Mutapa Empire
Mutapa Empire Mwene we Mutapa | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15th century–1884 | |||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Various (incl. Zvongombe) | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Shona | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Shona traditional religion | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
| Mwenemutapa/ Munhumutapa | |||||||||||||||||
• 15th century | Nyatsimba Mutota (first, according to tradition) | ||||||||||||||||
• c. 1876–1884 | Dzuda (last) | ||||||||||||||||
• 1890s–1902 | Chioko Dambamupute | ||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | 15th century | ||||||||||||||||
• Portuguese vassal | 1629–late-17th century | ||||||||||||||||
• Fragmentation during civil war | c. 1760 | ||||||||||||||||
• Conquered by the Portuguese | 1884 | ||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
| 16th century | 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||
| Today part of | Mozambique Zimbabwe | ||||||||||||||||
The Mutapa Empire – also referred to as Mwenemutapa or Munhumutapa (Shona: Mwene we Mutapa, Portuguese: Monomotapa) – was a Shona empire in the north of the Zimbabwean Plateau.
The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the Shona royal title Mwenemutapa derived from a combination of two words, Mwene meaning "Lord" and Mutapa meaning "conquered land". 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.