Mutapa Empire
Kingdom of Mutapa Mwene we Mutapa | |||||||||||||||||
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| 15th century–1888 | |||||||||||||||||
Coat of arms granted to the Mwenemutapa in 1569 by the King of Portugal.
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| Capital | Various (incl. Zvongombe) | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | Shona | ||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Shona traditional religion | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||||||
| Mwenemutapa/ Munhumutapa | |||||||||||||||||
• 15th century | Nyatsimba Mutota (first, according to tradition) | ||||||||||||||||
• 1740–1759 | Dehwe Mupunzagutu (last) | ||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||
• Established | 15th century | ||||||||||||||||
• Portuguese protectorate | 1629 | ||||||||||||||||
• Mutapa dynasty schism | 1712 | ||||||||||||||||
• Disintegrated in Civil war | 1760 | ||||||||||||||||
• Conquered by the Portuguese | 1888 | ||||||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||||||
| 16th century | 700,000 km2 (270,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||||
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The Mutapa Empire – also referred to as Mwenemutapa or Munhumutapa, (Shona: Mwene we Mutapa, Portuguese: Monomotapa) – was an African empire in Zimbabwe, which expanded to what is now modern-day Mozambique, Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia.
The Portuguese term Monomotapa is a transliteration of the Shona royal title Mwenemutapa derived from a combination of two words, Mwene meaning "Lord" and Mutapa meaning "conquered land". Over time the monarch's royal title was applied to the kingdom as a whole, and used to denote the kingdom's territory on maps from the period.