The fall of the Mutapa State
The main cause of the collapse of the Mutapa State was the Portuguese political social and economic interference with the empire. From 1505 when the Portuguese entered the southern African region, they brought havoc and anarchy. The trail of destruction is seen in their grand unorthodox plans to dislodge the Swahili Arab traders through war and diplomacy with the Mutapa state. The Portuguese directly interfered with the Mutapa state during the reign of Mutapa Mupunzagutu when they tried to cheat themselves through the conversion and baptism of the king's court and turn the empire into a crucifix fearing and worshipping state. The subsequent execution of father Gonzalo da Silveira by the young Mutapa Mupunzagutu was a turning point to the political landscape of Mutapa because from 1868 the Portuguese under Saretto military punitive expedition when the expedition stormed the Zambezi valley but could not reach the Mutapa court. Another expedition was launched by Diego Homem in 1874-5 which decimated the empire with civil wars. The Portuguese incited vagrancy and brigandage in the state, there after they brided Uteve to subdue Manyika. They created local armies the Chikunda to ravage and plunder gold and ivory resources. The Portuguese instituted the reign of terror through these bandit groups. They established prazeros (farming states) robbing the Mutapa of the prime fertile land and forcing many people to migrate out or put up protracted fights which weakened the empire. They disrupted trade, mining, hunting and agriculture. They intervened with the day to day functions at the mutapa court, brought in their gate keeper and foreign office at the court of Mutapa.
The Portuguese were cunning. They bribed and installed puppet rulers like Mavhura and Gatsi Rusere who gave them exclusive freedom to exploit resources and do whatever they deemed fit in Mutapa. These puppet rulers destroyed the identity of the Mutapa Empire and left a trail of both political and economic destruction. Many people in Mutapa revolted against the introduction of the Christian region which destroyed the soul and vitality of the empire. They usurped the sovereignty of the Mutapa people and left them with no civilisation, with no history and no religion. Revolts led the government of Mutapa to concentrate on suppressing revolts at the expense of economic prosperity. Christians and non-Christians clashed to the demise of what held the empire. The Portuguese began slave trade in Mutapa, an abomination, a human tragedy more embarrassing and humiliating than death. Many families were decimated, left psychologically devastated for eternity. Thus, the Portuguese refused to pay curva (tax duty) depriving the state of its revenue. They ravaged Mutapa women- raped Mutapa women and shamelessly created the mulatto social group. The Portuguese's trail of disaster was evident in prazeros and feiras (markets) where immorality was so high that the society was left, shamed and devastated, crying for dignity, as they were sexually wasted by Portuguese macho men.
The demise of Mutapa is also attributable to succession disputes mainly from the period of Kapararidze, Mavhura and Gatsi Rusere. The rise of weaker and uncharismatic leaders led to the successive rebellions by vassal chiefs. These vassals chiefs were aided by the introduction of guns by the Portuguese and Arabs in the empire. Defeated or unsuccessful heirs led to civil wars, or broke away to establish their political enclaves.
Resources in Mutapa Empire depleted overtime without renewal. This created a crisis of resources and weakened the economy of Mutapa. Minerals and ivory exhaustion resulted in the decline of the high profile lucrative trade in Mutapa. Decline of the trade with the Portuguese and Arabs led to the Mutapa kings losing grip and power over subjects and vassal chiefs. Incessant droughts and natural disasters led to economic and political decline of mutapa hegemony. In some instances Mutapa was challenged by the Zimba revolts in the Dande valley and invasion by the Maravi people. The growth of the Rozvi rule to the west of Mutapa exploited the weakening Mutapa economy and political system. The Mutapa Empire had also become just but too large for communication. To the north the Mutapa influence reached beyond Zambia to Angola, the Great Lakes region and Tanzania (Kilwa and Malindi), to the south it covered Venda land beyond the Limpopo, to the east almost the rest of today's Mozambique to the Indian Ocean, up to Tanzania and to the west most parts of eastern Botswana, covering Shoshong, Serowe, Palapye and Toutswe. Empires emerged strong but also crashed strong like the Mutapa Empire.
