kingdom · Central and Southern Africa
Kingdom of Madanda
Origins
Madanda emerged around 1500 as one of the Shona-speaking states between the Zimbabwe plateau and the coast, south of the Kingdom of Uteve. Its rulers were probably linked by origin to the Mutapa dynasty, but the kingdom appears only occasionally in Portuguese records.
Rule and society
Little is known of its government. Like its neighbours, it was probably ruled by a sacred king advised by spirit mediums, and its people farmed, herded cattle and traded ivory and gold with Portuguese posts at Sofala and on the Zambezi.
Decline and legacy
In the 19th century Madanda came under the domination of the Gaza Nguni state. In the 1890s its territory passed to the Mozambique Company and was absorbed into Portuguese Mozambique.
Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.
Lineage
On the connections map
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- Kingdom of Madanda paid tribute to Gaza Empire1830 CE – 1890 CE
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Cite this page
- APA
- The Epoch Institute. (2026). Kingdom of Madanda. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-madanda
- MLA
- “Kingdom of Madanda.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-madanda. Accessed .
- Chicago
- The Epoch Institute. “Kingdom of Madanda.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-madanda.
- Harvard
- The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Kingdom of Madanda’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/kingdom-of-madanda (Accessed: ).
Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