Rozvi Empire

Rozvi Empire
Rozvi
1660–1866[1]
Map showing the extent of the Rozvi empire and its center around Butwa
Map showing the extent of the Rozvi empire and its center around Butwa
StatusKingdom
CapitalDanangombe
Common languagesShona (Karanga)
Religion
Musikism
GovernmentAbsolute Monarchy
Changamire 
• c. 1660 – c. 1695
Changamire Dombo(first)
• 1831–1866
Changamire Tohwechipi
History 
• Rozvi conquest of Butua
1660
• Surrender of Tohwechipi
1866[1]
Area
1700[2]620,000 km2 (240,000 sq mi)
Population
• 1700[2]
1,000,000
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Kingdom of Butua
Mutapa Empire
Mthwakazi

The Rozvi Empire (1660–1866) was a Shona state established on the Zimbabwean Plateau by Changamire Dombo. 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.[3]

  1. ^ Innocent Pikirayi et Joseph O. Vogel, The Zimbabwe Culture: Origins and Decline of Southern Zambezian States, Rowman & Littlefield - Altamira Press, 2001
  2. ^ a b Cornell, James (1978). Lost Lands and Forgotten People. Sterling Publishing Company. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-8069-3926-1. Zimbabwe continued to grow, reaching the height of its power in 1700, under the rule of the Rozwi people. When the first Europeans arrived on the African coast, they heard tales of a great stone city, the capital of a vast empire. The tales were true, for the Rozwi controlled 240,000 square miles [...] More than one million Africans lived under Rozwi rule.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference brit1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).