The Mutapa Empire was founded in the 15th century following a gradual process of migrations from Great Zimbabwe to the northern Zimbabwean Plateau, encouraged in part by the establishment of a major trade route along the Zambezi. According to Shona tradition, the state was founded by Mutota in the region of and was expanded by his son Matope, who conquered local Tavara and Tonga groups and established several vassals such as Barue, Uteve, and Manyika. Around 1490, a civil conflict saw the rise and fall of Changamire, a rival claimant backed by the Kingdom of Butua, before Chikuyo restored the dynasty around 1494.
In the mid-16th century, the Portuguese began supplanting Muslim Swahili traders in the Zambezi Valley. In 1561, Negomo received the Jesuit Gonçalo da Silveira, who converted him to Christianity; Silveira was subsequently executed by court conspirators. The Portuguese launched a military expedition in the 1570s to avenge Silveira and conquer Mutapa, but it failed. Gatsi Rusere later sparked a civil war and was eventually restored to power with Portuguese assistance , while managing to avoid formal subjugation.
After Gatsi's death c. 1623, a succession conflict ended in 1629 with Mavhura victorious through Portuguese support. Mavhura signed a treaty of vassalage with the Portuguese Crown, permitting wide Portuguese privileges in Mutapa. Many (land granted to settlers independent of the Crown) were established during the 17th century, and their profit-seeking owners employed private armies which disrupted trade and raided the 's subjects. In the second half of the 17th century the region was devastated by locusts, smallpox, measles, and plagues. In the 1680s and '90s Changamire Dombo founded the Rozvi Empire and expelled all Portuguese from the Plateau. Subsequent civil wars between the Nyamhandu and Boroma houses weakened central authority and gave the state a confederal character.
During the 19th century the wider region was disrupted by Nguni groups fleeing the Mfecane, though poor conditions prevented their settlement in Chidima, where the retained authority. In 1884 the Portuguese invaded and conquered Chidima, with Mutapa's former territories eventually partitioned between the British and the Portuguese. Resistance continued under Chioko and his coalition until 1902, when Chioko's death ended hopes of restoring the empire and the rebellion was suppressed.
Origins and early history
Foundation Shona oral tradition attributes Great Zimbabwe's demise to a salt shortage, which may be a figurative way of speaking of land depletion for agriculturalists, or of the depletion of critical resources for the community. One version says that the founder of Mutapa, Mutota (also called "Nyatsimba" or "Nemasengere"), was the son of Zimbabwean (king) Chimubatamatosi, and led an army north through Shangwe to conquer while searching for salt. A second version says that some Karanga from Great Zimbabwe migrated slowly to the northern Zimbabwean Plateau. Accordingly, an elephant hunter in Shangwe named Mutota gained prominence, and took interest in trade along the Zambezi, while also finding salt in Dande. In the early-15th century Angoche traders had opened a new route along the Zambezi via the Tonga and Tavara to reach the goldfields close to Khami (capital of the Kingdom of Butua). Accordingly the Karanga made alliances and intermarried with the Tonga and Tavara, and via influencing succession disputes they increased their power in the region. Dande was placed in a strategic location for trade and had rich agricultural land and elephant-hunting grounds. Mutota is said to have been a hunter-warrior in the militaristic clan, which he led to defeat Tavara chief Matsiwu and conquer Dande. Mutota established the capital of the nascent Mutapa Kingdom at Chitako- Hill where he built a stone enclosure (), and he distributed land and administrative positions to his allies. Mutota is said to have extended his rule over '' (a territory to the south) before his death.
The Shona did not have professional oral historians, and history was instead recorded by elder experts who had an aptitude, and also by the (spirit medium) of a (royal ancestral spirit) or (spirit). Stan Mudenge wrote that Shona traditions are likely telescoped (compressed) due to them only mentioning around half of the known rulers, and that the events surrounding Mutota and his successors before may have taken place over the course of several generations of rulers. Rulers belonging to different royal houses were sometimes 'forgotten' so as to weaken their claims to succession. Mudenge, David Beach, and Innocent Pikirayi consider the second version of tradition to be closer to the true process of state formation, and Beach and Pikirayi date this process to the 14th and 15th centuries. Beach thought that Mutota may have been a symbolic figure, as there is no mention of him as Mutapa's founder in traditions recorded before the 1860s (traditions recorded in the 18th century made no mention of him at all and held "Nemapangere" and "Nemangoro" as the first rulers). Beach also expressed scepticism about the Mutapa dynasty's origin in Great Zimbabwe, as most early traditions say they originated in '', a word meaning "long grass" which Beach says was used to refer to less-wooded regions by groups that had migrated from the open central Plateau to wooded valleys near its edges. Archaeological research has however shown that Mutapa was a northward extension of Great Zimbabwe.
