Editing History of Africa (section)

====Southern Great Lakes and the Zambezi and Limpopo basins====
By the 4th century, [[Bantu peoples]] had established farming villages south of the [[Zambezi River]]. The [[San people|San]], having inhabited the region for around 100,000 years,{{Efn|Some scholars contest that cultures and identities can't be considered fixed or invariable, especially over such a long time period.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/primordialism-and-the-pleistocene-san-of-southern-africa/45D6E61597C34A496AB5A0B6FA1C7632|last1=Pargeter|first1=Justin|last2=Mackay|first2=Alex|last3=Mitchell|first3=Peter|last4=Shea|first4=John|last5=Stewart|first5=Brian|title=Primordialism and the 'Pleistocene San' of southern Africa|year=2016|journal=Antiquity|volume=90|issue=352}}</ref>}} were driven off their ancestral lands or incorporated by Bantu speaking groups.<ref name=":14"/>{{Rp|pages=11–12}} The Zambezi Plateau came to be dotted with the agricultural chiefdoms of the [[Zhizo people]] and [[Leopard's Kopje]] people, in which cattle was the primary identifier of wealth. External trade began around the 7th century, primarily exporting gold and ivory.<ref name=":14" />{{Rp|page=14}} Around 900, motivated by the [[ivory trade]], some Zhizo moved south to settle the [[Limpopo River|Limpopo]]-[[Shashe River|Shashe]] Basin. Their capital and most populated settlement was [[Schroda, South Africa|Schroda]], and via the coastal [[Swahili people|Swahili]] city-state [[Chibuene]] they engaged in the [[Indian Ocean trade]].<ref name=":07">{{Cite book|last=Huffman|first=Thomas N.|url=https://archive.org/details/mapungubweancien0000huff/mode/2up?view=theater|title=Mapungubwe : ancient African civilisation on the Limpopo|date=2005|publisher=Johannesburg : Wits University Press|others=Internet Archive|isbn=978-1-86814-408-2}}</ref>{{Rp|page=10–14}}

The 10th century saw increased global demand for gold as various Muslim, European, and Indian states began issuing gold coinage.<ref name=":56">{{Cite book|last1=Chirikure|first1=Shadreck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pa7CgAAQBAJ&dq=kingdom+of+mapungubwe&pg=PT6|title=Mapungubwe Reconsidered: A Living Legacy: Exploring Beyond the Rise and Decline of the Mapungubwe State|last2=Delius|first2=Peter|last3=Esterhuysen|first3=Amanda|last4=Hall|first4=Simon|last5=Lekgoathi|first5=Sekibakiba|last6=Maulaudzi|first6=Maanda|last7=Neluvhalani|first7=Vele|last8=Ntsoane|first8=Otsile|last9=Pearce|first9=David|date=2015-10-01|publisher=Real African Publishers Pty Ltd.|isbn=978-1-920655-06-8|language=en}}</ref> Around 1000, some Leopard's Kopje people moved south to settle [[Bambandyanalo]] (known as K2), as the Zhizo moved west to settle [[Toutswe]] in modern-day Botswana. Some scholars believe their relations to have been hostile, however others insist they were more complex, both socially and politically.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Calabrese|first=John A.|date=2000-12-01|title=Interregional Interaction in Southern Africa: Zhizo and Leopard's Kopje Relations in Northern South Africa, Southwestern Zimbabwe, and Eastern Botswana, AD 1000 to 1200|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1006796925891|journal=African Archaeological Review|language=en|volume=17|issue=4|pages=183–210|doi=10.1023/A:1006796925891|issn=1572-9842}}</ref> The San, who were believed to have closer connections to the old spirits of the land, were often turned to by other societies for [[Rainmaking (ritual)|rainmaking]]. The community at K2 chose the San rather than the Zhizo, their political rivals, because the San did not believe in ancestors, and by not acknowledging the Zhizo's ancestors they would not be held to ransom by them.<ref name=":56"/>

