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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Dynasties of the Mutapa-Rozwi complex |
Author: | Alpers, E.A. |
Year: | 1970 |
Periodical: | The Journal of African History |
Volume: | 11 |
Issue: | 2 |
Pages: | 203-220 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Southern Africa |
Subjects: | history Mwene Mutapa polity |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/180317 |
Abstract: | There is still considerable uncertainty as to the chronology of the precolonial African kingdom of the Mwene Mutapa and to the genealogy of its ruling dynasty. Creation of the state was effected by the original Mwene Mutapa ('Master Pillager'), Nyatsimba Mutota, and his son Matope Nyamhehwe during the 15th century. Under Matope's son, Nyahuma, the empire disintegrated, thereby creating the climate for the proliferation of competing, frequently dynas-tically related, states with which this paper is concerned. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries the area bounded by the Zambezi River, the Kalahari Desert, the Moçambique Channel and the northern Transvaal, was dominated by Mutapa-Bozwi dynasties. Each dynastic unit is treated integrally in this paper. A brief historical note dealing with the establishment of each dynasty is followed by a similar discussion of the available sources of traditional material. The number of title-holders, of generations, and the mode of succession are indicated. The remainder of each presentation is devoted to tie-ups and dating. Notes, figure, tables, summary. |