State
Mutapa Empire
The Mutapa Empire, also known as the Mwene Mutapa state, was a Shona kingdom that emerged in the mid-fifteenth century between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers, in present-day Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Founded by Nyatsimba Mutota, it controlled gold, salt and trade routes linking the interior to the Indian Ocean coast. Weakened by Portuguese intervention and internal division, it was later overshadowed by the Rozvi Empire on the Zimbabwean plateau.
Mentioned in 2 profiles
Mentioned in 8 state histories
See also
Cite this entry
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Mutapa Empire. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mutapa-empire
- MLA
- “Mutapa Empire.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mutapa-empire. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Mutapa Empire.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mutapa-empire.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Mutapa Empire’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/mutapa-empire (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