Torwa dynasty

The Torwa dynasty was the ruling family of the Butua kingdom that arose from the collapse of Great Zimbabwe in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, founded perhaps by the legendary Dlembeu.

The Torwa dynasty of the baKalanga people based itself at the stone city of Khami from 1450 to 1683. Cattle and gold brought prosperity. The new culture at Khami developed both the stone building techniques and the pottery styles found at Great Zimbabwe. Masons continued to refine Great Zimbabwe’s tradition of building precise stone walls.

At Khami several artefacts are found, such as ritual drinking pots, iron and bronze weapons, copper objects and ivory divining pieces. Artifacts from Europe and China are reminders that Khami was once a trade centre.

During this period the first Europeans arrived. The first known European visitor was Antonio Fernandes, a Portuguese "degredado" (convict exile) serving his term in Sofala, who entered the Zimbabwean plateau in 1513.

There had always been an Arab influence in the region, particularly through trade, but this conflicted with Portuguese commercial interests and religion.

In the 1670s a new power arose on the Zimbabwean plateau led by a military ruler called the Changamire. His army of followers, known as the Rozwi, overthrew the Torwa dynasty, drove the Portuguese from the Zimbabwean plateau in 1693, and established the Rozwi Empire (also called Mambo).

See also

Zimbabwe
Dynasty

External links

• http://encarta.msn.com/text_761572628___107/Africa.html
• www.karibahouseboats.com/about-zimbabwe.htm
• www.infotour-africa.com/zimbabwe_history.htm

Part of a series on the
History of Zimbabwe
Ancient history   Mapungubwe Kingdom c.1075–1220 Zimbabwe Kingdom c.1220–1450 Mutapa Kingdom c.1450–1760 Torwa dynasty   White settlement pre-1923 c.1450–1683 Rozwi Empire c.1684–1834 Matabeleland 1838–1894 Rudd Concession 1888 BSA Company rule 1890–1923 First Matabele War 1893–1894 Second Matabele War 1896–1897 First World War 1914–1918 Southern Rhodesia 1923–1965 Second World War 1939–1945 Malayan Emergency 1948–1960 Rhodesia–Nyasaland  Federation 1953–1963 Rhodesian Bush War 1964–1979 Unilateral Declaration  of Independence 1965 Rhodesia 1965–1979 Zimbabwe-Rhodesia 1979 S. Rhodesia dependency 1979–1980 Zimbabwe 1980–present
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