Expansion Some traditions say that Mutota stated that any son wanting to succeed him had to commit incest with his daughter Nyamhita; Mudenge wrote that this may be symbolic of Mutota's "consuming ambition for power [leading] him to do the unthinkable", or because the local groups may have been matrilineal and expected Nyamhita to succeed him. Mutota is said to have been succeeded by one of his sons, either Nemangoro or Matope (also called "Nyanhehwe" or "Nebedza"). Matope is much more famous and widely revered, compared to Nemangoro about whom little is said, which Mudenge says indicates that Nemangoro must have ruled before Matope for mention of him to survive in some traditions. Tradition continues that Matope established his in Bedza, and gave Nyamhita an area called Handa, as she became known as Nehanda. Matope embarked on numerous military campaigns, first conquering all Tavara and Tonga from the eastwards to the . During the campaign he allied a member of the local clan called Chimupore who was allocated Barue; traditions vary on whether Matope extended his rule to the Indian Ocean at this time or just before his death. After this, Matope encountered resistance led by the Tavara clan near Choma. The clan leader's spokesman was Karuva, a rainmaking-priest of the cult. Based on traditions, Mudenge wrote that the Tavara fiercely resisted Matope, and that it was only when Karuva's son Chikuma betrayed the Tavara (by giving away Tavara armies' positions or by siding with Matope) that he was able to subdue them. With this, Matope gained control over trade routes along the Zambezi, providing security at the bazaars near Sena for Muslim Swahili traders from Angoche. Like with Mutota, Beach and Mudenge said that Matope may represent multiple rulers' reigns.
Revolts and contact with the Portuguese
Conquests of Uteve and Manyika, the Changamire revolt, and Portuguese expansion into Zambezi trade According to tradition, Matope was succeeded by his son Mavhura, about whom little is known. Another of his sons, Nyahuma Mukombero, became and expanded to conquer Uteve. Uteve was a valuable region because Kilwa and Sofala (rivals of Angoche) traded with the interior via it. Traditions say that the conquest was aided by the governor of (Mutapa's southern province), Changamire I, though they vary on the details. One version says that Mukombero placed his son in charge of the newly-conquered land, while Teve traditions say that Changamire aided Bandahuma, a brother of the , in fleeing his brother to found a new kingdom, becoming the first .
The genealogy of Changamire I has been the subject of speculation by scholars. Some scholars say he was a member of the Torwa dynasty of Butua or a friend of them, while others say he was a son of Matope or that he married one of Matope's daughters. After analysing Valoyi traditions, Mathebula and Mokgoatšana say that Changamire was likely a descendant of both dynasties, being the son of Matope or having married Matope's daughter (or both were true and he married his sister). Diogo de Alcáçova's report in 1506 indicates that Changamire I was a member of the Torwa dynasty who had served as a wealthy and influential governor of the . According to Alcáçova's account, rumours were spread by others close to Mukombero that Changamire was plotting for the kingship, and Mukombero ordered Changamire to undertake a poison trial, wherein if he drank the poison () and was harmed by it, he was deemed guilty. Accordingly, around 1490 Changamire led an army to Mukombwe's and killed him, afterwards assuming the kingship. He is also said to have killed 21 of Mukombero's sons, with Chikuyo Chisamarengu being the only one to escape. In 1493 the Torwa (king) is recorded to have gifted the 4000 cows and copious amounts of gold. Around 1494, Chikuyo returned with a large army, and they fought a deadly battle lasting over 3 days, which ended in Changamire I's death. Chikuyo assumed the kingship and consolidated his rule over the empire, except for which stayed loyal to the successor Changamire II; over the course of the following decades the is known to have fought Changamire II (likely aided by Butua) intermittently, until at least 1512.
Meanwhile, Bandahuma of Uteve gradually became independent with the help of Changamire II, and both Bandahuma and Chikuyo set their sights on conquering the highlands of Manyika, situated between and Uteve. The Barue king (a loyal vassal of Mutapa) sent his son who occupied Manyika and fended off Bandahuma's son Nyamunda, who turned to conquer Madanda and installed a brother as . The following years saw trade from Sofala return, and in 1506 the Portuguese gained control of the city. There was relative peace between Mutapa and its enemies, until c. 1515 when Nyamunda began campaigns to expand his territory. Nyamunda sought to expand towards Sofala and then gain the Portuguese's help in conquering Manyika from Mutapa, after which he'd control the lucrative trade route. However the Portuguese had little to offer and sought relations with Mutapa, resulting in relations between them and Nyamunda souring. As the MutapaTeve war ensued, Chikuyo faced two revolts (one by a general named Sono) and reportedly warred with Butua. Chikuyo died around 1530, and is said to have been succeeded by 'Neshangwe Munembire' ("" "" literally means "ruler of Shangwe" "person of Mbire", and Beach says that he likely is not historical). In the following decades, the Portuguese supplanted Swahili traders along the Zambezi trade route by replacing bazaars with the settlements of Quelimane, Sena, and Tete. Little is known about the MutapaTeve wars, except that they were reignited for a short time during the early 1540s. According to João Velho's 1547 letter, a Muslim trader, supported by the Portuguese, led a campaign to expel a "Changamira" from the lands around the "River of Sofala" (either the Buzi or Pungwe river), and supplanted his rule there by conquest, distributing gifts and encouraging his subjects to revolt. Several scholars considered this to have been the final defeat of the Changamires, though Stan Mudenge wrote that "Changamira" referred to the (either Nyamunda or his successor Chipute) as a continuation of Nyamunda's wars in the territory.