ZIMBABWE, HISTORY OF ORIGIN
Great Zimbabwe
Great Zimbabwe is a
city that in time past had created certain impart on the long lasted
civilization which Africa had experienced in the past. Proving the certainty of
an age-long civilization is the debris left along the parts that once bore
great walls. From the picture above, it is evident that some parts of the walls
still stand to prove its solidity. It is undisputable, from feasibility study
of this seeming indestructible structure, that monuments different from
pyramids could last as long as their purposes could contain. Of course, without
these wreckages there would be no ancient Zimbabwe other than ferry tells of
concocted history. The walls stand memorably beyond the claim of storytellers.
The significance of these walls do not only speak of the civilization of that
African population, they also speak of the uniqueness of the people who built
the walls; their predominant occupation and the circumstances that prevailed in
their societies which spurred the need for such fortified walls in different parts
of Zimbabwe. Above all, they speak of Zimbabwe history.
The history of Zimbabwe
is weaved into the story of the Shona Bantus. For this purpose it proved
difficult determining the time of their settlement in the area. Shona, unlike
other Bantu settlers do not stress the Central Africa as their emigration base.
They fell in the group of Bantu that had travelled from Northern Africa
alongside the Zulu in the days when Pharaoh Snefru
conquered the ancient Nubia. The period of this
conquest was estimated to be around 2575 BC. But the conglomerate backdates to
11. The Shona and the Zulu had travelled together but ended their journeys in
different locations. By supposition, according to the Zulu story, Shona should
be of the same family line with the Zulu, but for certain misunderstanding
bothering on the recognitions of the family members who (in the later part of
the Zulu travel to the south) began to assort themselves in familial sections.
As we know, Zulu and Shona share similar culture and tradition.
About that time, the
present Zulu of South Africa collectively assort under the umbrella of the
name, Nguni. Other members in the
Zulu groupings who did not fall in that umbrella then assorted differently.
Involved in these independent assortment are the Shona which later became the
Zimbabwe of the present day and Zambia. The repetition of Z at the initial
position perhaps has something to tell about this consanguinity which once
confederated under a sole term, Zulu. According to researches, the word Shona
became popular as the identity of the Zimbabwe Bantu as late as 19th
century. Shona therefore was used as the pejorative for non Nguni.
Shona is divided into
Western Shona whose language is Kalanga
and Eastern Shona. Origins of the Western Kalanga come from the Rozvi State (Moyo).
Ethnologies note that the language of the Western Shona is mutually
intelligible with the main dialects of the Eastern Shona, but counts them
separately. The later groupings shown below are major among the groups:
Karanga
or Southern
Shona
Duma
Njiva(mrewa)
Jena
Mhari
(Mari)
Ngova
Nyubi
Govera
Budya
Gova
Tande
Tavara
Nyongwe
Pfunde
Shan
Gwe
Shawasha
Gova
Mbire
Tsunga
Kachikwakwa
Harava
Nohwe
Njanja
Nobvu
Kwazwimba (Zimba)
Toko
Hwesa
The nation Zimbabwe
derived its name from the name of this last group, the Zimba. Banyai,
speaking Nambya in
Zimbabwe (90,000) and Botswana about 15,000 people, sometimes subsumed to the
Western Shona, Ndau in
Mozambique about 1,580,000 people and Zimbabwe about 800,000 people. Their
language is only partly intelligible with the main Shona dialects and comprises
some click sounds that do not occur in standard ChiShona.
When the
term Shona was invented during the Mfecane in late 19th
century, possibly by the Ndebele king Mzilikazi, it was a pejorative
for non-Nguni people
as noted earlier. On one hand, it is claimed that there was no consciousness of
a common identity among the tribes and the people who are forming the Shona of
today. On the other hand, the Shona people of Zimbabwe highland always had in
common a vivid memory of the ancient kingdoms, often identified with the Monomotapa State. The terms “Karanga”,
“Kalanga” or “Kalaka”, which now are the names of special groups, seem to have
been used for all Shona before the Mfecane.
Dialect groups are
important in Shona although there are huge similarities among the dialects.
Standard Shona is spoken throughout Zimbabwe; the dialects not only help to
identify which town or village a person is from but also the ethnic group which
the person belongs to. Each Shona dialect is specific to a certain ethnic group.
By this view, if one speaks the Manyika dialect; then he is from the Manyika
group/tribe and observes certain customs and norms specific to that group. As
such, if one is Zezuru, he speaks the Zezuru dialect and observes the customs
and beliefs that are specific to them.
Zimbabwe Civilization
The civilization of
Zimbabwe started gradually at the mountain side. The Kalanga and/or Karanga
had, from the 11th century, created empires and states on the Zimbabwe plateau.
These states include the Great Zimbabwe state
(12-16th century), the Torwa State,
and the Munhumutapa states,
which succeeded the Great Zimbabwe state as well as the Rozvi state,
which succeeded the Torwa State, and the Mutapa state
which existed in the 19th century. The states were based on kingship with
certain dynasties being royals.
The major dynasties
were the Rozvi of
the Moyo (Heart) Totem, the Elephant (of the Mutapa state), and the Hungwe
(Fish Eagle) dynasties that ruled from Great Zimbabwe. The Kalanga who speak Tjikalanga are
related to the Karanga possibly through common ancestry. Some Shona groups are
not very familiar with the existence of the Kalanga, hence they are frequently
not recognized as Shona today. These groups had an Adelphic succession system
(brother succeeds brother) and this after a long time caused a number of civil
wars which, after the 16th century, were taken advantage of by the Portuguese.
