Rise to Glory: Kingdoms of the South

GREAT ZIMBABWE

The ruins of Great Zimbabwe lie on a fertile plain between the Limpopo River to the South and the Zambezi River to the North. It is a hospitable place, with moderate temperatures, abundant rainfall and wide grasslands for livestock to graze. Like other Bantu peoples, the inhabitants of the plain kept cattle, and wealth was counted in the number of head of cattle a man owned. However the economy was not limited to this.

Gold, copper, tin and iron were mined and traded with the outside world, via the Muslim traders on the coast. In exchange these traders sent goods from other parts of the great trading empire of the Indian Ocean, and coins from East Africa, ceramics from China, glass beads from India, and pottery from Iran have been found at Great Zimbabwe.

The gold trade brought wealth to the people of the plain, and by the 11th century AD an elite ruling class of kings and nobles began to emerge. These Shona aristocrats began building their homes on hilltops and enclosing them within stone walls. They were not walled for defence but to were built as a sign of their difference from the lower classes. The stone was found locally.   1     2     3     4