Northwest, the community at [[Mapela, Zimbabwe|Mapela Hill]] had possibly developed [[sacral kingship]] by the 11th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Huffman|first=Thomas N.|date=2015|title=Mapela, Mapungubwe and the Origins of States in Southern Africa|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24643605|journal=The South African Archaeological Bulletin|volume=70|issue=201|pages=15–27|issn=0038-1969|jstor=24643605}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chirikure|first1=Shadreck|last2=Manyanga|first2=Munyaradzi|last3=Pollard|first3=A. Mark|last4=Bandama|first4=Foreman|last5=Mahachi|first5=Godfrey|last6=Pikirayi|first6=Innocent|date=2014-10-31|title=Zimbabwe Culture before Mapungubwe: New Evidence from Mapela Hill, South-Western Zimbabwe|journal=PLOS ONE|language=en|volume=9|issue=10|pages=e111224|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0111224|issn=1932-6203|pmc=4215987|pmid=25360782|doi-access=free|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9k1224C }}</ref> To the east, an early settlement was [[Gumanye]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chirikure|first1=Shadreck|last2=Manyanga|first2=Munyaradzi|last3=Pikirayi|first3=Innocent|last4=Pollard|first4=Mark|date=2013-12-01|title=New Pathways of Sociopolitical Complexity in Southern Africa|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10437-013-9142-3|journal=African Archaeological Review|language=en|volume=30|issue=4|pages=339–366|doi=10.1007/s10437-013-9142-3|issn=1572-9842|hdl=2263/41780|hdl-access=free}}</ref> [[Great Zimbabwe]] was founded around 1000 AD,<ref name=":42">{{Cite journal|last1=Delius|first1=Peter|last2=Chewins|first2=Linell|last3=Forssman|first3=Tim|date=2024|title=Turning South African History Upside Down: Ivory and Gold Production, the Indian Ocean Trading System and the Shaping of Southern African Society, 600–1900 AD|journal=Journal of Southern African Studies|volume=50 |issue=3 |pages=499–520 |doi=10.1080/03057070.2024.2436329|issn=0305-7070|doi-access=free|bibcode=2024JSAfS..50..499D }}</ref> and construction on the city's iconic [[Dry stone|dry-stone]] walls began in the 11th century. From the 12th century Great Zimbabwe wrestled with other settlements, such as [[Chivowa]], for economic and political dominance in the [[Southern Zambezi Escarpment]].<ref name=":15">{{Citation|last=Pikirayi|first=Innocent|title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of|date=2020|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology|pages=4696–4709|editor-last=Smith|editor-first=Claire|url=https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666|access-date=2024-12-20|place=Cham|publisher=Springer International Publishing|language=en|doi=10.1007/978-3-030-30018-0_2666|isbn=978-3-030-30018-0}}</ref> Further south by 1200, K2 had a population of 1500.<ref name=":07" />{{Rp|pages=26–29}} The large wealth generated by the [[Indian Ocean trade]] created unprecedented inequalities, evolving over time from a society based on social ranking to one based on [[social classes]]. K2's spatial arrangement became unsuited to this development.<ref name=":07" />{{Rp|page=30}}
[[File:MapungubweHill.jpg|thumb|[[Mapungubwe Hill]], which features some ancient [[San art]] in a rock shelter on the east side.<ref name=":522">{{Cite book |last1=Chirikure |first1=Shadreck |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3pa7CgAAQBAJ&dq=kingdom+of+mapungubwe&pg=PT6 |title=Mapungubwe Reconsidered: A Living Legacy: Exploring Beyond the Rise and Decline of the Mapungubwe State |last2=Delius |first2=Peter |last3=Esterhuysen |first3=Amanda |last4=Hall |first4=Simon |last5=Lekgoathi |first5=Sekibakiba |last6=Maulaudzi |first6=Maanda |last7=Neluvhalani |first7=Vele |last8=Ntsoane |first8=Otsile |last9=Pearce |first9=David |date=2015-10-01 |publisher=Real African Publishers Pty Ltd. |isbn=978-1-920655-06-8 |language=en}}</ref>]]
Amid a harsh drought which likely troubled the society,<ref name=":56" /> royal elites moved the capital to [[Mapungubwe Hill]] and settled its flat-topped summit around 1220, while most people settled below, surrounding the sacred leader in a protective circle. Mapungubwe Hill became the sole rainmaking hill, and its habitation by the leader emphasised a link between himself and rainmaking, which was substantial in the development of [[sacral kingship]].<ref name=":07" />{{Rp|pages=32–34}} The first king had their palace on the western part of the hill, and is called "[[Shiriyadenga]]" in [[Venda people|Venda]] oral traditions.<ref name="Loubser 2024">{{Citation |last=Loubser |first=Jannie |title=The Venda-Speaking People |date=2024-08-21 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-1215 |access-date=2025-02-06 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1215 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4}}</ref> His entourage included soldiers and [[praise singer]]s, along with musicians who played [[mbira]]s and [[xylophone]]s. [[Kingdom of Mapungubwe|The state]] likely covered 30,000&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup> (12,000 square miles). They traded locally with [[Toutswe]] and [[Eiland, Limpopo, South Africa|Eiland]] among others. High global demand saw gold and ivory exported to the [[Indian Ocean trade]] via [[Sofala]].<ref name=":56" /><ref name=":07" />{{Rp|pages=38–51}} It is unclear to what extent coercion and conflict played in Mapungubwe's growth and dominance due to this being challenging to recognise archaeologically, however the stone walls likely served a defensive purpose, indicating warfare was conventional.<ref name=":63">{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Nam C. |last2=Kusimba |first2=Chapurukha M. |last3=Keeley |first3=Lawrence H. |date=2015 |title=Coercion and Warfare in the Rise of State Societies in Southern Zambezia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43916844 |journal=The African Archaeological Review |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–34 |doi=10.1007/s10437-015-9183-x |issn=0263-0338 |jstor=43916844}}</ref>