The kings were a number of chiefs who had sub-chiefs and headmen under them.
It was evident from the
Adelphic succession of the Kalanga that the need for the sophisticated walls
whose debris are scattered around the area was to keep each kingdom/settlement
safe from the invading attempt of others. The picture below shows a proof to
this.
The Zimbabwe site, featuring the Great Enclosure wall, is
one of the most astounding regions with monuments in Africa, second only to the
Nile Valley pyramid region. The ancient plan of Great Zimbabwe is in two
parts: the hill complex and the valley complexes. The hill complex is where the
king kept many of his treasures. Although he lived in the Imba Huru (or Great
Enclosure) in the valley, he spent considerable ritual time on the
hill. Several important enclosures exist within the hill
complex. The principles ones are the ritual enclosure,
the smelting enclosure and the iron-keeping enclosure.
The valley complexes are dominated by the Imba Huru.
The height of the main wall of the Imba Huru is about 32 feet,
it is 800 feet long, and utilizes an amazing 15,000 tons of granite
blocks. The impressive blocks were constructed without mortar. The
building of this complex took skill, determination and industry, and thus
the Imba Huru demonstrates a high level of administrative and
social achievement by bringing together stone masons and other workers on a
grand scale. The extensive trading network made Great Zimbabwe one of the most
significant trading regions during the mediaeval period. The main trading
items were gold, iron, copper, tin, cattle, and also cowrie
shells. Imported items included glassware from Syria, a minted coin
from
Kilwa, Tanzania, and Persian & Chinese ceramics from the 13-14th centuries.
Great Zimbabwe was an important commercial and political
center. In addition to being in the heart of an extensive commercial
and trading network, the site was the center of a powerful political kingdom,
which was under a central ruler for about 350 years (1100–1450
AD). The site is estimated to have contained perhaps 18,000
inhabitants, making it one of the largest cities of its day.
Zimbabwe civilization was also strengthened by iron
production. This perhaps formed one of the trade materials/commodities that had
attracted many parts of the world to the Zimbabwe hills in those days. Hamady
Bocoum, recounting the contribution of
Zimbabwe to the world iron metallurgy, wrote thus,
In
Bantu Central Africa, iron smelting is identified clearly, and more or less
simultaneously, with coitus and childbirth. The furnace is decorated with
breasts and scarifications symbolizing women; it is occasionally girded with a
waistband, 132 Pierre de Maret for example among the Shona of Zimbabwe, and the
vocabulary used to designate its various parts refers to the female body. We
may note in passing the parallel with pottery, which is also made of clay and
whose parts are designated, as in many of the world’s languages, by parts of
the body: belly, lip, bottom, shoulder and so forth. Such is the power of the
universal categories of human thought (The Origin, 131-132).
Metallographic analyses
carried out by my colleague Terry Childs (1991b), at the time he was at MIT in
Boston, of iron axes and knives from Zimbabwe, in particular from the ruins of
Great Zimbabwe, and of other archaeological artefacts – dating from the eighth
to the fourteenth centuries – from the Luba homeland bear witness to the
extraordinary technical mastery of Bantu ironsmiths. By soldering and welding,
ironsmiths often managed to produce a steel blade with a low carbon content on
to which they soldered a layer of steel that gave a sharp edge. The centre of
the blade, which was softer, helped to absorb the shock of blows against hard
objects. The dilapidated part of the Zimbabwe reserve had evidence of what
seemed to be Tuyère that, at a time past, was used for metallurgical works.
Childs was however
surprise in his metallographic analysis of Luba archaeological artefacts is the
presence of cast iron (inclusion of carbide) inbracelets in increasing
proportions as time went on. Production of cast iron is confirmed by the early
testimony of a missionary, who spoke of cast iron being poured into a mould to
make hoes, and by surviving oral traditions (Childs, 1991b).
The presence of real
cast iron is quite extraordinary because it implies a degree of technical skill
and systematic achievement of very high temperatures that were said to be
impossible with African techniques. This explains the insistence of Jean
Devisse and other specialists in France that we should be speaking about iron
ore reduction rather than smelting. But now we must recognize that the Luba
knew how to cast iron, and had been able to do so for over 1,000 years.
The second major
surprise is that, because cast iron is too brittle to be forged, a stage of
decarbonization was required to enable its forging, and this is clearly what
the Luba ironsmiths were doing, because the bracelets under study are
essentially made of steel encasing cast-iron layers. As stressed by Childs
(1991b), Luba techniques for working iron and copper evolved in tandem, and the
techniques developed for one metal were adapted to the needs of the other. For
example, the Luba also developed a technique for separating the ore contained
in the sand of riverbeds by means of what in modern metallurgy is called the
‘Hancock jig’, in other words a process of differential sedimentation in
running water
In Bantu Central
Africa, iron smelting is identified clearly, and more or less simultaneously,
with coitus and childbirth. The furnace is decorated with breasts and
scarifications symbolizing women; it is occasionally girded with a waistband. The conclusion is inescapable that
Great Zimbabwe had a condensed population sufficient for it to be considered a
town, or even a city. However, many Western writers have attempted
to reduce the significance of Great Zimbabwe by several methods: by estimating
low population numbers (e.g. only 5,000 instead of 18,000 inhabitants); calling
the dwellings “huts” instead of homes; calling the areas “villages”
instead of towns or cities; and identifying the
rulers as “chiefs’ instead of kings.
Extracted from the text shown below.
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