gifting a relative as a wife was often an act of submission, and one account said that Dombo initially paid tribute to Butua. Chibundule is then said to have been defeated in battle, before fleeing to the Matombo a Bhuba mountains where he disappeared. Kalanga traditions also mention Tumbare, but only as a Chief Councillor of Dombo, though they do detail how Tumbare's father attempted to take power three times (the third involving Chibundule's marriage). Van Waarden said that, along with the possible relations from Changamire I, Dombo's mother may have been Torwa as her lineage is said to have had the soko totem. Van Waarden concludes that factionalism in Butua likely allowed Dombo to support Tumbare to the Butua kingship, before "pushing him aside". Dombo spent the following years consolidating his rule in Butua.

Around 1693, Dombo may have supported Mwenemutapa Nyakunembire to the Mutapa kingship, foiling Portuguese plans to install their preferred candidate, and Nyakunembire requested Dombo's assistance against the Portuguese. In 1693 Dombo's forces attacked the feira (marketplace) of Dambarare, killing all its inhabitants and burning its church; all feiras were subsequently abandoned save for ones in Manyika, and Portuguese traders fled, eventually reaching Tete. Dombo's forces likely continued to wreak havoc, burning down Masapa, and at some point relations between him and Nyakunembire soured. Dombo left to pursue his own interests elsewhere on the Plateau. By 1694 Dombo was back in the northeast campaigning in Maungwe, at which time Nyakunembire was ousted by the Portuguese candidate, and he fled to Dombo. Mudenge wrote that Dombo could have intervened and returned Nyakunembire back to power, but chose not to. In 1695 Dombo's forces invaded Manyika, forcing the temporary abandonment of its feiras, and replacing its Chikanga (king) with his own candidate, possibly Nyakunembire. From then on, Manyika was a Rozvi vassal. Following these battles and conquests, the Rozvi gained a reputation for ferocity and invincibility, said to have been due to their war drums. Throughout Dombo's reign, the Portuguese were terrified of possible attacks on Tete, Sena, and Sofala, viewing their own expulsion from the Plateau as comeuppance for their previous actions, however these did not happen as Dombo died c. 1696.

After Dombo

Following Dombo's death, there was a succession dispute involving his sons, one of which ("Sababec" according to a Portuguese record) hurried back to Butua from the campaign in Manyika. In the late-17th century, members of the Changamire dynasty migrated southwards to the Soutpansberg to found the Venda Kingdom at Dzata, with traditions mentioning "political dissension". Around the early-18th century, a group of Rozvi led by Sawanga migrated north to the Lower Gwai and founded the Nambya state at Hwange. Thomas Huffman considered both of these migrations to have been led by losing sons of the succession dispute. Another Rozvi group led by Chireya overcame the Shangwe Confederacy on the Mafungabusi Plateau. One Rozvi tradition says that the kingship was offered to Washaya who refused it, and Nechasike or Nechapingura ascended instead. Another tradition says that Dombo's successor was assisted by Kalanga ruler "Ndumba" (who was married to his sister, and possibly identified with Tumbare). In 1702, the Changamire raided Mutapa and helped Samutumbu Nyamhandu overthrow Mwenemutapa Chirimbe, though Chirimbe was reinstated a year later with Portuguese support.

The Rozvi did not allow the Portuguese to re-establish their feiras on the Plateau, except for one at Manyika c. 1715. Instead, a feira at Zumbo was founded around 1720, and became the main centre for Rozvi–Portuguese trade, while also relying on the Rozvi military for its security. The prohibition on Portuguese entering the Rozvi state meant that the trade was done through intermediaries (vashambadzi). Nechasike was succeeded by his brother Nechagadsike, who David Beach said may have lived until 1767. In 1768, civil war ensued between a previous ruler's son and a candidate Portuguese records described as a "usurper", with the 'usurper' eventually defeated and killed. In 1772, the Rozvi army dislodged a blockade of Zumbo by a rival to the Mwenemutapa. Throughout the 18th and early-19th centuries, the region received migrations of Tswana, Birwa, Hlengwe, and Karanga populations which the Rozvi were unable to stem or control; these groups overcame most of the Changamire's tributary subjects and sometimes discontinued payments of tribute. Though the Changamire had a large and powerful able to travel long distances, it was not able to project control everywhere at once, and many of these migrations constituted conquests that the Changamire retrospectively approved via land grants.

