Editing Great Zimbabwe (section)

===Decline===
It is unknown what caused Great Zimbabwe's demise and its eventual abandonment.{{Efn|A major factor involves the actions of European [[antiquarian]]s and prospectors during the colonial period in the looting of the site, destroying its [[stratigraphy]].}} It is unclear to what extent [[Climate variability and change|climate change]] played a role, however Great Zimbabwe's location in a favourable rainfall zone makes this unlikely to have been a primary cause. Great Zimbabwe's dominance over the region depended on its continual extension and projection of influence, as its growing population needed more farming land and traders more gold.<ref name=":12">{{Citation |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of |date=2020 |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 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology}}</ref> [[Shona people|Shona]] [[oral tradition]] attributes Great Zimbabwe's demise to a salt shortage, which may be a figurative way of speaking of land depletion for agriculturalists or of the depletion of critical resources for the community.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |last=Silva |first=Alberto da Costa |author-link= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yLTrAAAAMAAJ |title=A enxada e a lança: a África antes dos Portugueses |publisher=Editora Nova Fronteira Participações S.A. |isbn=9788520939475 |location=Rio de Janeiro |publication-date=2009 |page= |language=Portuguese |trans-title=The Hoe and the Spear: Africa before the Portuguese |chapter=15. Zimbabué}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Cities in the World: 1500-2000: v. 3 |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |edition=1st |chapter=The Demise of Great Zimbabwe, ad 1420–1550: An Environmental Re-Appraisal |doi=10.4324/9781315095677 |isbn=978-1-315-09567-7 |chapter-url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315095677-3/demise-great-zimbabwe-ad-1420%E2%80%931550-environmental-re-appraisal-innocent-pikirayi}}</ref>{{Rp|page=10}} It is plausible the [[aquifer]] Great Zimbabwe sat on top of ran out of water, or the growing population contaminated the water.<ref name=":8">{{Cite journal |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |date=2024-05-01 |title=Granite Landforms and Water Storage at Great Zimbabwe |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/09719458241258551 |journal=The Medieval History Journal |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=254–279 |doi=10.1177/09719458241258551 |issn=0971-9458}}</ref>

From the early 15th century, international trade began to decline amid a global economic downturn, reducing demand for gold, which adversely affected Great Zimbabwe. In response to this, elites possibly expanded regional trading networks, resulting in greater prosperity for other settlements in the region. By the late 15th century, the consequences of this decision would have begun to manifest, as offshoots from Great Zimbabwe's royal family formed new dynasties, possibly as a result of losing succession disputes.<ref>{{Citation |last=Newitt |first=Malyn |title=Southern Zambezia States and Indian Ocean Trade, 1450–1900 |date=2018-05-24 |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/display/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-289 |access-date=2025-02-18 |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.289 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4}}</ref> According to oral tradition, [[Nyatsimba Mutota]], a member of Great Zimbabwe's royal family, led part of the population north in search for salt to found the [[Mutapa Empire]].{{Efn|According to tradition, the move came about because the king was tired of eating salt made from goat's dung.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Huffman |first=T. N. |date=1972 |title=The Rise and Fall of Zimbabwe |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/article/abs/rise-and-fall-of-zimbabwe/DF9B15B96E63ADFFC62967F9F2801703 |journal=The Journal of African History |language=en |volume=13 |issue=3 |pages=353–366 |doi=10.1017/S0021853700011683 |issn=1469-5138}}</ref>}}<ref name=":13">{{Citation |last=Pikirayi |first=Innocent |title=Great Zimbabwe, 1100–1600 AD, Rise, Development, and Demise of |date=2020 |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 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology}}</ref> It was believed that only their most recent ancestors would follow them, with older ancestors staying at Great Zimbabwe and providing protection there.<ref name=":72"/> [[Angoche Sultanate|Angoche]] traders opened a new route along the [[Zambezi]] via Mutapa and [[Ingombe Ilede]] to reach the goldfields west of Great Zimbabwe, precipitating its decline and the rise of [[Khami]], the capital of the [[Kingdom of Butua]].<ref name=":122">{{Cite book |last=Waarden |first=Catrien Van |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u1SqMwEACAAJ |title=Butua and the End of an Era: The Effect of the Collapse of the Kalanga State on Ordinary Citizens : an Analysis of Behaviour Under Stress |date=2012 |publisher=Archaeopress |isbn=978-1-4073-1019-0 |language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|page=50}} By the 16th century, political and economic power had shifted away from Great Zimbabwe to the north and west. The site likely continued to be inhabited into the 17th century, before it was eventually abandoned.<ref name=":13" />