Rozvi Empire
Rozvi Empire Rozvi | |||||||||||||||
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| 1660- 1873 | |||||||||||||||
Map showing the extent of the Rozvi empire and its center around Butwa | |||||||||||||||
| Status | Kingdom | ||||||||||||||
| Capital | Danangombe/Dhlodhlo | ||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Shona (Karanga) | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Musikism | ||||||||||||||
| Government | Absolute Monarchy | ||||||||||||||
| Changamire | |||||||||||||||
• 1660 | Changamire Dombo | ||||||||||||||
• 1831–1873 | Changamire Tohwechipi | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Changamire's coup of Mutapa | 1660 | ||||||||||||||
• Rozvi conquest of Butua | 1683 | ||||||||||||||
• Surrender of Tohwechipi | 1873 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||
| 1700 | 620,000 km2 (240,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||||
• 1700 | 1,000,000 | ||||||||||||||
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| History of Zimbabwe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ancient history
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White settlement pre-1923
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The Rozvi Empire (1660-1873), was a Shona state established by Changamire dombo on the Zimbabwean Plateau. The term "Rozvi" refers to their legacy as a warrior nation, taken from the Shona term kurozva, "to plunder". They became the most powerful fighting force in the whole of Zimbabwe.