Internal conflict, resistance, and Ndebele conquest

Rupandamananga ruled in the late-18th century, who tradition says callously failed to feed the population during drought (coming to be called Rupengo, "mad"). Rozvi traditions say that when the Mhari invaded the upper Runde Valley, a Rozvi conspiracy brought Rupandamananga into conflict with them and left him to die on the battlefield. Stan Mudenge identified this with the major drought recorded between 1795 and 1800 which he said sparked a series of civil wars and set in motion the disintegration of the empire, continuing up until at least 1808. David Beach however disputed this and wrote that the cause of state's collapse lay in the misfortune of the 1830s. Accordingly, the Mhari supported Gumboremvura to the kingship, who was likely in power by 1802 and is remembered as a popular ruler. In Shona customs, losing candidates to the kingship were given territory near the capital; by 1802, one such branch of the Changamire dynasty was the Mutinhima house (whose origins vary), and its leader was reportedly the second most powerful position in the state. During Gumboremvura's reign, the Mutinhima house unsuccessfully revolted with support from the sekuru houses of Nerwande and Mavudzi, which were close advisors to the Changamire and ritually powerful. Mudenge wrote that the sekuru houses may have joined the revolt because Gumboremvura claimed to be the chief rainmaker, which would have disempowered the priesthood. He said that the plot was to assassinate Gumboremvura, and that the conspirators were expelled from the royal court when it was discovered, possibly damaging relations between the kingship and priesthood institutions in the long-term.

After Gumboremvura's death, the kingship was contested by the Dyembeu title-holder and Chirisamhuru, which Chirisamhuru won with the assistance of the Dyembeu's own sons. The rise of the Khurutse and Kaa in the Shoshong Hills from the late-18th century threatened the Rozvi's control over its Kalanga subjects in the west. By 1817, the Ngwato led by Kgadi had migrated north of Serowe and they raided the Kalanga in the Matopos Hills up until Kgadi's death in battle in 1826. A major drought from 1824 to 1829 contributed to political instability. By 1831, despite the drought, the Rozvi state had persevered, but throughout the 1830s it was invaded by no less than six groups which had fled during the Mfecane. In 1832 the Rozvi army managed to defeat and repel Mpanga's Sotho from the west and the Ngwana Maseko from the south, but a year later Zwangendaba's Ngoni entered the state and wreaked devastation before they were pushed northeast. They left the Plateau in 1835; that same year the state was invaded by warrior-queen Nyamazana's Ngoni (who had separated from Zwangendaba). The Rozvi won the first battle, but were overwhelmed by Nyamazana's attack on Danamombe; Chirisamhuru fled to Manyanga but was killed by her forces on the way there.

During the invasions, the Ngoni depleted Rozvi herds. After Chirisamhuru's death the state lay intact but headless; though it was possible to rebuild its defences, leadership remained fragmented between royal houses. Nxaba's Ngoni briefly passed through in 1836. The Ndebele had split into two groups led by Gundwane and Mzilikazi; Gundwane's group (the larger of the two) reached the upper Mzingwane Valley (next to the Rozvi state) in 1839 where they settled. Gundwane attempted to make Mzilikazi's son king, however Mzilikazi's prompt arrival sparked a civil war in which he was victorious. Mzilikazi's Ngoni invaded the Rozvi and defeated the Mutinhima house, after which many of the other royal houses submitted one by one. The Rozvi paid tribute in the form of levies of young men and received cattle in return. Rozvi traditions sometimes attribute the state's collapse amid catastrophic misfortune to Mwari punishing them for having sinned, with different versions narrating the burning of Mwari's stone structure by a heretic son of the Changamire, an attempt to kill Mwari by a heretic ruler who desecrated places where he spoke, or the failure to make offerings to Mwari after a military victory (referring to conflict between established worship of Mwari and the more-recent Mwari cave-cult).

A son of Chirisamhuru, Tohwechipi, retreated east, though during the 1840s he returned at the invitation of Mzilikazi as a tributary. Tohwechipi was later recognised as Changamire by the Mutinhima house and the Portuguese, and led several Shona groups to raid Ndebele villages and cattle. War ensued over the following years, but by 1857 Tohwechipi was defeated and fled to the Mavangwe Hills on the upper Save Valley. Throughout the 1850s, Tohwechipi was joined along the Valley by other Rozvi, including the houses of Tumbare and Mutinhima, who conquered its local populations. There, he continued to resist the Ndebele, but surrendered after a lengthy siege in 1866. Despite having been captured, Mzilikazi allowed Tohwechipi to go free. He was buried in Mavangwe, where his grave continues to be a sacred national monument in Zimbabwe.