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Great Zimbabwe was a city in the south-eastern hills of the modern country of Zimbabwe, near Masvingo. ... attesting the international trade linkages of the Kingdom ...
Around 1300, Great Zimbabwe replaced Mapungubwe as the most important trading centre in the interior, exporting gold via Swahili city-states into the Indian Ocean trade. At Great Zimbabwe's centre was the Great Enclosure which housed royalty and had demarcated spaces for rituals, while commoners surrounded them within the second perimeter wall.
Wealthy Sofala was the principal entrepot for the gold and ivory trade with Great Zimbabwe and Monomatapa in the interior. The acquisition of Sofala brought a windfall of gold revenues to the Kilwa Sultans, which allowed them to finance their expansion and extend their powers all along the East African coast.
The Kingdom of Zimbabwe, with its capital at Great Zimbabwe, was central to trade networks in Southern Africa. The impressive stone ruins of Great Zimbabwe, with their massive walls and complex structures, are a testament to the kingdom's economic and cultural development. These states contributed significantly to the economic vitality and ...
During the 200 year period between 1301 and 1500 (the 14th and 15th century) the main civilizations and kingdoms in Africa were the Mali Empire, Kingdom of Kongo, Ife Empire, Benin Kingdom, Songhai Empire, Hausa City-states, Wolof Empire, Great Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Makuria, Kanem Empire,Ethiopian Empire, Kilwa Sultanate, Kingdom of Mapungubwe, Kingdom of Mutapa, and the Ajuran Sultanate.
The Kingdom of Mapungubwe was the first in a series of sophisticated trade states developed in Zimbabwe by the time of the first European explorers from Portugal. They traded in gold, ivory and copper for cloth and glass.
The city of Great Zimbabwe, founded around 1100, was the centre of the Shona kingdom until around 1400. [11] Much trade in the forest kingdoms was done at the local level, typically by ordinary Yoruba people at local markets. In some towns these were held every 3 or 4 days.
The name "Zimbabwe" stems from a Shona term for Great Zimbabwe, a medieval city in the country's south-east.Two different theories address the origin of the word. Many sources hold that "Zimbabwe" derives from dzimba-dza-mabwe, translated from the Karanga dialect of Shona as "houses of stones" (dzimba = plural of imba, "house"; mabwe = plural of ibwe, "stone").