THE WORLD ATLAS

Realm · approximate borders · 1450–1760

Kingdom of Mutapa

Shona kingdom of the Mwenemutapa on the northern Zimbabwe plateau and the Zambezi valley, the 'Monomotapa' of Portuguese sources. It claimed overlordship over the eastern lowlands.

Portuguese vassalage from 1629. Source: Wikipedia 'Kingdom of Mutapa'. A reduced Mutapa, a Portuguese vassal from 1629 and squeezed by the Rozvi from the 1690s; it withdrew to the Zambezi valley after the mid-18th century. Source: Wikipedia 'Kingdom of Mutapa'.

See Kingdom of Mutapa on the map in 1450

On the map
1450–1760
Capital
Zvongombe, later Mount Fura area

Rulers named in the sources

African kingdoms and states, 430–1911

Besides the large empires and the colonial powers, Africa had many other states: the Berber kingdoms of late-Roman Mauretania and the Aurès; the Wolof states of Senegambia, the Fula imamates, Kaabu and the Moorish emirates; Kong, the Mossi kingdoms, Dagbon, Denkyira, Akwamu, Dahomey and Benin; the Hausa kingdoms, Nupe, Kebbi, Agadez, Damagaram and Baguirmi; the Ethiopian, Gibe and Somali sultanates and kingdoms, the Shilluk, Kilwa and Pate; Buganda, Bunyoro, Rwanda and Burundi; Loango, Ndongo, Matamba, Kasanje, Kuba, Luba, Lunda and Kazembe; Mapungubwe, Great Zimbabwe, Mutapa, Butua and the Rozvi; and Maravi, Gaza, the Nguni and Sotho kingdoms, the Lozi and the Sakalava. Dates and rulers come from cited reference articles. Few pre-colonial African frontiers were ever surveyed or described, and many of these states ruled people and trade routes more than fixed territory.

Sources